Intentions to Marry, 1914 Wellington, Hawkes Bay, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840455, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1914 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki (1914a), Wellington, Hawke's Bay, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1914b), and Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Chatham Islands (1914c).

Page 1575

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 March 1914 Registrar Joseph Lissant Palethorpe

Date of Notice

Names and Surnames of Parties

BDM Match

Condition

Calling or Profession

Age

Dwelling Place

Length of Residence

Marriage Place

Folio

Consent

Date of Certificate

Officiating Minister

161

23 February 1914

William George Purves
Annie Gertrude Foster

William George Purves
Annie Gertrude Foster
💍 1914/7242

Bachelor
Spinster

Dental Mechanic

27
24

Kelburne
Wellington

20 months
16 months

Wesley Church, Taranaki Street, Wellington

1101

23 February 1914

Rev. J. G. Chapman

No	161
Date of Notice	23 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William George Purves	Annie Gertrude Foster
	💍 1914/7242
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dental Mechanic
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Kelburne	Wellington
Length of Residence	20 months	16 months
Marriage Place	Wesley Church, Taranaki Street, Wellington
Folio	1101
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. Chapman

162

24 February 1914

Walter Henry Gray
Grace Allan

Walter Henry Gray
Grace Allan
💍 1914/7240

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

26
20

Upper Hutt
Upper Hutt

3 days
7 months

St David's Church, Upper Hutt

1099

Elizabeth Allan, Mother

24 February 1914

Mr. F. J. Usher

No	162
Date of Notice	24 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Henry Gray	Grace Allan
	💍 1914/7240
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Upper Hutt	Upper Hutt
Length of Residence	3 days	7 months
Marriage Place	St David's Church, Upper Hutt
Folio	1099
Consent	Elizabeth Allan, Mother
Date of Certificate	24 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Mr. F. J. Usher

163

24 February 1914

John Robson Hall Wright
Doris Olive Bradley

John Robson Hall Wright
Doris Olive Bradley
💍 1914/7239

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

23
21

Wellington
Wellington

1 year
1 1/2 years

Residence of Mr. R. Garters, 30 Holmwood Road, Brooklyn

1098

24 February 1914

Mr. J. H. White

No	163
Date of Notice	24 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Robson Hall Wright	Doris Olive Bradley
	💍 1914/7239
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	1 year	1 1/2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. R. Garters, 30 Holmwood Road, Brooklyn
Folio	1098
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Mr. J. H. White

164

24 February 1914

David Hall
Euphemia Rebecca Keys

David Hall
Euphemia Rebecca Keys
💍 1914/7241

Widower 3 September 1911
Spinster

Railway Shunter

30
26

Wellington
Wellington

3 days
10 years

Wesley Church, Taranaki Street, Wellington

1100

24 February 1914

Rev. J. G. Chapman

No	164
Date of Notice	24 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Hall	Euphemia Rebecca Keys
	💍 1914/7241
Condition	Widower 3 September 1911	Spinster
Profession	Railway Shunter
Age	30	26
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 days	10 years
Marriage Place	Wesley Church, Taranaki Street, Wellington
Folio	1100
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. Chapman

165

25 February 1914

John Christie
Clara Saxon

John Christie
Clara Saxon
💍 1914/7236

Bachelor
Spinster

Caretaker

32
38

Somes Island
Wellington

2 years
4 months

Knox Church, Lower Hutt

1096

25 February 1914

Rev. J. H. McCaw

No	165
Date of Notice	25 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Christie	Clara Saxon
	💍 1914/7236
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Caretaker
Age	32	38
Dwelling Place	Somes Island	Wellington
Length of Residence	2 years	4 months
Marriage Place	Knox Church, Lower Hutt
Folio	1096
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. McCaw

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

What is an Intention to Marry?

The 1854 Marriage Act required Pakeha settlers (and later Maori) to register their intention to marry from 1855. The resulting Notices of intention to marry were sent by the district registrars to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and bound into large volumes, each containing a year of notices. These registers were eventually deposited with Archives New Zealand.

What information does an ItM record?

A typical Intention to Marry notice records:

the bride and groom's full names
occupation of the groom (and sometimes the bride)
their ages
district where the marriage would take place
how long they had resided in the district
Where the marriage would take place (eg, a specific church)
Who would officiate the marriage (eg, a minister)
The date of the notice and also a date when the certificate was issued. Marriages had to take place within 3 months, and usually occurred within a week or so of the certificate date.
If one of the parties was under 21, a parent who consented to their marriage was usually specified

These details can provide clues for genealogical and historical research. Knowing the date and district makes it easier to look for wedding notices in Papers Past, and the amount of time that the parties had resided in a district can offer clues to whether a person was born in NZ, or when they immigrated.

However, finding individual records in the Intentions to Marry registers was typically a slow and manual process, usually requiring an in-person visit to Archives NZ's Wellington office (during limited opening hours) and using a handwritten card catalogue index to look up individual names.

Eight years of the registers had been digitised by Archives NZ prior to 2024, but even these digital versions required the use of a manual index and usually examining several pages to locate specific records.

What is the Intentions to Marry Project?

This project aims to transcribe the New Zealand Intentions to Marry registers (from 1855 to 1925) with the assistance of new technology (AI), making the records freely available and easily searchable.

The ITM records have also been cross-referenced with the registered marriages at DIA Births, Deaths and Marriages, where possible (a small fraction of the recorded intentions to marry did not become a registered marriage).

Currently we have almost all records between 1855 and 1908. More registers are being added almost every week.

The project is led by Luke Howison, a web developer who made the free genealogical research search tool NZ Ancestor Search Helper and Archway-style Collections Search. There are also some wonderful volunteers assisting with digitising the registers.

Can I volunteer to help?

Yes, you can! You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

I am also looking for Wellington-based volunteers to help me digitise more years of the registers. I can provide lighting equipment and a 'clicker' (to trigger your phone's camera).

How is the transcription done?

There are several steps to digitising and transcribing the records:

Digitising the registers (taking clean, straight, high-quality photos)
Processing the digitised pages by straightening, cropping and sharpening the images
Transcribing each page with a combination of AI tools
Matching each ITM with a registered marriage when possible
Human verification of the transcribed information

The main LLM (AI) used are the Google Gemini Pro and Flash models, which have excellent 'Vision' capabilities, and a generous free tier.

Archives NZ has released the register years they have digitised (1865-69, 1872, 1874 and 1880) under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

The Intention to Marry registers (up to 1925) are more than 100 years old, so their Crown Copyright has expired, putting them in the public domain. This also applies to any 'mechanical reproductions' (eg, pictures or photocopies) of their content without substantial alteration.

The transcribed records on this website are released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes, while giving credit to the creator (NZ Intentions to Marry Project).