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 1783

District of Picton Quarter ending 31 March 1914 Registrar James John France

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

14 January 1914

Ezekiel John Read
Ethel Louisa Best

Ezekiel John Read
Ethel Louisa Best
💍 1914/8263

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller
Domestic Duties

32
32

Picton
Picton

4 days
4 days

Methodist Church, Picton

14/1855

14 January 1914

Rev. P. J. Cook

No	1
Date of Notice	14 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ezekiel John Read	Ethel Louisa Best
	💍 1914/8263
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller	Domestic Duties
Age	32	32
Dwelling Place	Picton	Picton
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Picton
Folio	14/1855
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cook

26 January 1914

James Hunter
Blanche Mary Smith

James Hunter
Blanche May Smith
💍 1914/8261

James Nickerson
Ellen Mary Smith
💍 1914/7173

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Clerk
Household Duties

29
29

Picton
Picton

3 days
Life

Residence of Bride's parents, Picton

14/1853

26 January 1914

Rev. W. O. Robb

No	2
Date of Notice	26 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Hunter	Blanche Mary Smith
BDM Match (97%)	James Hunter	Blanche May Smith
	💍 1914/8261
BDM Match (60%)	James Nickerson	Ellen Mary Smith
	💍 1914/7173
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Clerk	Household Duties
Age	29	29
Dwelling Place	Picton	Picton
Length of Residence	3 days	Life
Marriage Place	Residence of Bride's parents, Picton
Folio	14/1853
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. O. Robb

3 February 1914

John Haslilow Hale
Ruby Gladys Steele

John Hastilow Hale
Ruby Gladys Steele
💍 1914/8262

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraphist
Domestic Duties

25
22

Picton
Picton

3 years
Life

Holy Trinity Church, Picton

14/1854

3 February 1914

Rev. R. H. Hobday

No	3
Date of Notice	3 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Haslilow Hale	Ruby Gladys Steele
BDM Match (97%)	John Hastilow Hale	Ruby Gladys Steele
	💍 1914/8262
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist	Domestic Duties
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Picton	Picton
Length of Residence	3 years	Life
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Picton
Folio	14/1854
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. H. Hobday

5 March 1914

Orlando Worthington Pickering
Marjorie Grace Lillian Hodgeman

Orlando Worthington Pickering
Marjorie Grace Lilian Hodgeman
💍 1914/8264

Bachelor
Spinster

Cheesemaker
Dentist's Assistant

25
21

Grove, Picton
Grove, Picton

25 years
9 Months

Holy Trinity Church, Picton

14/1856

5 March 1914

Rev. T. J. Smith

No	4
Date of Notice	5 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Orlando Worthington Pickering	Marjorie Grace Lillian Hodgeman
BDM Match (98%)	Orlando Worthington Pickering	Marjorie Grace Lilian Hodgeman
	💍 1914/8264
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cheesemaker	Dentist's Assistant
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Grove, Picton	Grove, Picton
Length of Residence	25 years	9 Months
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Picton
Folio	14/1856
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. J. Smith

9 March 1914

Timothy Hogan
Mary Frances Fredricks

Timothy Hongan
Mary Frances Fredericks
💍 1914/8265

Bachelor
Spinster

Maltster
Domestic

34
25

Picton
Picton

6 years
Life

Church of England, Picton

14/1857

9 March 1914

Rev. T. J. Smith

No	5
Date of Notice	9 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Timothy Hogan	Mary Frances Fredricks
BDM Match (94%)	Timothy Hongan	Mary Frances Fredericks
	💍 1914/8265
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Maltster	Domestic
Age	34	25
Dwelling Place	Picton	Picton
Length of Residence	6 years	Life
Marriage Place	Church of England, Picton
Folio	14/1857
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. J. Smith

20 March 1914

Arthur Julius Taylor
Margaret Lily Ashton

Arthur Julius Taylor
Margaret Lily Ashton
💍 1914/8267

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

30
24

Portage, Picton
Picton

Life
Life

Church of England, Picton

14/1859

20 March 1914

Rev. T. J. Smith

No	6
Date of Notice	20 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Julius Taylor	Margaret Lily Ashton
	💍 1914/8267
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Portage, Picton	Picton
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Church of England, Picton
Folio	14/1859
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. J. Smith

24 March 1914

John Edward Clemett
Elenor Watson

John Edward Clemett
Eleanor Watson
💍 1914/8266

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

24
21

Picton
Picton

3 Days
14 Days

Church of England, Picton

14/1858

24 March 1914

Rev. T. J. Smith

No	7
Date of Notice	24 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Edward Clemett	Elenor Watson
BDM Match (96%)	John Edward Clemett	Eleanor Watson
	💍 1914/8266
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Picton	Picton
Length of Residence	3 Days	14 Days
Marriage Place	Church of England, Picton
Folio	14/1858
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. J. Smith

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

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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).