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 1801

District of Wairau Quarter ending 30 September 1914 Registrar Charles Owen Trownson

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

3 July 1914

Timothy Brosnahan
Nellie Frances Faulding

Timothy Brosnahan
Nellie Frances Faulding
💍 1914/2291

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine driver
Domestic

30
21

Ward
Spring Creek

30 years
21 years

Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim

14/5940

3 July 1914

Rev. A. F. McDonald

No	37
Date of Notice	3 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Timothy Brosnahan	Nellie Frances Faulding
	💍 1914/2291
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine driver	Domestic
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Ward	Spring Creek
Length of Residence	30 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim
Folio	14/5940
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. F. McDonald

6 July 1914

Francis Herbert Southgate
Mary Knight

Francis Herbert Southgate
Mary Knight
💍 1914/2290

Bachelor
Divorced

Grocer
Housekeeper

24
35

Blenheim
Blenheim

7 years
35 years

W. Hodson's dwelling, Charles Street, Blenheim

14/5939

6 July 1914

Rev. T. R. B. Woolloxall

No	38
Date of Notice	6 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Herbert Southgate	Mary Knight
	💍 1914/2290
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced
Profession	Grocer	Housekeeper
Age	24	35
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	7 years	35 years
Marriage Place	W. Hodson's dwelling, Charles Street, Blenheim
Folio	14/5939
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. R. B. Woolloxall

9 July 1914

William Lawson
Priscilla Dew

William Lawson
Priscilla Dew
💍 1914/2306

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

32
26

Blenheim
Blenheim

13 years
26 years

Mr. Mackill's dwelling, Main Street, Blenheim

14/5931

9 July 1914

Ven. Archdeacon T. S. Grace

No	39
Date of Notice	9 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Lawson	Priscilla Dew
	💍 1914/2306
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	32	26
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	13 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Mr. Mackill's dwelling, Main Street, Blenheim
Folio	14/5931
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon T. S. Grace

20 July 1914

Thomas Bassett
Frances Evelyn McLachlan

Thomas Bassett
Frances Evelyn McLachlan
💍 1914/2307

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Domestic

35
23

Ward
Blenheim

9 months
7 years

Mr. McLachlan's dwelling, Ipsley Street, Blenheim

14/5932

20 July 1914

Ven. Archdeacon T. S. Grace

No	40
Date of Notice	20 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Bassett	Frances Evelyn McLachlan
	💍 1914/2307
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Domestic
Age	35	23
Dwelling Place	Ward	Blenheim
Length of Residence	9 months	7 years
Marriage Place	Mr. McLachlan's dwelling, Ipsley Street, Blenheim
Folio	14/5932
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon T. S. Grace

21 July 1914

James Brydon Laidlaw
Dora Maud Lankow

James Brydon Laidlaw
Dora Maud Lankow
💍 1914/2289

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

29
28

Fairhall
Blenheim

25 years
28 years

St. Andrew's Church, Blenheim

14/5938

21 July 1914

Rev. W. O. Robb

No	41
Date of Notice	21 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Brydon Laidlaw	Dora Maud Lankow
	💍 1914/2289
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	29	28
Dwelling Place	Fairhall	Blenheim
Length of Residence	25 years	28 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Church, Blenheim
Folio	14/5938
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. O. Robb

1 August 1914

George Richard Gilmore
Louisa Amy North

George Richard Gilmore
Louisa Amy North
💍 1914/5120

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Housekeeper

34
28

Spring Creek
Blenheim

20 years
17 years

St. Mary's Church, Blenheim

14/9019

1 August 1914

Rev. A. F. McDonald

No	42
Date of Notice	1 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Richard Gilmore	Louisa Amy North
	💍 1914/5120
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Housekeeper
Age	34	28
Dwelling Place	Spring Creek	Blenheim
Length of Residence	20 years	17 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Blenheim
Folio	14/9019
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. F. McDonald

12 August 1914

Edward John Mulholland
Alice May Funnell

Edward John Mulholland
Alice May Funnell
💍 1914/2286

Bachelor
Spinster

Erecting engineer
Domestic

27
22

Blenheim
Blenheim

1 month
22 years

Church of the Nativity, Blenheim

14/5935

12 August 1914

Ven. Archdeacon T. S. Grace

No	43
Date of Notice	12 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward John Mulholland	Alice May Funnell
	💍 1914/2286
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Erecting engineer	Domestic
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	1 month	22 years
Marriage Place	Church of the Nativity, Blenheim
Folio	14/5935
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon T. S. Grace

13 August 1914

Arthur Nelson Beattie
Delpha Powick

Arthur Nelson Beattie
Delpha Powick
💍 1914/5269

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Domestic

28
24

Tua Marina
Tua Marina

7 days
24 years

Methodist Church, Tua Marina

14/9119

13 August 1914

Rev. T. R. B. Woolloxall

No	44
Date of Notice	13 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Nelson Beattie	Delpha Powick
	💍 1914/5269
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Domestic
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Tua Marina	Tua Marina
Length of Residence	7 days	24 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Tua Marina
Folio	14/9119
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. R. B. Woolloxall

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).