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 1967

District of Grey Quarter ending 31 March 1914 Registrar Ernest White Cave

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

13 February 1914

Bertram Bartholomew
Zeeta Ann O'Brien

Bertram Bartholomew
Zesta Ann O'Brien
💍 1914/6563

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Servant
Domestic

30
21

Greymouth, (from Westport)
Greymouth, (from Westport)

5 mos; 25 yrs
1 mo; 21 yrs

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Greymouth

14/364

13 February 1914

Registrar of Marriages

No	12
Date of Notice	13 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bertram Bartholomew	Zeeta Ann O'Brien
BDM Match (97%)	Bertram Bartholomew	Zesta Ann O'Brien
	💍 1914/6563
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Servant	Domestic
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Greymouth, (from Westport)	Greymouth, (from Westport)
Length of Residence	5 mos; 25 yrs	1 mo; 21 yrs
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Greymouth
Folio	14/364
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages

16 February 1914

Peter Sinclair
Harriet Evelyn Furness

Peter Sinclair
Harriet Evelyn Furness
💍 1914/7488

Bachelor
Spinster

Coach driver
Domestic

32
24

Otira
Greymouth, (from Reefton)

4 years
14 days; 24 yrs

Holy Trinity Church, Greymouth

14/1351

16 February 1914

Rev. J. W. York

No	13
Date of Notice	16 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Sinclair	Harriet Evelyn Furness
	💍 1914/7488
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coach driver	Domestic
Age	32	24
Dwelling Place	Otira	Greymouth, (from Reefton)
Length of Residence	4 years	14 days; 24 yrs
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Greymouth
Folio	14/1351
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. York

23 February 1914

John Patrick Tunnell
Teresa Rose Descaciati

John Patrick Tunnell
Teresa Rose Discaciati
💍 1914/7520

Bachelor
Spinster

Brickmaker
Domestic

45
37

Chesterfield, Hokitika
Greymouth

4 months
37 years

Roman Catholic Church, Hokitika

14/1360

23 February 1914

Rev. John R. Clancy

No	14
Date of Notice	23 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Patrick Tunnell	Teresa Rose Descaciati
BDM Match (98%)	John Patrick Tunnell	Teresa Rose Discaciati
	💍 1914/7520
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Brickmaker	Domestic
Age	45	37
Dwelling Place	Chesterfield, Hokitika	Greymouth
Length of Residence	4 months	37 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Hokitika
Folio	14/1360
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. John R. Clancy

26 February 1914

David Sutherland Galpin
Rachel Marion Garland

David Sutherland Galpin
Rachel Marion Garland
💍 1914/7497

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
School Teacher

31
34

Greymouth, (from Marton)
Greymouth (from Rotomanu)

4 days; 31 yrs
12 days; 10 yrs

Holy Trinity Church, Greymouth

14/1353

26 February 1914

Ven. Geo. W. York

No	15
Date of Notice	26 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Sutherland Galpin	Rachel Marion Garland
	💍 1914/7497
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	School Teacher
Age	31	34
Dwelling Place	Greymouth, (from Marton)	Greymouth (from Rotomanu)
Length of Residence	4 days; 31 yrs	12 days; 10 yrs
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Greymouth
Folio	14/1353
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Ven. Geo. W. York

26 February 1914

William James Brown
Matilda Jane Olsen

William James Brown
Matilda Jane Olsen
💍 1914/7508

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic

33
31

Greymouth
Greymouth

8 years
2 years

St. Paul's Methodist Church, Greymouth

14/1354

26 February 1914

Rev. Oliver

No	16
Date of Notice	26 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Brown	Matilda Jane Olsen
	💍 1914/7508
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic
Age	33	31
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	8 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Methodist Church, Greymouth
Folio	14/1354
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Oliver

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).

Primary digitisation of registers between 1855 and 1925 is now complete. Our digitisation volunteers are now working on verifying the currently digitised pages against printed district/page indexes, to identify pages which may have been missed or out of focus. These pages can be re-imaged as required.

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.

How can I help?

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

You can also support this project by ☕ Buying us a coffee 🌳

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).