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 1980

District of Grey Quarter ending 31 December 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

20 October 1914

Frederyck McKessar
Isabella Stuart Aynsley

Fredrick McKessar
Isabella Stuart Aynsley
💍 1914/4008

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Servant
Domestic Duties

25
23

Greymouth
Karoro

3 1/2 years
1 year

St Patrick's Church, Greymouth

7869

20 October 1914

Fr. G. Lacroix

No	67
Date of Notice	20 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederyck McKessar	Isabella Stuart Aynsley
BDM Match (94%)	Fredrick McKessar	Isabella Stuart Aynsley
	💍 1914/4008
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Servant	Domestic Duties
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Karoro
Length of Residence	3 1/2 years	1 year
Marriage Place	St Patrick's Church, Greymouth
Folio	7869
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Fr. G. Lacroix

21 October 1914

John Ryan
Mary Gillies

John Ryan
Mary Gillies
💍 1914/3927

Bachelor
Spinster

Bushman
Housekeeper

38
31

Camerons
Camerons, Teremakau

10 years
3 months

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Greymouth

7860

21 October 1914

Registrar of Marriages

No	68
Date of Notice	21 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Ryan	Mary Gillies
	💍 1914/3927
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bushman	Housekeeper
Age	38	31
Dwelling Place	Camerons	Camerons, Teremakau
Length of Residence	10 years	3 months
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Greymouth
Folio	7860
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages

31 October 1914

John Callanan
Kathleen Slough

John Callanan
Kathleen Clough
💍 1914/9606

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic Servant

25
19

Rewanui
Rewanui

25 years
2 years

Registrar's Office, Greymouth

7861

14 days' notice given

14 November 1914

Registrar of Marriages

No	69
Date of Notice	31 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Callanan	Kathleen Slough
BDM Match (97%)	John Callanan	Kathleen Clough
	💍 1914/9606
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic Servant
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Rewanui	Rewanui
Length of Residence	25 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Greymouth
Folio	7861
Consent	14 days' notice given
Date of Certificate	14 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages

2 November 1914

Robert Thomson
Ellen Emily Sarah Jane Barnhill

Robert Thomson
Ellen Emily Sarah June Barnhill
💍 1914/3999

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic

35
34

Kokiri, Greymouth
Greymouth

8 years
10 years

Holy Trinity Church, Greymouth

7866

2 November 1914

Rev. J. A. Rogers

No	70
Date of Notice	2 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Thomson	Ellen Emily Sarah Jane Barnhill
BDM Match (98%)	Robert Thomson	Ellen Emily Sarah June Barnhill
	💍 1914/3999
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic
Age	35	34
Dwelling Place	Kokiri, Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	8 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Greymouth
Folio	7866
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Rogers

2 November 1914

William Cunliffe Cowley
Blanche Walsh

William Cowley Cunliffe
Blanche Walsh
💍 1914/5316

Bachelor
Spinster

Station Master
Saleswoman

31
21

Ngahere, Greymouth
Greymouth

18 months
5 years

Holy Trinity Church, Greymouth

9245

2 November 1914

Rev. J. A. Rogers

No	71
Date of Notice	2 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Cunliffe Cowley	Blanche Walsh
BDM Match (74%)	William Cowley Cunliffe	Blanche Walsh
	💍 1914/5316
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Station Master	Saleswoman
Age	31	21
Dwelling Place	Ngahere, Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	18 months	5 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Greymouth
Folio	9245
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Rogers

5 November 1914

William David Thage
Esther Sarah Mason

William David Frazer
Esther Sarah Mason
💍 1914/3930

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Fireman
Domestic

26
27

Greymouth
Greymouth

4 years
14 years

St John's Presbyterian Church, Greymouth

7864

5 November 1914

Rev. Wm Trotter

No	72
Date of Notice	5 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William David Thage	Esther Sarah Mason
BDM Match (90%)	William David Frazer	Esther Sarah Mason
	💍 1914/3930
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Fireman	Domestic
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	4 years	14 years
Marriage Place	St John's Presbyterian Church, Greymouth
Folio	7864
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm Trotter

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).