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 1976

District of Greymouth Quarter ending 30 September 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

27 July 1914

Alfred Russell Dunlop Gilbert
Rosannah Fletcher

Alfred Dunlop Russell Gilbert
Rosannah Fletcher
💍 1914/2432

Bachelor
Widow

Carpenter
Domestic Duties

28
28

Paroa
Paroa

28 years
3 years

Holy Trinity Church, Greymouth

14/6008

27 July 1914

Ven. Archdeacon York

No	46
Date of Notice	27 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Russell Dunlop Gilbert	Rosannah Fletcher
BDM Match (79%)	Alfred Dunlop Russell Gilbert	Rosannah Fletcher
	💍 1914/2432
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic Duties
Age	28	28
Dwelling Place	Paroa	Paroa
Length of Residence	28 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Greymouth
Folio	14/6008
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon York

10 August 1914

John Francis Butler
Catherine McBride

John Francis Butler
Catherine McBride
💍 1914/3106

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
School Mistress

25
23

Greymouth, (from Matainui)
Greymouth, (from Okarito)

5 days; 25 yrs
3 mos; 10 yrs

St. Patrick's Church, Greymouth

14/6830

10 August 1914

Rev. Dean Carew

No	47
Date of Notice	10 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Francis Butler	Catherine McBride
	💍 1914/3106
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	School Mistress
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Greymouth, (from Matainui)	Greymouth, (from Okarito)
Length of Residence	5 days; 25 yrs	3 mos; 10 yrs
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Church, Greymouth
Folio	14/6830
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Dean Carew

1 August 1914

Martin Gembitzky
Margaret Boyle

Martin Gembitzky
Margaret Boyle
💍 1914/2427

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

22
21

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

1 week; 14 yrs
4 weeks; 2 1/2 yrs

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Greymouth

14/6003

1 August 1914

Registrar of Marriages, Greymouth

No	48
Date of Notice	1 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Martin Gembitzky	Margaret Boyle
	💍 1914/2427
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Greymouth, (from Westport)	Greymouth, (from Westport)
Length of Residence	1 week; 14 yrs	4 weeks; 2 1/2 yrs
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Greymouth
Folio	14/6003
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Greymouth

6 August 1914

Thomas Joseph O'Callaghan
Annie Beatrice Parkinson

Thomas Joseph OCallaghan
Annie Beatrice Parkinson
💍 1914/3087

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic duties

22
20

Greymouth
Greymouth

3 years
10 years

Mrs. S. A. Parkinson's House, Greymouth

14/6835

Sarah Annie Parkinson, Mother

6 August 1914

Fr. C. Lacroix

No	49
Date of Notice	6 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Joseph O'Callaghan	Annie Beatrice Parkinson
BDM Match (98%)	Thomas Joseph OCallaghan	Annie Beatrice Parkinson
	💍 1914/3087
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic duties
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	3 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Mrs. S. A. Parkinson's House, Greymouth
Folio	14/6835
Consent	Sarah Annie Parkinson, Mother
Date of Certificate	6 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Fr. C. Lacroix

7 August 1914

William Rafferty
Eliza Bacon

William Rafferty
Eliza Bacon
💍 1914/2922

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic Servant

30
27

State Collieries
State Collieries

3 years

Private Residence of Mrs. Ellie Hewison, State Collieries

14/6774

7 August 1914

Rev. Moses Ayrton

No	50
Date of Notice	7 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Rafferty	Eliza Bacon
	💍 1914/2922
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic Servant
Age	30	27
Dwelling Place	State Collieries	State Collieries
Length of Residence	3 years
Marriage Place	Private Residence of Mrs. Ellie Hewison, State Collieries
Folio	14/6774
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Moses Ayrton

20 August 1914

William James Peck
Caroline Kyle

William James Peck
Caroline Kyle
💍 1914/2414

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
Nil

38
26

Greymouth
Greymouth

20 years
26 years

St. John's Presbyterian Church, Greymouth

14/6014

20 August 1914

Rev. Wm. Trotter

No	51
Date of Notice	20 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Peck	Caroline Kyle
	💍 1914/2414
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Nil
Age	38	26
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	20 years	26 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Presbyterian Church, Greymouth
Folio	14/6014
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 August 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).

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).