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 1968

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

2 March 1914

Thomas Malcolm McBride
Mary McPherson

Thomas Malcolm McBride
Mary McPherson
💍 1914/7718

Bachelor
Spinster

Store Keeper
Domestic

31
22

Greymouth, (from Okarito)
Greymouth (from Okura)

5 days; 15 yrs
14 days; 20 yrs

St Patricks Church, Greymouth

14/2234

2 March 1914

Rev. Dean D. P. Carew

No	17
Date of Notice	2 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Malcolm McBride	Mary McPherson
	💍 1914/7718
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Store Keeper	Domestic
Age	31	22
Dwelling Place	Greymouth, (from Okarito)	Greymouth (from Okura)
Length of Residence	5 days; 15 yrs	14 days; 20 yrs
Marriage Place	St Patricks Church, Greymouth
Folio	14/2234
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Dean D. P. Carew

2 March 1914

William Henry Bowater
Alice McCarthy

William Henry Bowater
Alice McCarthy
💍 1914/7717

Bachelor
Spinster

Postal Officer
Domestic

23
18

Greymouth
Greymouth

23 years
18 years

St Patricks Church, Greymouth

14/2233

Jeremiah McCarthy, father

2 March 1914

Rev. Dean D. P. Carew

No	18
Date of Notice	2 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Bowater	Alice McCarthy
	💍 1914/7717
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Postal Officer	Domestic
Age	23	18
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	23 years	18 years
Marriage Place	St Patricks Church, Greymouth
Folio	14/2233
Consent	Jeremiah McCarthy, father
Date of Certificate	2 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Dean D. P. Carew

4 March 1914

Henry James McLean
Ellen Mary Violet Ryan

Henry James McLean
Ellen Mary Violet Ryan
💍 1914/6564

Bachelor
Spinster

Picture Proprietor
Milliner

35
24

Greymouth
Greymouth

3 years
6 months

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Greymouth

14/365

4 March 1914

Registrar of Marriages

No	19
Date of Notice	4 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry James McLean	Ellen Mary Violet Ryan
	💍 1914/6564
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Picture Proprietor	Milliner
Age	35	24
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	3 years	6 months
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Greymouth
Folio	14/365
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages

9 March 1914

James Howden
Janet Leitch

James Howden
Janet Leitch
💍 1914/7515

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic

23
21

Greymouth, (from Blackball)
Greymouth, (from Blackball)

4 days; 7 yrs
4 days; 19 yrs

St John's Presbyterian Church, Greymouth

14/1355

9 March 1914

Rev. Wm. Trotter

No	20
Date of Notice	9 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Howden	Janet Leitch
	💍 1914/7515
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Greymouth, (from Blackball)	Greymouth, (from Blackball)
Length of Residence	4 days; 7 yrs	4 days; 19 yrs
Marriage Place	St John's Presbyterian Church, Greymouth
Folio	14/1355
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm. Trotter

11 March 1914

George Hunter Sporle
Frances Foster

George Hunter Sporle
Frances Foster
💍 1914/7516

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
General

29
25

Greymouth, (from Reefton)
Runanga, (from Reefton)

3 days; 4 1/2 yrs
3 days; 5 yrs

Holy Trinity Church, Greymouth

14/1356

11 March 1914

Ven. Geo. W. York

No	21
Date of Notice	11 March 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Hunter Sporle	Frances Foster
	💍 1914/7516
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	General
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Greymouth, (from Reefton)	Runanga, (from Reefton)
Length of Residence	3 days; 4 1/2 yrs	3 days; 5 yrs
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Greymouth
Folio	14/1356
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 March 1914
Officiating Minister	Ven. Geo. W. York

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).