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 1738

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 December 1914 Registrar J. P. Alenthorpe

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

963

26 November 1914

Mackay John Scobie Campbell
Harriet Ellen Baker

MacKay John Scobie Campbell
Harriet Ellen Baker
💍 1914/4757

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep-farmer

37
35

Trentham
Wellington

2 weeks
1 week

St Albans Church, Eastbourne

8605

26 November 1914

Rev. E. J. Sola

No	963
Date of Notice	26 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Mackay John Scobie Campbell	Harriet Ellen Baker
BDM Match (98%)	MacKay John Scobie Campbell	Harriet Ellen Baker
	💍 1914/4757
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep-farmer
Age	37	35
Dwelling Place	Trentham	Wellington
Length of Residence	2 weeks	1 week
Marriage Place	St Albans Church, Eastbourne
Folio	8605
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. J. Sola

964

26 November 1914

Patrick John McGovern
Iris Rose McKeegan

Patrick John McGovern
Iris Rose McKeegan
💍 1914/5313

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Clerk

34
25

Rona Bay
Rona Bay

3 years
11 years

Roman Catholic Church, Rona Bay

9242

26 November 1914

Rev. F. Bartley

No	964
Date of Notice	26 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick John McGovern	Iris Rose McKeegan
	💍 1914/5313
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Clerk
Age	34	25
Dwelling Place	Rona Bay	Rona Bay
Length of Residence	3 years	11 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Rona Bay
Folio	9242
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Bartley

965

27 November 1914

Thomas Arthur Dolby
Alice Elizabeth White

Thomas Arthur Dobby
Alice Elizabeth White
💍 1914/3210

Widower June 1905
Spinster

Butcher

42
32

Petone
Petone

3 days
3 days Wellington

Registrar's Office, Wellington

7065

27 November 1914

Deputy Registrar

No	965
Date of Notice	27 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Arthur Dolby	Alice Elizabeth White
BDM Match (97%)	Thomas Arthur Dobby	Alice Elizabeth White
	💍 1914/3210
Condition	Widower June 1905	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	42	32
Dwelling Place	Petone	Petone
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days Wellington
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Wellington
Folio	7065
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar

966

27 November 1914

William Henry Allen
Alice Jessie Gibson

William Henry Allen
Alice Jessie Gibson
💍 1914/4660

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

37
32

Wellington
Wellington

5 years
4 years Wellington

St John's Church, Wellington

8558

27 November 1914

Rev. J. Gibb

No	966
Date of Notice	27 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Allen	Alice Jessie Gibson
	💍 1914/4660
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	37	32
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	5 years	4 years Wellington
Marriage Place	St John's Church, Wellington
Folio	8558
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Gibb

967

27 November 1914

John Edward Banning
Barbara Maud Westrupp

John Edward Canning
Barbara Maud Westrupp
💍 1914/4658

Bachelor
Spinster

Driver

36
29

Wellington
Wellington

20 months
6 years Island Bay

Presbyterian Church, Island Bay

8556

27 November 1914

Rev. W. Shirer

No	967
Date of Notice	27 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Edward Banning	Barbara Maud Westrupp
BDM Match (97%)	John Edward Canning	Barbara Maud Westrupp
	💍 1914/4658
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Driver
Age	36	29
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	20 months	6 years Island Bay
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Island Bay
Folio	8556
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Shirer

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).