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 1106

District of Napier Quarter ending 30 September 1914 Registrar William Buchanan

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

122

15 July 1914

William Bowen Christian
Iris Hilda Gannaway

William Cowin Christian
Iris Hilda Gannaway
💍 1914/1784

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman
Factory Hand

26
19

Napier
Napier

6 months
19 years

Congregational Church Napier

5431

Alan Hartley Gannaway, Father

15 July 1914

Rev. Alfred Hodge

No	122
Date of Notice	15 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Bowen Christian	Iris Hilda Gannaway
BDM Match (96%)	William Cowin Christian	Iris Hilda Gannaway
	💍 1914/1784
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman	Factory Hand
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	6 months	19 years
Marriage Place	Congregational Church Napier
Folio	5431
Consent	Alan Hartley Gannaway, Father
Date of Certificate	15 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alfred Hodge

123

17 July 1914

William Thomas Walls
Sarah Amelia Jones

William Thomas Walls
Sarah Amelia Jones
💍 1914/1882

Bachelor
Spinster

Brickmaker
Lady Help

32
25

Napier
Napier

10 years
25 years

St. Augustine's Church Napier

5530

17 July 1914

Rev. Canon Tuke

No	123
Date of Notice	17 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Thomas Walls	Sarah Amelia Jones
	💍 1914/1882
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Brickmaker	Lady Help
Age	32	25
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	10 years	25 years
Marriage Place	St. Augustine's Church Napier
Folio	5530
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Canon Tuke

124

18 July 1914

Kenneth Philip Smith
Agnes Chynoweth Knapp

Kenneth Philip Smith
Agnes Chynoweth Knapp
💍 1914/5196

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Shop Assistant

26
20

Napier
Napier

18 months
20 years

Wesleyan Hall Napier

9095

William Alfred Knapp, Father

18 July 1914

Rev. T. R. Richards

No	124
Date of Notice	18 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Kenneth Philip Smith	Agnes Chynoweth Knapp
	💍 1914/5196
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Shop Assistant
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	18 months	20 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Hall Napier
Folio	9095
Consent	William Alfred Knapp, Father
Date of Certificate	18 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. R. Richards

125

20 July 1914

Joseph Richard Snoswell
Lilly Agnes Flaherty

Joseph Richard Snoswell
Lilly Agnes Flaherty
💍 1914/1726

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

31
21

Napier
Napier

18 years
4 months

St. Patrick's Church Napier

5395

20 July 1914

Rev. Father O'Connor

No	125
Date of Notice	20 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Richard Snoswell	Lilly Agnes Flaherty
	💍 1914/1726
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	31	21
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	18 years	4 months
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Church Napier
Folio	5395
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father O'Connor

126

21 July 1914

David Murray
Ruby Isabel Morrison

David Murray
Ruby Isabel Morrison
💍 1914/1729

Bachelor
Spinster

Cycle Agent Drawer
Woollen Mill

29
23

Westshore
Westshore

6 months
3 days

The Manse Lincoln Road Napier

5398

21 July 1914

Rev. J. A. Asher

No	126
Date of Notice	21 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Murray	Ruby Isabel Morrison
	💍 1914/1729
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cycle Agent Drawer	Woollen Mill
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Westshore	Westshore
Length of Residence	6 months	3 days
Marriage Place	The Manse Lincoln Road Napier
Folio	5398
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Asher

127

21 July 1914

William Alfred Rowland Oakley
Nellie Doris Sheffield

William Alfred Rowland Oakley
Nellie Doris Sheffield
💍 1914/2910

Bachelor
Spinster

Secretary
Clerk

26
26

Napier
Napier

8 months
17 months

St Johns Cathedral Napier

6762

21 July 1914

Rev. Canon Mayne

No	127
Date of Notice	21 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Alfred Rowland Oakley	Nellie Doris Sheffield
	💍 1914/2910
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Secretary	Clerk
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	8 months	17 months
Marriage Place	St Johns Cathedral Napier
Folio	6762
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Canon Mayne

128

25 July 1914

Leonard William Beach
Daisy Mabel Addison

Leonard William Beach
Daisy Mabel Addison
💍 1914/1781

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Packer

29
19

Port Ahuriri
Port Ahuriri

29 years
6 years

Presbyterian Church Port Ahuriri

5428

Jesse Addison, Father

25 July 1914

Rev. Thos. Tait

No	128
Date of Notice	25 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard William Beach	Daisy Mabel Addison
	💍 1914/1781
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Packer
Age	29	19
Dwelling Place	Port Ahuriri	Port Ahuriri
Length of Residence	29 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Port Ahuriri
Folio	5428
Consent	Jesse Addison, Father
Date of Certificate	25 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thos. Tait

129

28 July 1914

Adam James McNeill
Margaret Susette Bracknell

Adam James McNeill
Margaret Susette Cracknell
💍 1914/1705

Divorced 23 July 1914
Spinster

Farm Manager
Housekeeper

40
34

Petane
Petane

8 years
6 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages Napier

5424

28 July 1914

W. Buchanan, Registrar

No	129
Date of Notice	28 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Adam James McNeill	Margaret Susette Bracknell
BDM Match (98%)	Adam James McNeill	Margaret Susette Cracknell
	💍 1914/1705
Condition	Divorced 23 July 1914	Spinster
Profession	Farm Manager	Housekeeper
Age	40	34
Dwelling Place	Petane	Petane
Length of Residence	8 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages Napier
Folio	5424
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 July 1914
Officiating Minister	W. Buchanan, Registrar

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).