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 1088

District of Hastings Quarter ending 31 December 1914 Registrar Robert Brathwaite

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

11 November 1914

Frederick Nicholls
Mary Lovett

Frederick Nicholls
Mary Lovett
💍 1914/3839

Bachelor
Widow

Shepherd
Domestic

45
54

Hastings
Hastings

2 weeks
2 weeks

Registrar's Office, Hastings

14/7619

11 November 1914

Robert Brathwaite

No	80
Date of Notice	11 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Nicholls	Mary Lovett
	💍 1914/3839
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic
Age	45	54
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	2 weeks	2 weeks
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Hastings
Folio	14/7619
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Robert Brathwaite

17 November 1914

Henry John Fourneau
Jane Maria Lansdown

Henry John Fownran
Jena Maria Lansdown
💍 1914/3824

Bachelor
Spinster

Orchardist
Domestic duties

27
30

Hastings
Havelock North

3 days
3 years

St. Luke's Church, Havelock

14/7628

17 November 1914

Rev. J. A. Lush

No	81
Date of Notice	17 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry John Fourneau	Jane Maria Lansdown
BDM Match (84%)	Henry John Fownran	Jena Maria Lansdown
	💍 1914/3824
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Orchardist	Domestic duties
Age	27	30
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Havelock North
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church, Havelock
Folio	14/7628
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Lush

21 November 1914

William Hector Jones
Ethel May Tipping

William Hector Jones
Ethel May Tipping
💍 1914/3821

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer
Domestic duties

22
23

Hastings
Hastings

20 years
2 1/2 years

Residence of Mrs. J. Tipping, Hastings

14/7625

21 November 1914

Rev. P. Ramsay

No	82
Date of Notice	21 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Hector Jones	Ethel May Tipping
	💍 1914/3821
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer	Domestic duties
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	20 years	2 1/2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. J. Tipping, Hastings
Folio	14/7625
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay

23 November 1914

George Eric Hamilton Beamish
Laila Maurice Leason

George Eric Hamilton Beamish
Laila Maurice Mason
💍 1914/3822

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer
Domestic duties

24
23

Hastings
Hastings

24 years
23 years

St. Matthew's Church, Hastings

14/7626

23 November 1914

Rev. C. L. Tuke

No	83
Date of Notice	23 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Eric Hamilton Beamish	Laila Maurice Leason
BDM Match (95%)	George Eric Hamilton Beamish	Laila Maurice Mason
	💍 1914/3822
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer	Domestic duties
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	24 years	23 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church, Hastings
Folio	14/7626
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. L. Tuke

27 November 1914

Louis John Alfred Stewart
Helen Annie Davies

Louis John Alfred Stewart
Helen Annie Davies
💍 1914/3823

Bachelor
Spinster

Saddler
Domestic duties

30
24

Hastings
Hastings

20 years
1 year

Presbyterian Manse, Hastings

14/7627

27 November 1914

Rev. P. Ramsay

No	84
Date of Notice	27 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Louis John Alfred Stewart	Helen Annie Davies
	💍 1914/3823
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler	Domestic duties
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	20 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Hastings
Folio	14/7627
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay

28 November 1914

James McCutchan
Elizabeth Douglas Ayson

James McCutchan
Elizabeth Douglas Ayson
💍 1914/5315

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

62
24

Hastings
Hastings

3 days
3 years

Residence of Mrs. Ayson, Omahu Rd, Hastings

14/9244

28 November 1914

Rev. P. Ramsay

No	85
Date of Notice	28 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James McCutchan	Elizabeth Douglas Ayson
	💍 1914/5315
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	62	24
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Ayson, Omahu Rd, Hastings
Folio	14/9244
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay

4 December 1914

Grove Vowless
Jessie Amelia Santos

Grove Vowless
Jessie Amelia Santos
💍 1914/3816

Widower
Widow

Railway Employee
Domestic

52
46

Paki Paki
Paki Paki

14 years
1 week

Registrar's Office, Hastings

14/7620

4 December 1914

Robert Brathwaite

No	86
Date of Notice	4 December 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Grove Vowless	Jessie Amelia Santos
	💍 1914/3816
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Railway Employee	Domestic
Age	52	46
Dwelling Place	Paki Paki	Paki Paki
Length of Residence	14 years	1 week
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Hastings
Folio	14/7620
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 December 1914
Officiating Minister	Robert Brathwaite

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).