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 1084

District of Hastings Quarter ending 30 September 1914 Registrar Robert Braithwaite

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

24 July 1914

Joseph Luanaena
Helen Wilson

George Hounsell
Helen Wilson
💍 1914/377

Widower
Spinster

Native Landowner
Domestic

59
24

Hastings
Hastings

30 years
1 year

House, Hastings

Not sold see attached

24 July 1914

Rev. Patihana Kokiri

No	55
Date of Notice	24 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Luanaena	Helen Wilson
BDM Match (60%)	George Hounsell	Helen Wilson
	💍 1914/377
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Native Landowner	Domestic
Age	59	24
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	30 years	1 year
Marriage Place	House, Hastings
Folio	Not sold see attached
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Patihana Kokiri

28 July 1914

James McConachy
Mary Blackstock

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Manager
Domestic

23
21

Hastings
Hastings

3 days
2 days

St. Andrews Church, Hastings

5382

28 July 1914

Rev. Peter Ramsay

No	56
Date of Notice	28 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James McConachy	Mary Blackstock
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Manager	Domestic
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 days	2 days
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church, Hastings
Folio	5382
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Peter Ramsay

29 July 1914

William Lory
Lilian Theresa Leyers

William Lory
Lilian Theresa Myers
💍 1914/1711

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic duties

28
27

Hastings
Hastings

6 years
1 year

St. Matthews Church, Hastings

5407

29 July 1914

Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

No	57
Date of Notice	29 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Lory	Lilian Theresa Leyers
BDM Match (95%)	William Lory	Lilian Theresa Myers
	💍 1914/1711
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic duties
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	6 years	1 year
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church, Hastings
Folio	5407
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

30 July 1914

Richard Philson Abraham
Jessie Dorothy Crosse

Richard Philson Abraham
Jessica Dorothy Crosse
💍 1914/1721

Bachelor
Spinster

Auctioneer
Domestic duties

30
22

Palmerston North
Hastings

30 years
22 years

St. Luke's, Havelock North

5391

30 July 1914

Rev. J. A. Lush

No	58
Date of Notice	30 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Philson Abraham	Jessie Dorothy Crosse
BDM Match (95%)	Richard Philson Abraham	Jessica Dorothy Crosse
	💍 1914/1721
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Auctioneer	Domestic duties
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Hastings
Length of Residence	30 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's, Havelock North
Folio	5391
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Lush

3 August 1914

Bernard George Atkins
Margaret Mary Barry

Bernard George Atkins
Margaret Mary Barry
💍 1914/1383

Bachelor
Spinster

Waiter
Ladiesmaid

23
23

Hastings
Hastings

6 months
23 years

Catholic Church, Hastings

5027

3 August 1914

Rev. Father Keogh

No	59
Date of Notice	3 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bernard George Atkins	Margaret Mary Barry
	💍 1914/1383
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Waiter	Ladiesmaid
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	6 months	23 years
Marriage Place	Catholic Church, Hastings
Folio	5027
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Keogh

4 August 1914

Rata Clark
Frances Mary Langley

Rata Clark
Frances Mary Langley
💍 1914/1712

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman
Domestic

25
24

Hastings
Hastings

3 days
3 days

St. Matthews Church, Hastings

5408

4 August 1914

Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

No	60
Date of Notice	4 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Rata Clark	Frances Mary Langley
	💍 1914/1712
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman	Domestic
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church, Hastings
Folio	5408
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

6 August 1914

Alfred Waugh
Sarah Jane McClelland

Alfred Waugh
Sarah Jane McLelland
💍 1914/1723

Alfred Hayter
Sarah Jane Jenkins
💍 1914/7780

Bachelor
Divorced

Labourer
Dressmaker

35
38

Hastings
Hastings

10 years
15 years

House of Rev. T. J. Wallis

5393

6 August 1914

Rev. T. J. Wallis

No	61
Date of Notice	6 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Waugh	Sarah Jane McClelland
BDM Match (95%)	Alfred Waugh	Sarah Jane McLelland
	💍 1914/1723
BDM Match (62%)	Alfred Hayter	Sarah Jane Jenkins
	💍 1914/7780
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced
Profession	Labourer	Dressmaker
Age	35	38
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	10 years	15 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. T. J. Wallis
Folio	5393
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. J. Wallis

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).