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 1080

District of Hastings Quarter ending 30 June 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

8 April 1914

Robert Patrick McCarthy
Margaret Mary Sullivan

Robert Patrick McCarthy
Margaret Mary Sullivan
💍 1914/7771

Albert George Wills
Margaret Mary Sullivan
💍 1915/8967

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Domestic Duties

25
26

Hastings
Hastings

25 years
6 years

Roman Catholic Church Hastings

2411

8 April 1914

Rev. Father Keogh

No	31
Date of Notice	8 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Patrick McCarthy	Margaret Mary Sullivan
	💍 1914/7771
BDM Match (65%)	Albert George Wills	Margaret Mary Sullivan
	💍 1915/8967
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Domestic Duties
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	25 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Hastings
Folio	2411
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Keogh

18 April 1914

Peter McGregor
Glory Viola Elsie McKay

Peter McGregor
Glory Viola Elsie McKay
💍 1914/8906

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Domestic

28
16

Hastings
Hastings

3 years
7 years

Presbyterian Church Hastings

3501

Duncan Forbes McKay, Father

18 April 1914

Rev. P. Ramsay

No	32
Date of Notice	18 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter McGregor	Glory Viola Elsie McKay
	💍 1914/8906
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Domestic
Age	28	16
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Hastings
Folio	3501
Consent	Duncan Forbes McKay, Father
Date of Certificate	18 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay

22 April 1914

John Tinsley Horton
Mary Elizabeth Ebbett

John Tinsley Horton
Mary Elizabeth Ebbett
💍 1914/5970

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic duties

24
24

Hastings
Hastings

6 years
9 years

Presbyterian Church Hastings

3507

22 April 1914

Rev. P. Ramsay

No	33
Date of Notice	22 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Tinsley Horton	Mary Elizabeth Ebbett
	💍 1914/5970
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic duties
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	6 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Hastings
Folio	3507
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay

23 April 1914

Robert James Doubleday
Bertha Amelia Jeffreys

Robert James Doubleday
Bertha Amelia Jeffreys
💍 1914/9000

Widower
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic duties

44
45

Hastings
Hastings

6 years
44 years

Wesleyan Church Hastings

4069

23 April 1914

Rev. T. J. Wallis

No	34
Date of Notice	23 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert James Doubleday	Bertha Amelia Jeffreys
	💍 1914/9000
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic duties
Age	44	45
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	6 years	44 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church Hastings
Folio	4069
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. J. Wallis

24 April 1914

Albert Victor Wilkinson
Lucy Adelaide Barker

Albert Victor Wilkinson
Lucy Adelaide Barker
💍 1914/7823

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant
Nurse

32
33

Hastings
Hastings

3 days
3 years

St. Matthews Church, Hastings

2463

24 April 1914

Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

No	35
Date of Notice	24 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Victor Wilkinson	Lucy Adelaide Barker
	💍 1914/7823
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	Nurse
Age	32	33
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church, Hastings
Folio	2463
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

28 April 1914

Henry James O'Kane
Mary Margaret Goode

Henry James O'Kane
Mary Margaret Goode
💍 1914/8903

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Housekeeper

26
24

Tomoana
Tomoana

7 years
2 years

Catholic Church Hastings

3498

28 April 1914

Rev. Father Keogh

No	36
Date of Notice	28 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry James O'Kane	Mary Margaret Goode
	💍 1914/8903
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Housekeeper
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Tomoana	Tomoana
Length of Residence	7 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Catholic Church Hastings
Folio	3498
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Keogh

4 May 1914

William Ebenezer Orr Hyslop
Lylie Marches Blake

William Ebenezer Orr Hyslop
Lylie Morehu Blake
💍 1914/7825

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Importer
Household duties

31
26

Hastings
Hastings

6 years
26 years

Rev. Vivian Hyslop's residence Rangatere tere

2465

4 May 1914

Rev. Noel Robertshawe

No	37
Date of Notice	4 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Ebenezer Orr Hyslop	Lylie Marches Blake
BDM Match (89%)	William Ebenezer Orr Hyslop	Lylie Morehu Blake
	💍 1914/7825
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Importer	Household duties
Age	31	26
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	6 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Rev. Vivian Hyslop's residence Rangatere tere
Folio	2465
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Noel Robertshawe

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).