Intentions to Marry, 1916 Mauriceville to Wellington

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840466, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1916 is bound in six volumes (a to f) with continuous page numbers. Each volume contains a different set of districts, going from north to south.

1916d contains pages 1381-1802, covering districts from Mauriceville to Wellington

Page 1441

District of Palmerston North Quarter ending 30 September 1916 Registrar C. E. Shortt

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

123

2 September 1916

William John Coman
Harriett Rose May Stephenson

William John Coman
Harriett Rose May Stephenson
💍 1916/8089

Bachelor
Spinster

Flaxcutter
Domestic duties

25
21

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

17 years
17 years

All Saints Church of England Palmerston North

5775

2 September 1916

Rev. H. G. Blackburne Anglican

No	123
Date of Notice	2 September 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Coman	Harriett Rose May Stephenson
	💍 1916/8089
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Flaxcutter	Domestic duties
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	17 years	17 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church of England Palmerston North
Folio	5775
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 September 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. G. Blackburne Anglican

124

4 September 1916

Charles William Pearce
Elsie Flowers

Charles William Pearce
Elsie Flowers
💍 1916/3073

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Domestic duties

24
20

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 days
3 days

Registrar's Office Palmerston North

5779

Emily Staples Guardian

4 September 1916

C. E. Shortt Registrar

No	124
Date of Notice	4 September 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles William Pearce	Elsie Flowers
	💍 1916/3073
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Domestic duties
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Palmerston North
Folio	5779
Consent	Emily Staples Guardian
Date of Certificate	4 September 1916
Officiating Minister	C. E. Shortt Registrar

125

5 September 1916

Norman Cyril Miller
Lillian Georgina Carter

Norman Cyril Miller
Lillian Georgina Carter
💍 1916/3072

Bachelor
Spinster

Musician
Theatrical

22
19

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 days
3 days

Registrar's Office Palmerston North

5778

Annie Maud Kathleen Trott (formerly Carter) mother

5 September 1916

C. E. Shortt Registrar

No	125
Date of Notice	5 September 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Cyril Miller	Lillian Georgina Carter
	💍 1916/3072
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Musician	Theatrical
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Palmerston North
Folio	5778
Consent	Annie Maud Kathleen Trott (formerly Carter) mother
Date of Certificate	5 September 1916
Officiating Minister	C. E. Shortt Registrar

126

6 September 1916

John Reginald Loftus Stamford
Sylvia Bethell Abraham

John Reginald Loftus Stanford
Sylvia Bethell Abraham
💍 1916/3054

Bachelor
Spinster

Solicitor
Domestic duties

38
25

Stratford
Palmerston North

14 years
25 years

All Saints Church of England Palmerston North

5776

14 September 1916

Rev. H. G. Blackburne Anglican

No	126
Date of Notice	6 September 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Reginald Loftus Stamford	Sylvia Bethell Abraham
BDM Match (98%)	John Reginald Loftus Stanford	Sylvia Bethell Abraham
	💍 1916/3054
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Solicitor	Domestic duties
Age	38	25
Dwelling Place	Stratford	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	14 years	25 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church of England Palmerston North
Folio	5776
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 September 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. G. Blackburne Anglican

127

9 September 1916

Emile John Rossin
Esther Barne

Emilie John Rossin
Esther Carne
💍 1916/3065

Bachelor
Spinster

Fitter
Domestic duties

33
20

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

7 years
2 months

Registrar's Office Palmerston North

5777

Richard Barne father

9 September 1916

C. E. Shortt Registrar

No	127
Date of Notice	9 September 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Emile John Rossin	Esther Barne
BDM Match (93%)	Emilie John Rossin	Esther Carne
	💍 1916/3065
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fitter	Domestic duties
Age	33	20
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	7 years	2 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Palmerston North
Folio	5777
Consent	Richard Barne father
Date of Certificate	9 September 1916
Officiating Minister	C. E. Shortt 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).