Intentions to Marry, 1917 Albertland to Hamilton

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840469, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1917 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.

1917a contains pages 1-356, covering districts from Albertland to Hamilton

Page 299

District of Gisborne Quarter ending 31 March 1917 Registrar H. E. Hill

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

5 January 1917

Henry Francis Wild
Mary Ellen Evans

Henry Francis Wild
Mary Ellen Evans
💍 1917/1556

Bachelor
Widow

Station hand
Dressmaker

36
32

Puha Poverty Bay
Puha

9 months
9 months

Private residence of Mrs J Malone, Brother-in-law of bride

712

5 January 1917

Rev Stephen Farragher Roman Catholic Minister Ormond

No	1.
Date of Notice	5 January 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Francis Wild	Mary Ellen Evans
	💍 1917/1556
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Station hand	Dressmaker
Age	36	32
Dwelling Place	Puha Poverty Bay	Puha
Length of Residence	9 months	9 months
Marriage Place	Private residence of Mrs J Malone, Brother-in-law of bride
Folio	712
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 January 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev Stephen Farragher Roman Catholic Minister Ormond

11 January 1917

George Frederick Powell
Alice Lynch

George Frederick Powell
Alice Lynch
💍 1917/1560

Widower
Spinster

Sheepfarmer
Domestic Duties

46
20

Matawai Poverty Bay
Matawai

3 years
6 years

The office of The Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

716

Charles Lynch (Father)

11 January 1917

Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

No	2.
Date of Notice	11 January 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Frederick Powell	Alice Lynch
	💍 1917/1560
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer	Domestic Duties
Age	46	20
Dwelling Place	Matawai Poverty Bay	Matawai
Length of Residence	3 years	6 years
Marriage Place	The office of The Registrar of Marriages Gisborne
Folio	716
Consent	Charles Lynch (Father)
Date of Certificate	11 January 1917
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

15 January 1917

Bayvill Burdett Isaacson
Annie Hilda Salmon

Bayzill Burdett Hacche
Annie Hilda Salmon
💍 1917/1558

Widower
Widow

Motor Mechanic
Home Duties

26
26

Gisborne
Gisborne

24 years
5 years

The residence of Mrs W. H. Hopps Rusoni Childers Road Gisborne

714

15 January 1917

Rev A J H Wheeldon Presbyterian Minister Matawhero

No	3.
Date of Notice	15 January 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bayvill Burdett Isaacson	Annie Hilda Salmon
BDM Match (85%)	Bayzill Burdett Hacche	Annie Hilda Salmon
	💍 1917/1558
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Motor Mechanic	Home Duties
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	24 years	5 years
Marriage Place	The residence of Mrs W. H. Hopps Rusoni Childers Road Gisborne
Folio	714
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev A J H Wheeldon Presbyterian Minister Matawhero

15 January 1917

Makoare Pepuere
Ira Pataronga Ngarangi

Makoare Pepuere
Ira Patarongu Ngarangi
💍 1917/1561

Bachelor
Spinster

Shearer
Domestic Duties

31
29

Te Arai
Murewai Poverty Bay

7 weeks
7 weeks

The office of The Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

717

15 January 1917

Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

No	4.
Date of Notice	15 January 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Makoare Pepuere	Ira Pataronga Ngarangi
BDM Match (98%)	Makoare Pepuere	Ira Patarongu Ngarangi
	💍 1917/1561
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shearer	Domestic Duties
Age	31	29
Dwelling Place	Te Arai	Murewai Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	7 weeks	7 weeks
Marriage Place	The office of The Registrar of Marriages Gisborne
Folio	717
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1917
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

19 January 1917

Henry John Sutton
Gertrude Allsup

Henry John Sutton
Gertrude Allsup
💍 1917/1559

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Home duties

24
26

Gisborne
Gisborne

18 months
3 years

Holy Trinity Church Gisborne

715

19 January 1917

Rev Horace Packe Church of England

No	5.
Date of Notice	19 January 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry John Sutton	Gertrude Allsup
	💍 1917/1559
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Home duties
Age	24	26
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	18 months	3 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church Gisborne
Folio	715
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 January 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev Horace Packe Church of England

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).