Intentions to Marry, 1917 Mauriceville to Wellington

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840472, 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.

1917d contains pages 1283-1664, covering districts from Mauriceville to Wellington

Page 1638

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 December 1914 Registrar R. H. Ronclon

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

922

16 November 1914

Walter James Punter
Lottie Joycliffe

Walter James Punter
Lottie Joycliffe
💍 1917/5689

Bachelor
Spinster

Mechanic

39
31

Wellington
Wellington

2 years
6 months

St. Peters Church, Willis St., Wellington

5321

16 November 1914

Rev. H. Watson

No	922
Date of Notice	16 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter James Punter	Lottie Joycliffe
	💍 1917/5689
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mechanic
Age	39	31
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	2 years	6 months
Marriage Place	St. Peters Church, Willis St., Wellington
Folio	5321
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Watson

923

14 November 1914

Francis McLaughlin
Elizabeth Montgomery

Francis McLaughlin
Elizabeth Montgomerie
💍 1917/5690

Francis McLaughlin
Emily May Poulton
💍 1917/329

Widower 15/10/1913
Widow 14/5/1911

Coachbuilder

42
30

Wellington
Wellington

Life
6 months

Residence of Mr. McLaughlin, 13 Girton Terrace, Wellington

5322

14 November 1914

Rev. W. Shirer

No	923
Date of Notice	14 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis McLaughlin	Elizabeth Montgomery
BDM Match (95%)	Francis McLaughlin	Elizabeth Montgomerie
	💍 1917/5690
BDM Match (63%)	Francis McLaughlin	Emily May Poulton
	💍 1917/329
Condition	Widower 15/10/1913	Widow 14/5/1911
Profession	Coachbuilder
Age	42	30
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	Life	6 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. McLaughlin, 13 Girton Terrace, Wellington
Folio	5322
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Shirer

924

14 November 1914

Leonard Antonio Valledo Persley
Ethel Gladys Battersby

Leonard Antonio Valledo Reesby
Ethel Gladys Battersby
💍 1917/5691

Bachelor
Spinster

Pull. Chasser

20
23

Petone
Petone

12 years
Life

Church of Christ, Sydney St., Petone

5323

Dora Amy Persley, Mother

14 November 1914

Rev. F. J. Marshall

No	924
Date of Notice	14 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Antonio Valledo Persley	Ethel Gladys Battersby
BDM Match (94%)	Leonard Antonio Valledo Reesby	Ethel Gladys Battersby
	💍 1917/5691
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Pull. Chasser
Age	20	23
Dwelling Place	Petone	Petone
Length of Residence	12 years	Life
Marriage Place	Church of Christ, Sydney St., Petone
Folio	5323
Consent	Dora Amy Persley, Mother
Date of Certificate	14 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. J. Marshall

925

14 November 1914

John David Rowlands
May Catherine Harley

John David Rowlands
May Catherine Harley
💍 1917/5692

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier

38
26

Featherston
Wellington

2 months
4 months

St Andrews Manse, Hill St., Wellington

5324

14 November 1914

Rev. J. M. Thomson

No	925
Date of Notice	14 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John David Rowlands	May Catherine Harley
	💍 1917/5692
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier
Age	38	26
Dwelling Place	Featherston	Wellington
Length of Residence	2 months	4 months
Marriage Place	St Andrews Manse, Hill St., Wellington
Folio	5324
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Thomson

926

19 November 1914

Arthur James Mawson Nicholson
Helen d'Alva

Arthur James Mawson Nicholson
Helen d'Alva
💍 1917/5700

Bachelor
Widow 4/8/1911

Marine Engineer

40
27

s.s. "Rimutaka"
Karori, Wellington

3 years
4 days

Registrar's Office, Wellington

5325

19 November 1914

Deputy Registrar

No	926
Date of Notice	19 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur James Mawson Nicholson	Helen d'Alva
	💍 1917/5700
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 4/8/1911
Profession	Marine Engineer
Age	40	27
Dwelling Place	s.s. "Rimutaka"	Karori, Wellington
Length of Residence	3 years	4 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Wellington
Folio	5325
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar

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).