Intentions to Marry, 1918 Albertland to Kohukohu

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840475, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1918 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.

1918a contains pages 1-432, covering districts from Albertland to Kohukohu

Page 292

District of Gisborne Quarter ending 30 June 1918 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

20 May 1918

John Wynn McGaveston
Dorothea O'Donnell

John Wynn McGaveston
Dorothea O'Donnell
💍 1918/2815

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Home Duties

19
20

Makauri Gisborne
Makauri Gisborne

Life
Life

The private residence of the Bridegroom Makauri Gisborne

2382

Charles Winnford McGaveston (Father), James Harris O'Donnell (Father)

20 May 1918

Rev. A. W. Wheeldon Presbyterian Minister Matawhero

No	50
Date of Notice	20 May 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Wynn McGaveston	Dorothea O'Donnell
	💍 1918/2815
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Home Duties
Age	19	20
Dwelling Place	Makauri Gisborne	Makauri Gisborne
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	The private residence of the Bridegroom Makauri Gisborne
Folio	2382
Consent	Charles Winnford McGaveston (Father), James Harris O'Donnell (Father)
Date of Certificate	20 May 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. W. Wheeldon Presbyterian Minister Matawhero

20 May 1918

James Kilpatrick
Kate Evelyn Gibson

James Kilpatrick
Kate Evelyn Gibson
💍 1918/2816

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Home Duties

31
27

Waiohika Gisborne
Manutuke Gisborne

6 years
25 years

The Residence of the Bride's Parents Manutuke

2383

20 May 1918

Rev. A. W. Wheeldon Presbyterian Minister

No	51
Date of Notice	20 May 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Kilpatrick	Kate Evelyn Gibson
	💍 1918/2816
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Home Duties
Age	31	27
Dwelling Place	Waiohika Gisborne	Manutuke Gisborne
Length of Residence	6 years	25 years
Marriage Place	The Residence of the Bride's Parents Manutuke
Folio	2383
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 May 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. W. Wheeldon Presbyterian Minister

24 May 1918

Herbert Frank Robb
Muriel Gimblett Harding

Herbert Frank Robb
Muriel Gimblett Harding
💍 1918/2817

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier, 38th Reinforcements 73950.
School Teacher

28
29

Gisborne
Matawai Poverty Bay

Life
2 1/2 years

The residence of the Bride's Parents Matawai Poverty Bay.

2384

24 May 1918

Rev. Douglas Bloomfield Malcolm Church of England

No	52
Date of Notice	24 May 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Frank Robb	Muriel Gimblett Harding
	💍 1918/2817
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier, 38th Reinforcements 73950.	School Teacher
Age	28	29
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Matawai Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	Life	2 1/2 years
Marriage Place	The residence of the Bride's Parents Matawai Poverty Bay.
Folio	2384
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 May 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. Douglas Bloomfield Malcolm Church of England

31 May 1918

Leonard Moulem
Florence Rita Whiteley

Leonard Mowlem
Florence Rita Whiteley
💍 1918/2794

Bachelor
Spinster

Warrant Officer Royal N. Naval Radio Service
Domestic Duties

36
26

Gisborne
Gisborne

1 month
5 years

Holy Trinity Church Gisborne

2385

31 May 1918

Rev. Horace Packe Church of England

No	53
Date of Notice	31 May 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Moulem	Florence Rita Whiteley
BDM Match (96%)	Leonard Mowlem	Florence Rita Whiteley
	💍 1918/2794
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warrant Officer Royal N. Naval Radio Service	Domestic Duties
Age	36	26
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	1 month	5 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church Gisborne
Folio	2385
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. Horace Packe Church of England

5 June 1918

Leslie Balfour
Florence Amy Winter

Leslie Balfour
Florence Amy Winter
💍 1918/2795

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic duties

28
21

Mangapapa Gisborne
Mangapapa Gisborne

6 years
21 years

Holy Trinity Church Gisborne

2386

5 June 1918

Rev. Horace Packe Church of England

No	54
Date of Notice	5 June 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie Balfour	Florence Amy Winter
	💍 1918/2795
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic duties
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Mangapapa Gisborne	Mangapapa Gisborne
Length of Residence	6 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church Gisborne
Folio	2386
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 June 1918
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).