Intentions to Marry, 1918 Kuaotunu to Whangaroa

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840476, 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.

1918b contains pages 433-864, covering districts from Kuaotunu to Whangaroa

Page 856

District of Whangarei Quarter ending 31 December 1918 Registrar O. E. Bice

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

33/18

15 November 1918

Thomas Alexander Steen
Rachel Donaldson

Thomas Alexander Steen
Rachel Donaldson
💍 1918/6081

Bachelor
Divorced 2 November 1918

Military Policeman
Domestic

33
32

Whangarei
Whangarei

one week
one week

Residence of James Cadman Whangarei

5707

15 November 1918

Rev J. R. Clark Presbyterian Methodist Minister

No	33/18
Date of Notice	15 November 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Alexander Steen	Rachel Donaldson
	💍 1918/6081
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced 2 November 1918
Profession	Military Policeman	Domestic
Age	33	32
Dwelling Place	Whangarei	Whangarei
Length of Residence	one week	one week
Marriage Place	Residence of James Cadman Whangarei
Folio	5707
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 November 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev J. R. Clark Presbyterian Methodist Minister

34/18

27 November 1918

Sidney Worner
Katherine Duncan Campbell

Sidney Worner
Katherine Duncan Campbell
💍 1918/6082

Widower 13 February 1904
Spinster

Railway Employee
Housekeeper

45
31

Whangarei
Whangarei

15 years
31 years

Residence of D. G. Kean Woodhill Whangarei

5708

27 November 1918

Rev G. W. Lochore Presbyterian Minister

No	34/18
Date of Notice	27 November 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sidney Worner	Katherine Duncan Campbell
	💍 1918/6082
Condition	Widower 13 February 1904	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employee	Housekeeper
Age	45	31
Dwelling Place	Whangarei	Whangarei
Length of Residence	15 years	31 years
Marriage Place	Residence of D. G. Kean Woodhill Whangarei
Folio	5708
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 November 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev G. W. Lochore Presbyterian Minister

35/18

10 December 1918

William Andrew Waddell
Jessie Morris

William Andrew Waddell
Jessie Morris
💍 1918/6083

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Typist

24
29

Whangarei
Whangarei

3 days
3 months

Presbyterian Church Whangarei

5709

10 December 1918

Rev G. W. Lochore Presbyterian Minister

No	35/18
Date of Notice	10 December 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Andrew Waddell	Jessie Morris
	💍 1918/6083
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Typist
Age	24	29
Dwelling Place	Whangarei	Whangarei
Length of Residence	3 days	3 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Whangarei
Folio	5709
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 December 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev G. W. Lochore Presbyterian Minister

36/18

13 December 1918

William George Attwood
Eliza Ann Wyatt

William George Attwood
Eliza Ann Wyatt
💍 1918/6140

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Nurse

36
25

Kara
Towai

10 years
10 years

Dwelling of F. Wyatt Towai

5642

13 December 1918

Rev J. E. Holloway Church of England Minister

No	36/18
Date of Notice	13 December 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William George Attwood	Eliza Ann Wyatt
	💍 1918/6140
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Nurse
Age	36	25
Dwelling Place	Kara	Towai
Length of Residence	10 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of F. Wyatt Towai
Folio	5642
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 December 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev J. E. Holloway Church of England Minister

37/18

23 December 1918

George Benjamin Levy
Clementina Lucilla Louisa Bowdell

George Benjamin Levy
Clementina Lucille Louisa Cowdell
💍 1918/6084

Widower 20 February 1917
Widow 30 July 1907

Postmaster
Domestic Duties

54
45

Whangarei
Whangarei

1 2/3 years
26 years

Anglican Church Whangarei

5710

23 December 1918

Rev F. D. Briscoe Church of England Minister

No	37/18
Date of Notice	23 December 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Benjamin Levy	Clementina Lucilla Louisa Bowdell
BDM Match (97%)	George Benjamin Levy	Clementina Lucille Louisa Cowdell
	💍 1918/6084
Condition	Widower 20 February 1917	Widow 30 July 1907
Profession	Postmaster	Domestic Duties
Age	54	45
Dwelling Place	Whangarei	Whangarei
Length of Residence	1 2/3 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church Whangarei
Folio	5710
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 December 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev F. D. Briscoe Church of England Minister

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).