Intentions to Marry, 1918 Aria to Hunterville

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840477, 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.

1918c contains pages 865-1248, covering districts from Aria to Hunterville

Page 1040

District of Napier Quarter ending 30 June 1918 Registrar W. Buchanan

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

13 June 1918

James Walter Russell
Bertha Beatrice Maude Warden

James Walter Russell
Bertha Maude Warden
💍 1918/3113

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
cook

38
34

Napier
Napier

2 years
3 months

St John's Cathedral Napier

2706

13 June 1918

Rev. Canon Mayne, Church of England

No	49
Date of Notice	13 June 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Walter Russell	Bertha Beatrice Maude Warden
BDM Match (84%)	James Walter Russell	Bertha Maude Warden
	💍 1918/3113
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	cook
Age	38	34
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	2 years	3 months
Marriage Place	St John's Cathedral Napier
Folio	2706
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 June 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. Canon Mayne, Church of England

15 June 1918

James Charles Ryman
Kathleen Eleanor Victoria Alice Mouldey

James Charles Ryman
Kathleen Eleanor Victoria Alice Mouldey
💍 1918/3114

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier late Farmer
Domestic

46
21

Napier
Napier

3 days
3 days

The Manse Lincoln Road Napier

2707

15 June 1918

Rev. J. A. Asher, Presbyterian

No	50
Date of Notice	15 June 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Charles Ryman	Kathleen Eleanor Victoria Alice Mouldey
	💍 1918/3114
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier late Farmer	Domestic
Age	46	21
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	The Manse Lincoln Road Napier
Folio	2707
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 June 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Asher, Presbyterian

17 June 1918

Allan William Anderson
Esther Emily Person

Allan William Anderson
Esther Emily Person
💍 1918/3525

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

24
20

Clive
Clive

12 years
4 years

St Mark's Church Clive

2910

August Person Father

17 June 1918

Rev. Alfred Hall, Church of England

No	51
Date of Notice	17 June 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Allan William Anderson	Esther Emily Person
	💍 1918/3525
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Clive	Clive
Length of Residence	12 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St Mark's Church Clive
Folio	2910
Consent	August Person Father
Date of Certificate	17 June 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alfred Hall, Church of England

24 June 1918

Joseph Bramwell Wainscott
Emma Lillian Martin

Joseph Bramwell Wainscott
Emma Lillian Martin
💍 1918/3115

Bachelor
Spinster

Dairy Factory Manager
Typist

28
21

Napier
Napier

5 days
2 1/2 years

Presbyterian Church Taradale

2708

24 June 1918

Rev. R. F. Fish, Presbyterian

No	52
Date of Notice	24 June 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Bramwell Wainscott	Emma Lillian Martin
	💍 1918/3115
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dairy Factory Manager	Typist
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	5 days	2 1/2 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Taradale
Folio	2708
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 June 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. F. Fish, Presbyterian

27 June 1918

Joseph Daniel McIver
Louisa Mouat

Joseph Daniel McIver
Louisa Mouat
💍 1918/3116

Bachelor
Widow (27 April 1918)

Labourer
Domestic Duties

34
40

Napier
Napier

4 days
3 days

The Manse Lincoln Road Napier

2709

27 June 1918

Rev. J. A. Asher, Presbyterian

No	53
Date of Notice	27 June 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Daniel McIver	Louisa Mouat
	💍 1918/3116
Condition	Bachelor	Widow (27 April 1918)
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	34	40
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	4 days	3 days
Marriage Place	The Manse Lincoln Road Napier
Folio	2709
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 June 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Asher, Presbyterian

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).