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 1048

District of Napier Quarter ending 30 September 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

10 September 1918

John Steele
Nellie Collins

John Steele
Nellie Collins
💍 1918/4813

Bachelor
Spinster

Cook
Housemaid

29
21

Napier
Napier

9 weeks
2 months

St Pauls Church Napier

4351

10 September 1918

Rev. J. A. Asher, Presbyterian

No	81
Date of Notice	10 September 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Steele	Nellie Collins
	💍 1918/4813
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cook	Housemaid
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	9 weeks	2 months
Marriage Place	St Pauls Church Napier
Folio	4351
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 September 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Asher, Presbyterian

12 September 1918

William McKee
Jane Wrathall (M.N. Halstead)

William McKee
Jane Wrathall
💍 1918/4824

Bachelor
Widow 13th September 1915

Wagoner
Household Duties

42
39

Napier
Napier

12 years
5 years

St Pauls Church Napier

4352

12 September 1918

Rev. J. A. Asher, Presbyterian

No	82
Date of Notice	12 September 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William McKee	Jane Wrathall (M.N. Halstead)
BDM Match (72%)	William McKee	Jane Wrathall
	💍 1918/4824
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 13th September 1915
Profession	Wagoner	Household Duties
Age	42	39
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	12 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St Pauls Church Napier
Folio	4352
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 September 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Asher, Presbyterian

13 September 1918

Lionel Horace Pearpoint
Mary Bloomfield

Lionel Horace Pearpoint
Mary Bloomfield
💍 1918/4831

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Housemaid

30
24

Napier
Napier

3 years
4 years

Trinity Methodist Church Napier

4353

13 September 1918

Rev. T. R. Richards, Methodist

No	83
Date of Notice	13 September 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lionel Horace Pearpoint	Mary Bloomfield
	💍 1918/4831
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Housemaid
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Trinity Methodist Church Napier
Folio	4353
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 September 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. R. Richards, Methodist

18 September 1918

George Alfred Alderson Hesp
Ada Saxon (M.N. Slater)

George Alfred Alderson Hesp
Ada Saxon
💍 1918/4832

Widower 17th June 1916
Widow 11th December 1915

Surfaceman
Domestic Duties

41
37

Awatoto
Awatoto

20 years
6 months

Registrar's Office Napier

4354

18 September 1918

W. Buchanan, Registrar

No	84
Date of Notice	18 September 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Alfred Alderson Hesp	Ada Saxon (M.N. Slater)
BDM Match (70%)	George Alfred Alderson Hesp	Ada Saxon
	💍 1918/4832
Condition	Widower 17th June 1916	Widow 11th December 1915
Profession	Surfaceman	Domestic Duties
Age	41	37
Dwelling Place	Awatoto	Awatoto
Length of Residence	20 years	6 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Napier
Folio	4354
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 September 1918
Officiating Minister	W. Buchanan, Registrar

19 September 1918

Albert John Wilkins
Alice Nora Pearson

Albert John Wilkins
Alice Nora Pearson
💍 1918/4833

Bachelor
Spinster

Stonemason
Dressmaker

37
35

Napier
Napier

3 years
9 years

The Manse Lincoln Road Napier

4355

19 September 1918

Rev. J. A. Asher, Presbyterian

No	85
Date of Notice	19 September 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert John Wilkins	Alice Nora Pearson
	💍 1918/4833
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stonemason	Dressmaker
Age	37	35
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 years	9 years
Marriage Place	The Manse Lincoln Road Napier
Folio	4355
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 September 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).