Intentions to Marry, 1918 Levin to Wellington

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840478, 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.

1918d contains pages 1249-1646, covering districts from Levin to Wellington

Page 1253

District of Levin Quarter ending 30 September 1918 Registrar H. H. Cook

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

14 August 1918

Denis Alfred Cyril Randall
Margaret Evelyn Moffet Palmer

Denis Alfred Cyril Landall
Margaret Evelyn Moffet Palmer
💍 1918/4848

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Hand
Domestic Duties

20
21

Levin
Levin

3 Days
3 Days

Residence of William Martin, Mabel Street, Weraroa

4417

Alfred Arthur Randall, Father

14 August 1918

Rev. M. Bawden Harris, Presbyterian

No	16
Date of Notice	14 August 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Denis Alfred Cyril Randall	Margaret Evelyn Moffet Palmer
BDM Match (98%)	Denis Alfred Cyril Landall	Margaret Evelyn Moffet Palmer
	💍 1918/4848
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Hand	Domestic Duties
Age	20	21
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	3 Days	3 Days
Marriage Place	Residence of William Martin, Mabel Street, Weraroa
Folio	4417
Consent	Alfred Arthur Randall, Father
Date of Certificate	14 August 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Bawden Harris, Presbyterian

21 August 1918

John Henry Crawford
Ellen Maude Tucker

John Henry Crawford
Ellen Maude Tucker
💍 1918/4850

Divorced
Spinster

Telegraph Lineman
Domestic Duties

48
43

Levin
Levin

3 Days
14 Days

Residence of Joseph Cartner, Bristol Street, Levin

4418

21 August 1918

Rev. J. H. Haslam, Methodist

No	17
Date of Notice	21 August 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Crawford	Ellen Maude Tucker
	💍 1918/4850
Condition	Divorced	Spinster
Profession	Telegraph Lineman	Domestic Duties
Age	48	43
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	3 Days	14 Days
Marriage Place	Residence of Joseph Cartner, Bristol Street, Levin
Folio	4418
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 August 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. Haslam, Methodist

27 August 1918

Frank Noel Fletcher
Alexa Christina Murray

Frank Noel Fletcher
Alexa Christina Murray
💍 1918/4851

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier
Domestic Duties

26
22

Featherston Military Camp
Levin

3 1/2 months
5 years

Presbyterian Church, Levin

4419

27 August 1918

Rev. M. Bawden-Harris, Presbyterian

No	18
Date of Notice	27 August 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Noel Fletcher	Alexa Christina Murray
	💍 1918/4851
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier	Domestic Duties
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Featherston Military Camp	Levin
Length of Residence	3 1/2 months	5 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Levin
Folio	4419
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 August 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Bawden-Harris, Presbyterian

9 September 1918

John Hesson
Hilda Annie Barratt

John Hesson
Hilda Annie Barratt
💍 1918/3273

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Tailoress

23
20

Levin
Levin

7 Days
16 years

Presbyterian Church, Levin

4420

Mary Esther Barratt, Mother

9 September 1918

Rev. M. Bawden-Harris, Presbyterian

No	19
Date of Notice	9 September 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Hesson	Hilda Annie Barratt
	💍 1918/3273
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Tailoress
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	7 Days	16 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Levin
Folio	4420
Consent	Mary Esther Barratt, Mother
Date of Certificate	9 September 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Bawden-Harris, Presbyterian

11 September 1918

John Nicholas Lawson
Alice Constance Hoskins Wilson

John Nicholas Lawson
Alice Constance Hookins Wilson
💍 1918/4852

Bachelor
Spinster

Stock Agent
Dentists Assistant

40
30

Levin
Levin

2 1/2 years
5 years

St Marys Church, Levin

4421

11 September 1918

Rev. Walter Frederick Grove, Anglican

No	20
Date of Notice	11 September 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Nicholas Lawson	Alice Constance Hoskins Wilson
BDM Match (98%)	John Nicholas Lawson	Alice Constance Hookins Wilson
	💍 1918/4852
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stock Agent	Dentists Assistant
Age	40	30
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St Marys Church, Levin
Folio	4421
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 September 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. Walter Frederick Grove, Anglican

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).