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 1345

District of Palmerston North Quarter ending 31 December 1918 Registrar C. E. Shortt

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

114

16 November 1918

William John Meyer
May Leese

William John Meyer
May Leese
💍 1918/6214

Bachelor
Spinster

Government Employee
Florist

25
18

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

4 months
5 months

Registrars Office Palmerston North

5891

Frederick William Leese, Father

16 November 1918

C.E. Shortt Registrar

No	114
Date of Notice	16 November 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Meyer	May Leese
	💍 1918/6214
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Government Employee	Florist
Age	25	18
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	4 months	5 months
Marriage Place	Registrars Office Palmerston North
Folio	5891
Consent	Frederick William Leese, Father
Date of Certificate	16 November 1918
Officiating Minister	C.E. Shortt Registrar

115

16 November 1918

Arthur Newton Williams
Frances Mary Winifred Glassford

Arthur Newton Williams
Frances Mary Winifred Glassford
💍 1918/6215

Bachelor
Spinster

Shipwright
Domestic

28
21

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 days
3 days

St Andrews Presbyterian Church Palmerston North

5892

16 November 1918

Rev A. Doull Presbyterian

No	115
Date of Notice	16 November 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Newton Williams	Frances Mary Winifred Glassford
	💍 1918/6215
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shipwright	Domestic
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St Andrews Presbyterian Church Palmerston North
Folio	5892
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 November 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev A. Doull Presbyterian

116

16 November 1918

Austin Cyril Baigent
Lillie Weston

Austin Cyril Baigent
Lillie Weston
💍 1918/6216

Bachelor
Spinster

Slaughterman
Domestic

27
22

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

5 months
22 years

All Saints Church of England Palmerston North

5893

16 November 1918

Rev H.G. Blackburne Anglican

No	116
Date of Notice	16 November 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Austin Cyril Baigent	Lillie Weston
	💍 1918/6216
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Slaughterman	Domestic
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	5 months	22 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church of England Palmerston North
Folio	5893
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 November 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev H.G. Blackburne Anglican

117

26 November 1918

Walter John Spooner
Jean Jamieson

Walter John Spooner
Jean Jamieson
💍 1918/6218

Widower
Spinster

Carriage Trimmer
Deaconess

50
38

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

2 1/2 years
38 years

Cuba Street Methodist Church Palmerston North

5894

26 November 1918

Rev A. Ashcroft Methodist

No	117
Date of Notice	26 November 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter John Spooner	Jean Jamieson
	💍 1918/6218
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Carriage Trimmer	Deaconess
Age	50	38
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	38 years
Marriage Place	Cuba Street Methodist Church Palmerston North
Folio	5894
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 November 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev A. Ashcroft Methodist

118

4 December 1918

Frederick Wilhelm Wesche
Fanny Annette Jorgensen

Frederich Wilhelm Wesche
Fanny Annette Jorgensen
💍 1918/6219

Bachelor
Widow

Builder
Domestic

35
38

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

16 years
16 years

Registrars Office Palmerston North

5895

4 December 1918

C.E. Shortt Registrar

No	118
Date of Notice	4 December 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Wilhelm Wesche	Fanny Annette Jorgensen
BDM Match (98%)	Frederich Wilhelm Wesche	Fanny Annette Jorgensen
	💍 1918/6219
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Builder	Domestic
Age	35	38
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	16 years	16 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office Palmerston North
Folio	5895
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 December 1918
Officiating Minister	C.E. Shortt Registrar

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).