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 1369

District of Rangitikei Quarter ending 30 September 1918 Registrar R. W. Bayley

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

03 July 1918

William George Moss
Gertrude Beatrice Meyer

William George Moss
Gertrude Beatrice Meyer
💍 1918/4919

Widower
Spinster

Roadman
Domestic Servant

41
21

Marton Junction
Marton

20 years
Life

Mrs Meyer's Residence Marton

4490

03 July 1918

Rev. L. H. Hunt Presbyterian

No	10
Date of Notice	03 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William George Moss	Gertrude Beatrice Meyer
	💍 1918/4919
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Roadman	Domestic Servant
Age	41	21
Dwelling Place	Marton Junction	Marton
Length of Residence	20 years	Life
Marriage Place	Mrs Meyer's Residence Marton
Folio	4490
Consent
Date of Certificate	03 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. H. Hunt Presbyterian

10 July 1918

Wilfred Cyprian Lee
Margaret Viola Cameron

Wilfrid Cypican Lee
Margaret Viola Cameron
💍 1918/4920

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

29
26

Turakina
Turakina

3 days
Life

Mr Cameron's Residence Turakina

4491

10 July 1918

Rev. Jas. Wilson Presbyterian

No	11
Date of Notice	10 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Wilfred Cyprian Lee	Margaret Viola Cameron
BDM Match (92%)	Wilfrid Cypican Lee	Margaret Viola Cameron
	💍 1918/4920
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	29	26
Dwelling Place	Turakina	Turakina
Length of Residence	3 days	Life
Marriage Place	Mr Cameron's Residence Turakina
Folio	4491
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jas. Wilson Presbyterian

05 August 1918

John Blakely
Annie Elizabeth Poppe

John Blakely
Annie Elizabeth Poppe
💍 1918/4922

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

41
28

Marton
Marton

5 years
Life

A Poppe's Residence Marton

4492

August Poppe Father

05 August 1918

Rev. L. H. Hunt Presbyterian

No	12
Date of Notice	05 August 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Blakely	Annie Elizabeth Poppe
	💍 1918/4922
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	41	28
Dwelling Place	Marton	Marton
Length of Residence	5 years	Life
Marriage Place	A Poppe's Residence Marton
Folio	4492
Consent	August Poppe Father
Date of Certificate	05 August 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. H. Hunt Presbyterian

15 August 1918

William Barnett
Lydia Ann Dixon

William Barnett
Lydia Nuu Dixon
💍 1918/4923

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Domestic Servant

61
50

Turakina
Turakina

1 month
6 months

Church of England Marton

4493

15 August 1918

Rev. V. H. Kitcat Church of England

No	13
Date of Notice	15 August 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Barnett	Lydia Ann Dixon
BDM Match (90%)	William Barnett	Lydia Nuu Dixon
	💍 1918/4923
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Domestic Servant
Age	61	50
Dwelling Place	Turakina	Turakina
Length of Residence	1 month	6 months
Marriage Place	Church of England Marton
Folio	4493
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 August 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. V. H. Kitcat Church of England

27 August 1918

Jefferson Pearson Armstrong
Mabel Betsey Hurst Curtis

Jefferson Pearson Armstrong
Mabel Betsey Hunt Curteis
💍 1918/4924

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Servant

20
21

Marton
Marton

6 years
14 years

Registrar Office Marton

4494

John Keatley Armstrong

27 August 1918

Registrar Marton

No	14
Date of Notice	27 August 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jefferson Pearson Armstrong	Mabel Betsey Hurst Curtis
BDM Match (94%)	Jefferson Pearson Armstrong	Mabel Betsey Hunt Curteis
	💍 1918/4924
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Servant
Age	20	21
Dwelling Place	Marton	Marton
Length of Residence	6 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Registrar Office Marton
Folio	4494
Consent	John Keatley Armstrong
Date of Certificate	27 August 1918
Officiating Minister	Registrar Marton

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).