Intentions to Marry, 1919 Albertland to Helensville

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840481, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1919 is bound in seven volumes (a to g) with continuous page numbers. Each volume contains a different set of districts, going from north to south.

1919a contains pages 1-500, covering districts from Albertland to Helensville

Page 399

District of Dargaville Quarter ending 31 March 1919 Registrar G. R. Pearson

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

18 January 1919

William James Pilkington Jones
Amelia Mikahere

Willim James Pilkington Jones
Amelia Mikaere
💍 1919/987

Bachelor
Spinster

Bushman
Domestic Duties

30
19

Kaihu
Kaihu

10 years
19 years

Church of Sacred Heart, Mangawhare

889

Mariana Mikahere, Grandmother

18 January 1919

Dean G. W. Van Dijk

No	1
Date of Notice	18 January 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Pilkington Jones	Amelia Mikahere
BDM Match (95%)	Willim James Pilkington Jones	Amelia Mikaere
	💍 1919/987
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bushman	Domestic Duties
Age	30	19
Dwelling Place	Kaihu	Kaihu
Length of Residence	10 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Church of Sacred Heart, Mangawhare
Folio	889
Consent	Mariana Mikahere, Grandmother
Date of Certificate	18 January 1919
Officiating Minister	Dean G. W. Van Dijk

23 January 1919

Cecil Herbert Silby
Ismay Sayer

Cecil Herbert Silby
Ismay Sayer
💍 1919/988

Bachelor
Spinster

Dairy Farmer
Domestic Duties

21
21

Mamaranui
Mamaranui

5 days
3 years 7 months

In the house of Frank Sayer, Mamaranui

890

23 January 1919

J. Southern

No	2
Date of Notice	23 January 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cecil Herbert Silby	Ismay Sayer
	💍 1919/988
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dairy Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Mamaranui	Mamaranui
Length of Residence	5 days	3 years 7 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Frank Sayer, Mamaranui
Folio	890
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 January 1919
Officiating Minister	J. Southern

28 January 1919

Harold Ethelwyn Dowding
Eileen Muriel Thomas

Harold Ethelwyn Dowding
Eileen Muriel Thomas
💍 1919/989

Bachelor
Spinster

Telephone Lineman
Home Duties

28
21

Dargaville
Dargaville

3 years
10 months

Roman Catholic Church, Mangawhare

891

28 January 1919

G. W. Van Dijk

No	3
Date of Notice	28 January 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Ethelwyn Dowding	Eileen Muriel Thomas
	💍 1919/989
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telephone Lineman	Home Duties
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Dargaville	Dargaville
Length of Residence	3 years	10 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Mangawhare
Folio	891
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 January 1919
Officiating Minister	G. W. Van Dijk

5 February 1919

Silas Augustus Phillip Brasington
Matilda Sophia Serain

Lilas augustus Phillip Brasington
Matilda Sophia Derain
💍 1919/990

Bachelor
Spinster

Butter maker
Accountant

33
22

Mangawhare
Dargaville

3 years 4 months
7 years

In the house of Rev. J. Southern, Mangawhare

892

5 February 1919

J. Southern

No	4
Date of Notice	5 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Silas Augustus Phillip Brasington	Matilda Sophia Serain
BDM Match (95%)	Lilas augustus Phillip Brasington	Matilda Sophia Derain
	💍 1919/990
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butter maker	Accountant
Age	33	22
Dwelling Place	Mangawhare	Dargaville
Length of Residence	3 years 4 months	7 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Rev. J. Southern, Mangawhare
Folio	892
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1919
Officiating Minister	J. Southern

17 February 1919

Walter Henry Faithfull
Elizabeth Maud Lowther

Walter Henry Faithfull
Elizabeth Maud Lowther
💍 1919/992

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Postmistress

28
19

Dargaville
Hoanga

4 months
16 years

In the house of Mrs W. H. Faithfull, Dargaville

893

Walter Johnston Lowther - Father

17 February 1919

H. M. Smyth

No	5
Date of Notice	17 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Henry Faithfull	Elizabeth Maud Lowther
	💍 1919/992
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Postmistress
Age	28	19
Dwelling Place	Dargaville	Hoanga
Length of Residence	4 months	16 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs W. H. Faithfull, Dargaville
Folio	893
Consent	Walter Johnston Lowther - Father
Date of Certificate	17 February 1919
Officiating Minister	H. M. Smyth

7 March 1919

George Kilgate Kelly
Ellen Martin

George Filgate Kelly
Ellen Martin
💍 1919/993

Divorced decree absolute 1st March 1919
Spinster

Store manager
Domestic Duties

32
20

Tangiteroria
Dargaville

1 year
20 years

Registrars office, Dargaville

894

Thomas Martin, Father

7 March 1919

G. R. Pearson, Deputy

No	6
Date of Notice	7 March 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Kilgate Kelly	Ellen Martin
BDM Match (98%)	George Filgate Kelly	Ellen Martin
	💍 1919/993
Condition	Divorced decree absolute 1st March 1919	Spinster
Profession	Store manager	Domestic Duties
Age	32	20
Dwelling Place	Tangiteroria	Dargaville
Length of Residence	1 year	20 years
Marriage Place	Registrars office, Dargaville
Folio	894
Consent	Thomas Martin, Father
Date of Certificate	7 March 1919
Officiating Minister	G. R. Pearson, Deputy

24 March 1919

Tony Arebich
Pansy Bryant

Tony Orebich
Pansy Bryant
💍 1919/994

Bachelor
Spinster

Billiard marker
Domestic Duties

30
17

Dargaville
Dargaville

11 years
17 years

Registrars office, Dargaville

895

James Samuel Bryant - Father

24 March 1919

S. W. MacAulay, Registrar

No	7
Date of Notice	24 March 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Tony Arebich	Pansy Bryant
BDM Match (96%)	Tony Orebich	Pansy Bryant
	💍 1919/994
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Billiard marker	Domestic Duties
Age	30	17
Dwelling Place	Dargaville	Dargaville
Length of Residence	11 years	17 years
Marriage Place	Registrars office, Dargaville
Folio	895
Consent	James Samuel Bryant - Father
Date of Certificate	24 March 1919
Officiating Minister	S. W. MacAulay, 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).