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 431

District of Gisborne Quarter ending 30 September 1919 Registrar H. E. Hill

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

25 July 1919

Walter Watson (W.W.)
Heni Nepia

Walter Watson
Heni Nepia
💍 1919/5968

Widower - November 1918
Spinster

Labourer
Home Duties. Native of New Zealand.

38
22

Gisborne
Gisborne

5 days
22 years

The office of the Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

5352

25 July 1919

Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

No	64
Date of Notice	25 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Watson (W.W.)	Heni Nepia
BDM Match (83%)	Walter Watson	Heni Nepia
	💍 1919/5968
Condition	Widower - November 1918	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Home Duties. Native of New Zealand.
Age	38	22
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	5 days	22 years
Marriage Place	The office of the Registrar of Marriages Gisborne
Folio	5352
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

28 July 1919

Frederick William Bridger
Pearl Winter

Frederick William Bridger
Pearl Winter
💍 1919/5975

Bachelor
Spinster

Business Manager
Household Duties

29
24

Opotiki
Gisborne

4 days
7 years

The Holy Trinity Church of England Gisborne

5353

28 July 1919

Rev. Horace Packe. Church of England.

No	65
Date of Notice	28 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick William Bridger	Pearl Winter
	💍 1919/5975
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Business Manager	Household Duties
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Opotiki	Gisborne
Length of Residence	4 days	7 years
Marriage Place	The Holy Trinity Church of England Gisborne
Folio	5353
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. Horace Packe. Church of England.

28 July 1919

Stephen Beechworth Dewar
Olive Mary Norris

Stephen Beechworth Dewan
Olive Mary Norris
💍 1919/5976

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic Duties

31
22

Gisborne
Gisborne

11 years
17 years

At the Private Residence of Mr Burnnand. 61 Rutene Road, Kaiti

5354

28 July 1919

Rev James Aitken. Presbyterian Minister

No	66
Date of Notice	28 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stephen Beechworth Dewar	Olive Mary Norris
BDM Match (98%)	Stephen Beechworth Dewan	Olive Mary Norris
	💍 1919/5976
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic Duties
Age	31	22
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	11 years	17 years
Marriage Place	At the Private Residence of Mr Burnnand. 61 Rutene Road, Kaiti
Folio	5354
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev James Aitken. Presbyterian Minister

29 July 1919

James Pritchard
Clara Teppins

James Pritchard
Clara Teggins
💍 1919/5977

Bachelor
Spinster

Stationhand
Home Duties

32
36

Tamarau Gisborne
Gisborne

Life
31 years

Registrar's office Gisborne

5355

28 July 1919

Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

No	67
Date of Notice	29 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Pritchard	Clara Teppins
BDM Match (92%)	James Pritchard	Clara Teggins
	💍 1919/5977
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stationhand	Home Duties
Age	32	36
Dwelling Place	Tamarau Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	Life	31 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's office Gisborne
Folio	5355
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

13 August 1919

William Charles Smith
Margaret Robertson Ramage

William Charles Smith
Margaret Robertson Ramage
💍 1919/5978

Widower 10/8/1908
Spinster

Carrier
Shop Assistant

34
27

Gisborne
Gisborne

10 years
3 years

The Residence of the Bride's Mother, Adair Road, Gisborne

5356

13 August 1919

Rev James Aitken. Presbyterian Minister.

No	68
Date of Notice	13 August 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Charles Smith	Margaret Robertson Ramage
	💍 1919/5978
Condition	Widower 10/8/1908	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Shop Assistant
Age	34	27
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	10 years	3 years
Marriage Place	The Residence of the Bride's Mother, Adair Road, Gisborne
Folio	5356
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 August 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev James Aitken. Presbyterian Minister.

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).