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 491

District of Hamilton Quarter ending 31 December 1919 Registrar A. Stott

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

131

19 December 1919

Edward John Anderson
May Williamson

Edward John Anderson
May Williamson
💍 1919/8566

Divorced (Date of Decree Absolute 12-11-1919)
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

38
25

Te Rapa
Hamilton

6 months
7 months

Registrar's Office Hamilton

8246

19 December 1919

A. Stott, Registrar

No	131
Date of Notice	19 December 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward John Anderson	May Williamson
	💍 1919/8566
Condition	Divorced (Date of Decree Absolute 12-11-1919)	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	38	25
Dwelling Place	Te Rapa	Hamilton
Length of Residence	6 months	7 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Hamilton
Folio	8246
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 December 1919
Officiating Minister	A. Stott, Registrar

132

20 December 1919

Walter Leslie Nicholas Lawrence
Marjorie Hope Barton

Walter Leslie Nicholas Lawrence
Marjorie Hope Barton
💍 1919/8567

Bachelor
Spinster

Land Salesman
Household Duties

27
23

Hamilton
Hamilton

4 years
23 years

St. Peter's Anglican Church Hamilton

8247

20 December 1919

E. M. Cowie, Anglican

No	132
Date of Notice	20 December 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Leslie Nicholas Lawrence	Marjorie Hope Barton
	💍 1919/8567
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Land Salesman	Household Duties
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Hamilton
Length of Residence	4 years	23 years
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Anglican Church Hamilton
Folio	8247
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 December 1919
Officiating Minister	E. M. Cowie, Anglican

133

22 December 1919

Howard Rowland Bowers
Dorothy Everitt Innes

Howard Rowland Bowers
Dorothy Everitt Innes
💍 1919/8568

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

21
18

Eureka
Eureka

2 months
18 years

Residence of Mr. H. A. Bowers Eureka

8248

Drucilla Innes, Mother

22 December 1919

Rev. M. Richards, Presbyterian

No	133
Date of Notice	22 December 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Howard Rowland Bowers	Dorothy Everitt Innes
	💍 1919/8568
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	21	18
Dwelling Place	Eureka	Eureka
Length of Residence	2 months	18 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. H. A. Bowers Eureka
Folio	8248
Consent	Drucilla Innes, Mother
Date of Certificate	22 December 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Richards, Presbyterian

134

23 December 1919

John Morley Fitness
Dorothy Maud Groves

John Morley Fitness
Dorothy Maud Groves
💍 1919/8569

Bachelor
Spinster

Stock Agent
Domestic Duties

31
20

Hamilton
Hamilton

3 days
3 days

Registrar's Office Hamilton

8249

Arthur Grove, Father

23 December 1919

A. Stott, Registrar

No	134
Date of Notice	23 December 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Morley Fitness	Dorothy Maud Groves
	💍 1919/8569
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stock Agent	Domestic Duties
Age	31	20
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Hamilton
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Hamilton
Folio	8249
Consent	Arthur Grove, Father
Date of Certificate	23 December 1919
Officiating Minister	A. Stott, Registrar

135

24 December 1919

George Augustus Coates
Sarah Ellen Cox

George Augustus Coates
Sarah Ellen Cox
💍 1919/9786

Divorced (6-10-1919)
Spinster

Electrician
Domestic

40
41

Hamilton
Hamilton

4 days
10 years

Residence of Mrs. M. Cox, Victoria Street Hamilton

9356

24 December 1919

Rev. Hercus, Baptist

No	135
Date of Notice	24 December 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Augustus Coates	Sarah Ellen Cox
	💍 1919/9786
Condition	Divorced (6-10-1919)	Spinster
Profession	Electrician	Domestic
Age	40	41
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Hamilton
Length of Residence	4 days	10 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. M. Cox, Victoria Street Hamilton
Folio	9356
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 December 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. Hercus, Baptist

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).