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 420

District of Gisborne Quarter ending 31 March 1919 Registrar H. G. 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

24 February 1919

Adam McKennon
Muriel Winter

Adam McLennan
Muriel Winter
💍 1919/1008

Bachelor
Spinster

Mill Hand (Returned Soldier)
Nurse

26
25

Matawai
Gisborne

6 years
Life

The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

913

24 February 1919

Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

No	16
Date of Notice	24 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Adam McKennon	Muriel Winter
BDM Match (92%)	Adam McLennan	Muriel Winter
	💍 1919/1008
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mill Hand (Returned Soldier)	Nurse
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Matawai	Gisborne
Length of Residence	6 years	Life
Marriage Place	The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne
Folio	913
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

25 February 1919

Walter Percy Williams
Anna Madeline Kingston

Walter Percy Williams
Anna Madeline Hingston
💍 1919/1009

Bachelor
Spinster

Temporary Staff Post Office Department
Domestic Duties

47
33

Gisborne
Gisborne

8 years
18 years

St. George's Church of England, Patutahi, Gisborne

914

25 February 1919

Rev Archdeacon Herbert William Williams, Church of England

No	17
Date of Notice	25 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Percy Williams	Anna Madeline Kingston
BDM Match (98%)	Walter Percy Williams	Anna Madeline Hingston
	💍 1919/1009
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Temporary Staff Post Office Department	Domestic Duties
Age	47	33
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	8 years	18 years
Marriage Place	St. George's Church of England, Patutahi, Gisborne
Folio	914
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev Archdeacon Herbert William Williams, Church of England

28 February 1919

John Gousmett
Eileen Cecilia O'Donnell

John Gousmett
Eileen Cecilia O'Donnell
💍 1919/1010

Bachelor
Spinster

Boiler Maker
Hotel Waitress

33
22

Gisborne
Gisborne

4 years
17 years

St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Gisborne

915

28 February 1919

Rev Thomas Lane, Catholic Minister

No	18
Date of Notice	28 February 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Gousmett	Eileen Cecilia O'Donnell
	💍 1919/1010
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boiler Maker	Hotel Waitress
Age	33	22
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	4 years	17 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Gisborne
Folio	915
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 February 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev Thomas Lane, Catholic Minister

3 March 1919

Frederick Sparrow
Lizzie Marsh

Frederick Sparrow
Lizzie Marsh
💍 1919/1011

Widower 23-3-16
Divorced

Packer
Household Duties

50
46

Kaiti, Gisborne
Kaiti, Gisborne

18 years
5 months

The private residence of the bridegroom, de Lautour Road, Kaiti, Gisborne

916

3 March 1919

Rev Joseph Carlisle, Baptist Minister

No	19
Date of Notice	3 March 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Sparrow	Lizzie Marsh
	💍 1919/1011
Condition	Widower 23-3-16	Divorced
Profession	Packer	Household Duties
Age	50	46
Dwelling Place	Kaiti, Gisborne	Kaiti, Gisborne
Length of Residence	18 years	5 months
Marriage Place	The private residence of the bridegroom, de Lautour Road, Kaiti, Gisborne
Folio	916
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 March 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev Joseph Carlisle, Baptist Minister

3 March 1919

William Charles Campbell
Mary Price

William Charles Campbell
Mary Price
💍 1919/1012

Bachelor
Widow 23-10-16

Ranger & Dealer
Domestic Duties

74
66

Kaiti, Gisborne
Kaiti, Gisborne

39 years
36 years

The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

917

3 March 1919

Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

No	20
Date of Notice	3 March 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Charles Campbell	Mary Price
	💍 1919/1012
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 23-10-16
Profession	Ranger & Dealer	Domestic Duties
Age	74	66
Dwelling Place	Kaiti, Gisborne	Kaiti, Gisborne
Length of Residence	39 years	36 years
Marriage Place	The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne
Folio	917
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 March 1919
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

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).