Intentions to Marry, 1919 Herekino to Wairewa

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840482, 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.

1919b contains pages 501-1004, covering districts from Herekino to Wairewa

Page 511

District of Hikurangi Quarter ending 30 June 1919 Registrar R. J. Patton

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

17 April 1919

Joseph Cunningham
Irene Jane Ann Jenkins

Joseph Cunningham
Irene Jane Ann Jenkins
💍 1919/3175

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic duties

20
23

Hikurangi
Hikurangi

20 years
3 years

Methodist Church Hikurangi

2935

Edward Arthur Cunningham (Father) of Bridegroom

17 April 1919

Rev J. H. Allen Methodist

No	2
Date of Notice	17 April 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Cunningham	Irene Jane Ann Jenkins
	💍 1919/3175
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic duties
Age	20	23
Dwelling Place	Hikurangi	Hikurangi
Length of Residence	20 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Hikurangi
Folio	2935
Consent	Edward Arthur Cunningham (Father) of Bridegroom
Date of Certificate	17 April 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev J. H. Allen Methodist

22 April 1919

Charlie Herewini
Ruke Paul

Charlie Herewini
Ruke Paul
💍 1919/3176

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

21
19

Kai kou
Taheke

1 week
1 week

Residence of Bride's Father Taheke

2936

Paul Witihira Father of Bride

22 April 1919

Elder J. N. Lambert Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

No	3
Date of Notice	22 April 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charlie Herewini	Ruke Paul
	💍 1919/3176
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Kai kou	Taheke
Length of Residence	1 week	1 week
Marriage Place	Residence of Bride's Father Taheke
Folio	2936
Consent	Paul Witihira Father of Bride
Date of Certificate	22 April 1919
Officiating Minister	Elder J. N. Lambert Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

6 May 1919

Tangaroa Hati
Teahua Tia

Takarigaroa Hati
Teahua Tia
💍 1919/5003

Bachelor
widow 1918

Farmer
Domestic Duties

25
27

Tehoro
Tehoro

25 years
27 years

Residence of Hone Peper Tehoro

4201

6 May 1919

Rev Nitana Ramapata Church of the seven Rules of Jehovah

No	4
Date of Notice	6 May 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Tangaroa Hati	Teahua Tia
BDM Match (88%)	Takarigaroa Hati	Teahua Tia
	💍 1919/5003
Condition	Bachelor	widow 1918
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	25	27
Dwelling Place	Tehoro	Tehoro
Length of Residence	25 years	27 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Hone Peper Tehoro
Folio	4201
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 May 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev Nitana Ramapata Church of the seven Rules of Jehovah

12 May 1919

William McInnes
Hannah Jean Stobbs

William McInnes
Hannah Jean Stobbs
💍 1919/3177

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

24
22

Otonga
Hikurangi

6 years
22 years

St Matthews Anglican Church Hikurangi

2937

12 May 1919

Rev W. E. Connolly Anglican

No	5
Date of Notice	12 May 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William McInnes	Hannah Jean Stobbs
	💍 1919/3177
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Otonga	Hikurangi
Length of Residence	6 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St Matthews Anglican Church Hikurangi
Folio	2937
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 May 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev W. E. Connolly Anglican

14 June 1919

Edward Jesse Giebey
Barbara McMillan

Edward Jesse Gilbey
Barbara McMillan
💍 1919/3178

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic Duties

26
17

Hikurangi
Hikurangi

6 years
17 years

Church of England Hikurangi

2938

Robert Monair McMillan Father of Bride

14 June 1919

Rev W. E. Connolly Anglican

No	6
Date of Notice	14 June 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Jesse Giebey	Barbara McMillan
BDM Match (97%)	Edward Jesse Gilbey	Barbara McMillan
	💍 1919/3178
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic Duties
Age	26	17
Dwelling Place	Hikurangi	Hikurangi
Length of Residence	6 years	17 years
Marriage Place	Church of England Hikurangi
Folio	2938
Consent	Robert Monair McMillan Father of Bride
Date of Certificate	14 June 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev W. E. Connolly Anglican

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).