Intentions to Marry, 1919 Whakatane to Mangaweka

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840483, 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.

1919c contains pages 1005-1502, covering districts from Whakatane to Mangaweka

Page 1233

District of Hastings Quarter ending 30 September 1919 Registrar R. B. Rathbone

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

1 July 1919

William Hugh Gaw
Minna Jemima Brooke-Taylor

William Hugh McCaw
Minna Jemima Brooke-Taylor
💍 1919/6319

Widower
Spinster

Stock Buyer
Domestic duties

36
36

Hastings
Hastings

2 1/2 years
20 years

St. Lukes, Havelock North

5723

1 July 1919

Rev. Canon Lush

No	56
Date of Notice	1 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Hugh Gaw	Minna Jemima Brooke-Taylor
BDM Match (92%)	William Hugh McCaw	Minna Jemima Brooke-Taylor
	💍 1919/6319
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Stock Buyer	Domestic duties
Age	36	36
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Lukes, Havelock North
Folio	5723
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. Canon Lush

5 July 1919

Frederick James Smith
Doris Ethel Walker

Frederick James Smith
Doris Ethel Walker
💍 1919/6320

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Domestic duties

28
20

Hastings
Hastings

1 week
5 years

St. Matthews Church, Hastings

5724

William Walker, father

5 July 1919

Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

No	57
Date of Notice	5 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick James Smith	Doris Ethel Walker
	💍 1919/6320
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic duties
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	1 week	5 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church, Hastings
Folio	5724
Consent	William Walker, father
Date of Certificate	5 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

10 July 1919

Joseph Kilkolly
Dora McNamara

Joseph Kilkolly
Dora McNamara
💍 1919/6321

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

20
29

Hastings
Hastings

3 days
3 days

Catholic Church, Hastings

5725

Joseph Kilkolly (Father)

10 July 1919

Rev. Father Mahoney

No	58
Date of Notice	10 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Kilkolly	Dora McNamara
	💍 1919/6321
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	20	29
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Catholic Church, Hastings
Folio	5725
Consent	Joseph Kilkolly (Father)
Date of Certificate	10 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Mahoney

18 July 1919

George William England
Eileen Mary Honnor

George William England
Eileen Mary Honnor
💍 1919/4380

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Housekeeper

25
23

Hastings
Hastings

7 years
2 3/4 years

Catholic Church, Hastings

5726

18 July 1919

Rev. Father Mahoney

No	59
Date of Notice	18 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George William England	Eileen Mary Honnor
	💍 1919/4380
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Housekeeper
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	7 years	2 3/4 years
Marriage Place	Catholic Church, Hastings
Folio	5726
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Mahoney

24 July 1919

William Fiske
Harriet Blackman

William Fiske
Harriet Blackman
💍 1919/4391

Divorced (Decree Absolute)
Spinster

Gardener
Waitress

42
37

Hastings
Hastings

12 months
2 years

Presbyterian Church, Hastings

5727

24 July 1919

Rev. P. Ramsay

No	60
Date of Notice	24 July 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Fiske	Harriet Blackman
	💍 1919/4391
Condition	Divorced (Decree Absolute)	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Waitress
Age	42	37
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	12 months	2 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Hastings
Folio	5727
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 July 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay

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).