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 1457

District of Foxton Quarter ending 30 June 1919 Registrar A. Hawke

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

16 April 1919

Sydney Dalzell
Mary Charlotte Prowse

Sydney Dalzell
Mary Charlotte Prowse
💍 1919/3550

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

29
31

Foxton
Foxton

10 days
1 year

Residence of Mr Prowse Shannon St - Foxton

3459

16 April 1919

Rev J. H. Bredin

No	1
Date of Notice	16 April 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney Dalzell	Mary Charlotte Prowse
	💍 1919/3550
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	29	31
Dwelling Place	Foxton	Foxton
Length of Residence	10 days	1 year
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr Prowse Shannon St - Foxton
Folio	3459
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 April 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev J. H. Bredin

22 April 1919

James Richard Harris
Evelyn Winifred Langley

James Richard Harris
Evelyn Winifred Langley
💍 1919/3551

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Domestic Duties

32
21

Manawatu Heads
Manawatu Heads

4 days
19 years

Anglican Church Foxton

3460

23 April 1919

Rev W. Raine

No	2
Date of Notice	22 April 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Richard Harris	Evelyn Winifred Langley
	💍 1919/3551
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Domestic Duties
Age	32	21
Dwelling Place	Manawatu Heads	Manawatu Heads
Length of Residence	4 days	19 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church Foxton
Folio	3460
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 April 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev W. Raine

31 May 1919

Vincent Joseph McDowell
Ruby Ethel Hudson

Vincent Joseph McDowell
Ruby Ethel Dudson
💍 1919/3552

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic Duties

32
22

Marotiri
Marotiri

3 years
3 years

Roman Catholic Church Foxton

3461

31 May 1919

Fr Jas Forrestal

No	3
Date of Notice	31 May 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Vincent Joseph McDowell	Ruby Ethel Hudson
BDM Match (97%)	Vincent Joseph McDowell	Ruby Ethel Dudson
	💍 1919/3552
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Duties
Age	32	22
Dwelling Place	Marotiri	Marotiri
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Foxton
Folio	3461
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1919
Officiating Minister	Fr Jas Forrestal

16 June 1919

Hubert Loftus Richards
Winnifred Gertrude Mary Symes

Herbert Loftus Richards
Winnifred Gertrude Mary Symes
💍 1919/3553

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Music Teacher

32
25

Foxton
Foxton

3 days
5 years

All Saints Foxton

3462

16 June 1919

Rev W. Raine

No	4
Date of Notice	16 June 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hubert Loftus Richards	Winnifred Gertrude Mary Symes
BDM Match (96%)	Herbert Loftus Richards	Winnifred Gertrude Mary Symes
	💍 1919/3553
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Music Teacher
Age	32	25
Dwelling Place	Foxton	Foxton
Length of Residence	3 days	5 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Foxton
Folio	3462
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 June 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev W. Raine

16 June 1919

Henry McKigney
Edith Jane Jones

Henry McKegney
Edith Jane Jones
💍 1919/3555

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic Duties

37
21

Foxton
Bainesse

7 years
3 years

Presbyterian Church Foxton

3464

16 June 1919

Rev J. H. Bredin

No	5
Date of Notice	16 June 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry McKigney	Edith Jane Jones
BDM Match (96%)	Henry McKegney	Edith Jane Jones
	💍 1919/3555
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Duties
Age	37	21
Dwelling Place	Foxton	Bainesse
Length of Residence	7 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Foxton
Folio	3464
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 June 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev J. H. Bredin

21 June 1919

Ira Wilson Mudford
Alice Mabel Brown

Ira Wilson Mudford
Alice Mabel Brown
💍 1919/3554

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Assistant
Domestic Duties

23
21

Foxton
Foxton

1 year
12 years

Methodist Church Foxton

3463

21 June 1919

Brigadier J. J. Toomer Salvation Army

No	6
Date of Notice	21 June 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ira Wilson Mudford	Alice Mabel Brown
	💍 1919/3554
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Assistant	Domestic Duties
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Foxton	Foxton
Length of Residence	1 year	12 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Foxton
Folio	3463
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 June 1919
Officiating Minister	Brigadier J. J. Toomer Salvation Army

30 June 1919

Edward Simon Petersen
Sarah Alice Burling

Edward Simon Pedersen
Sarah Alice Burling
💍 1919/3556

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

30
19

Orova Downs
Orova Downs

2 years
7 years

Private dwelling George Arthur Burling Orova Downs

3465

George Arthur Burling, Father

30 June 1919

Rev J. H. Bredin

No	7
Date of Notice	30 June 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Simon Petersen	Sarah Alice Burling
BDM Match (98%)	Edward Simon Pedersen	Sarah Alice Burling
	💍 1919/3556
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	30	19
Dwelling Place	Orova Downs	Orova Downs
Length of Residence	2 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Private dwelling George Arthur Burling Orova Downs
Folio	3465
Consent	George Arthur Burling, Father
Date of Certificate	30 June 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev J. H. Bredin

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).