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 1244

District of Hastings Quarter ending 31 December 1919 Registrar R. Brathwaite

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

102

21 November 1919

William Reston Hamilton
Helen Corcoran

William Reston Hamilton
Helen Corcoran
💍 1919/8916

Bachelor
Spinster

Stock Agent
Telegraphist

31
22

Hastings
Hastings

3 1/2 years
2 1/2 years

Catholic Church Hastings

8578

21 November 1919

Rev. Father Mahoney

No	102
Date of Notice	21 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Reston Hamilton	Helen Corcoran
	💍 1919/8916
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stock Agent	Telegraphist
Age	31	22
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 1/2 years	2 1/2 years
Marriage Place	Catholic Church Hastings
Folio	8578
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Mahoney

103

22 November 1919

Noel James Sutton
Florence Ruth Hunter

Noel Jones Sutton
Florence Ruth Hunter
💍 1919/8917

Bachelor
Widow 4-11-18

Labourer
Housekeeper

30
19

Paki Paki
Paki Paki

3 years
6 months

St. Matthews Hastings

8579

22 November 1919

Rev. Canon Lush

No	103
Date of Notice	22 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Noel James Sutton	Florence Ruth Hunter
BDM Match (94%)	Noel Jones Sutton	Florence Ruth Hunter
	💍 1919/8917
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 4-11-18
Profession	Labourer	Housekeeper
Age	30	19
Dwelling Place	Paki Paki	Paki Paki
Length of Residence	3 years	6 months
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Hastings
Folio	8579
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. Canon Lush

104

25 November 1919

Frederick Thomas Ashman
Gertrude Vera Von Jansellmann

Frederick Thomas Ashman
Gertrude Vera Von Tonselmann
💍 1919/8918

Bachelor
Spinster

Slaughterman
Domestic duties

28
28

Havelock North
Havelock North

10 years
15 months

Baptist Church Hastings

8580

25 November 1919

Rev. G. E. Edridge

No	104
Date of Notice	25 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Thomas Ashman	Gertrude Vera Von Jansellmann
BDM Match (95%)	Frederick Thomas Ashman	Gertrude Vera Von Tonselmann
	💍 1919/8918
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Slaughterman	Domestic duties
Age	28	28
Dwelling Place	Havelock North	Havelock North
Length of Residence	10 years	15 months
Marriage Place	Baptist Church Hastings
Folio	8580
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. E. Edridge

105

2 December 1919

Sydney George Britten
Katherine Stafford

Sydney George Britten
Katherine Stafford
💍 1919/8919

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Domestic

19
23

Hastings
Havelock North

19 years
20 years

St. Matthews Hastings

8581

George Britten, Father

2 December 1919

Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

No	105
Date of Notice	2 December 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney George Britten	Katherine Stafford
	💍 1919/8919
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Domestic
Age	19	23
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Havelock North
Length of Residence	19 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Hastings
Folio	8581
Consent	George Britten, Father
Date of Certificate	2 December 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

106

9 December 1919

William John Adams
Olive Mary McDonald

William John Adams
Olive Mary McDonald
💍 1919/8920

Bachelor
Divorced 24-9-19

Carpenter
Domestic

39
36

Hastings
Hastings

3 days
1 year

Presbyterian Church Hastings

8582

9 December 1919

Rev. Peter Ramsay

No	106
Date of Notice	9 December 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Adams	Olive Mary McDonald
	💍 1919/8920
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced 24-9-19
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic
Age	39	36
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 days	1 year
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Hastings
Folio	8582
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 December 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. Peter 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).