Intentions to Marry, 1919 Martinborough to Wellington

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840484, 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.

1919d contains pages 1503-2000, covering districts from Martinborough to Wellington

Page 1605

District of Palmerston North Quarter ending 31 December 1919 Registrar C. R. North

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

169

25 October 1919

Thomas Oliver Gillard
Ruby Olive Victoria Currie

Thomas Oliver Gillard
Ruby Olive Victoria Currie
💍 1919/9092

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Domestic

23
17

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 months
5 years

Residence of Mrs. Brand, 36 Lombard Street, Palmerston North

8830

Ada Annie Brand, Mother

25 October 1919

Rev. A. Ashcroft, Methodist

No	169
Date of Notice	25 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Oliver Gillard	Ruby Olive Victoria Currie
	💍 1919/9092
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Domestic
Age	23	17
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 months	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Brand, 36 Lombard Street, Palmerston North
Folio	8830
Consent	Ada Annie Brand, Mother
Date of Certificate	25 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Ashcroft, Methodist

170

3 November 1919

James Gordon Greenhill
Annie Elizabeth Waters

James Gordon Greenhill
Annie Elizabeth Waters
💍 1919/9093

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Machinist

24
26

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 years
26 years

Gospel Hall, Main Street, Palmerston North

8831

3 November 1919

Mr. Thomas Rowe, Brethren

No	170
Date of Notice	3 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Gordon Greenhill	Annie Elizabeth Waters
	💍 1919/9093
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Machinist
Age	24	26
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Gospel Hall, Main Street, Palmerston North
Folio	8831
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Mr. Thomas Rowe, Brethren

171

4 November 1919

Norman Joseph Dixon
Mary Grace Cameron Williams

Norman Joseph Dixon
Mary Grace Cameron Williams
💍 1919/9094

Bachelor
Spinster

Sales Manager
Domestic duties

29
24

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 days
3 days

All Saints Church of England, Palmerston North

8832

4 November 1919

Rev. H. G. Blackburne, Anglican

No	171
Date of Notice	4 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Joseph Dixon	Mary Grace Cameron Williams
	💍 1919/9094
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sales Manager	Domestic duties
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	All Saints Church of England, Palmerston North
Folio	8832
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. G. Blackburne, Anglican

172

4 November 1919

Robert James Boyd
Kate Harriett Thomas

Robert James Boyd
Kate Harriett Thomas
💍 1919/9095

Bachelor
Divorced Decree Absolute February 28th 1918

Police Constable
Domestic

38
24

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

5 years
3 years

St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Palmerston North

8833

4 November 1919

Rev. A. Doull, Presbyterian

No	172
Date of Notice	4 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert James Boyd	Kate Harriett Thomas
	💍 1919/9095
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced Decree Absolute February 28th 1918
Profession	Police Constable	Domestic
Age	38	24
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	5 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Palmerston North
Folio	8833
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Doull, Presbyterian

173

6 November 1919

Alexander Graham Morrison
Florence Gwendolen Whalley

Alexander Graham Morrison
Florence Gwendolen Whalley
💍 1919/9096

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep farmer
Domestic

26
23

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 days
23 years

All Saints Church of England, Palmerston North

8834

6 November 1919

Rev. H. G. Blackburne, Anglican

No	173
Date of Notice	6 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Graham Morrison	Florence Gwendolen Whalley
	💍 1919/9096
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep farmer	Domestic
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 days	23 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church of England, Palmerston North
Folio	8834
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. G. Blackburne, 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).