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 1607

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

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

179

14 November 1919

David Guill Gemmell
Doris Harriet Lett

David Yuill Gemmell
Doris Harriet Lett
💍 1919/9078

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

33
25

Puhi
Palmerston North

6 months
3 days

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church Palmerston North

8840

14 November 1919

Rev. A. Doull Presbyterian

No	179
Date of Notice	14 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Guill Gemmell	Doris Harriet Lett
BDM Match (97%)	David Yuill Gemmell	Doris Harriet Lett
	💍 1919/9078
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	33	25
Dwelling Place	Puhi	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	6 months	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church Palmerston North
Folio	8840
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Doull Presbyterian

180

21 November 1919

Denis Reichenbach
Mary McKenzie

Denis Reichenbach
May McKenzie
💍 1919/9079

Bachelor
Widow October 1st 1919

Farmer
Domestic

49
52

Whakaronga
Whakaronga

15 months
3 months

Registrar's Office Palmerston North

8841

21 November 1919

C. E. Shortt Registrar

No	180
Date of Notice	21 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Denis Reichenbach	Mary McKenzie
BDM Match (96%)	Denis Reichenbach	May McKenzie
	💍 1919/9079
Condition	Bachelor	Widow October 1st 1919
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	49	52
Dwelling Place	Whakaronga	Whakaronga
Length of Residence	15 months	3 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Palmerston North
Folio	8841
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 November 1919
Officiating Minister	C. E. Shortt Registrar

181

22 November 1919

Clarence Myrvin Gay
Jessie Kathleen Stuart

Clarence Myrvin Gay
Jessie Kathleen Stuart
💍 1919/9080

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic

24
22

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

4 days
9 months

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church Palmerston North

8842

22 November 1919

Rev. A. Doull Presbyterian

No	181
Date of Notice	22 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Clarence Myrvin Gay	Jessie Kathleen Stuart
	💍 1919/9080
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	4 days	9 months
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church Palmerston North
Folio	8842
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Doull Presbyterian

182

25 November 1919

Peter Hunter Cochrane
Emma Ella Priscilla Remnant

Peter Hunter Cochrane
Emma Priscilla Remnant
💍 1919/9081

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic

37
24

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

30 days
6 years

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church Palmerston North

8843

25 November 1919

Rev. A. Doull Presbyterian

No	182
Date of Notice	25 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Hunter Cochrane	Emma Ella Priscilla Remnant
BDM Match (91%)	Peter Hunter Cochrane	Emma Priscilla Remnant
	💍 1919/9081
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic
Age	37	24
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	30 days	6 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church Palmerston North
Folio	8843
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Doull Presbyterian

183

02 December 1919

Reginald Lawrence Birnie
Pearl Paltridge

Reginald Lawrence Birnie
Pearl Paltridge
💍 1919/9082

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser
Domestic

21
20

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 years
20 years

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church Palmerston North

8844

Alfred Paltridge Father

02 December 1919

Rev. A. Doull Presbyterian

No	183
Date of Notice	02 December 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reginald Lawrence Birnie	Pearl Paltridge
	💍 1919/9082
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser	Domestic
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church Palmerston North
Folio	8844
Consent	Alfred Paltridge Father
Date of Certificate	02 December 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Doull Presbyterian

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).