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 1673

District of Taihape Quarter ending 31 December 1919 Registrar James P. Hanidal

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 October 1919

William John Butler
Edith Muriel Barker

William John Curtis
Edith Muriel Barker
💍 1919/9113

Bachelor
Spinster

Bushman
Lady-help

36
29

Tangiwai
Tangiwai

5 Months
6 Weeks

The Office of the Registrar Taihape

8874

1 October 1919

Jas. P. Hanidal, Deputy Registrar, Taihape

No	26
Date of Notice	1 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Butler	Edith Muriel Barker
BDM Match (87%)	William John Curtis	Edith Muriel Barker
	💍 1919/9113
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bushman	Lady-help
Age	36	29
Dwelling Place	Tangiwai	Tangiwai
Length of Residence	5 Months	6 Weeks
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar Taihape
Folio	8874
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Jas. P. Hanidal, Deputy Registrar, Taihape

15 October 1919

Alfred Boutson
Madge Isobel Morris

Alfred Hutson
Madge Isobel Morris
💍 1919/9114

Bachelor
Spinster

Mill-hand
Household duties

28
15

Tangiwai, Raurimu, Taihape
Tangiwai, Raurimu, Taihape

4 Months
7 Months

The Office of the Registrar Taihape

8875

James Morris, Father

15 October 1919

Jas. P. Hanidal, Deputy Registrar, Taihape

No	27
Date of Notice	15 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Boutson	Madge Isobel Morris
BDM Match (93%)	Alfred Hutson	Madge Isobel Morris
	💍 1919/9114
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mill-hand	Household duties
Age	28	15
Dwelling Place	Tangiwai, Raurimu, Taihape	Tangiwai, Raurimu, Taihape
Length of Residence	4 Months	7 Months
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar Taihape
Folio	8875
Consent	James Morris, Father
Date of Certificate	15 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Jas. P. Hanidal, Deputy Registrar, Taihape

1 November 1919

Horace Percival George Randall
Ruth Mary Rust

Horace Percival George Randall
Ruth Mary Rush
💍 1919/9172

Bachelor
Spinster

Mill-hand
Household duties

22
21

Hihiitahi
Hihiitahi

11 years
8 years

Roman Catholic Church Raketapauma

8876

1 November 1919

Rev. Father Fenning

No	28
Date of Notice	1 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Horace Percival George Randall	Ruth Mary Rust
BDM Match (96%)	Horace Percival George Randall	Ruth Mary Rush
	💍 1919/9172
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mill-hand	Household duties
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Hihiitahi	Hihiitahi
Length of Residence	11 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Raketapauma
Folio	8876
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Fenning

6 November 1919

Robert William McNinney
Elizabeth Ann Barry Verner

Robert William McInerney
Elizabeth Ann Barry
💍 1919/9183

Bachelor
Spinster

Settler
Typist

31
32

Taihape Puketapu
Taihape

15 years
8 Months

St Mary's R.C. Church Taihape

8877

6 November 1919

Rev. Father Menogue Taihape

No	29
Date of Notice	6 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert William McNinney	Elizabeth Ann Barry Verner
BDM Match (78%)	Robert William McInerney	Elizabeth Ann Barry
	💍 1919/9183
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Settler	Typist
Age	31	32
Dwelling Place	Taihape Puketapu	Taihape
Length of Residence	15 years	8 Months
Marriage Place	St Mary's R.C. Church Taihape
Folio	8877
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Menogue Taihape

15 November 1919

Thomas Clement Nicholls
Margaret Mary McCartin

Verner Clements Nicholls
Margaret Mary McCarten
💍 1919/9190

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Garage Proprietor
Household duties

26
26

Taihape
Ohutu Taihape

9 years
19 years

St Joseph's R.C. Church Ohutu

8878

15 November 1919

Rev. Father Menogue Taihape

No	30
Date of Notice	15 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Clement Nicholls	Margaret Mary McCartin
BDM Match (83%)	Verner Clements Nicholls	Margaret Mary McCarten
	💍 1919/9190
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Garage Proprietor	Household duties
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Taihape	Ohutu Taihape
Length of Residence	9 years	19 years
Marriage Place	St Joseph's R.C. Church Ohutu
Folio	8878
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Menogue Taihape

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).