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 1925

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 December 1919 Registrar R. C. O'Connor

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

906

9 October 1919

David John Hewison
Mabel Doris Matthews

David John Hewison
Mabel Doris Matthews
💍 1919/4551

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer

27
24

Lower Hutt
Lower Hutt

3 weeks
12 months

Residence of Bride's Parents, The Hamlet Lower Hutt

7789

9 October 1919

Rev. D. J. Murray, Methodist

No	906
Date of Notice	9 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David John Hewison	Mabel Doris Matthews
	💍 1919/4551
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Lower Hutt	Lower Hutt
Length of Residence	3 weeks	12 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Bride's Parents, The Hamlet Lower Hutt
Folio	7789
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. J. Murray, Methodist

907

10 October 1919

William Austin Clarke
Elsie Brown

William Austin Clarke
Elsie Brown
💍 1919/4552

William Fothergill Whitton
Elsie Brown
💍 1920/2290

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker

27
25

Lyall Bay
Brooklyn

9 months
6 years

Residence of Bride's Parents, 56 Todman Street Brooklyn Wellington

7790

10 October 1919

Rev G. W. Dent, Anglican

No	907
Date of Notice	10 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Austin Clarke	Elsie Brown
	💍 1919/4552
BDM Match (69%)	William Fothergill Whitton	Elsie Brown
	💍 1920/2290
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Lyall Bay	Brooklyn
Length of Residence	9 months	6 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Bride's Parents, 56 Todman Street Brooklyn Wellington
Folio	7790
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev G. W. Dent, Anglican

908

10 October 1919

Antonio Fredus Averi
Queenie Porter

Antonio Fredus Averi
Queenie Porter
💍 1919/4553

Bachelor
Spinster

Letterpress Machinist

25
19

Wellington
Wellington

13 years
19 years

St. Peter's Church Willis Street Wellington

7791

Jay Porter Father

10 October 1919

Rev. H. Watson, Anglican

No	908
Date of Notice	10 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Antonio Fredus Averi	Queenie Porter
	💍 1919/4553
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Letterpress Machinist
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	13 years	19 years
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church Willis Street Wellington
Folio	7791
Consent	Jay Porter Father
Date of Certificate	10 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Watson, Anglican

909

10 October 1919

George Stephen Norris
Myrtle Hilda Everitt

George Stephen Norris
Myrtle Hilda Everitt
💍 1919/4554

Bachelor
Spinster

Tram Conductor

19
24

Wellington South
Wellington South

2 years
4 years

Wesley Church Taranaki Street Wellington

7792

Stephen Skepper Norris Father

10 October 1919

Rev. J. G. Chapman, Methodist

No	909
Date of Notice	10 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Stephen Norris	Myrtle Hilda Everitt
	💍 1919/4554
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tram Conductor
Age	19	24
Dwelling Place	Wellington South	Wellington South
Length of Residence	2 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Wesley Church Taranaki Street Wellington
Folio	7792
Consent	Stephen Skepper Norris Father
Date of Certificate	10 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. Chapman, Methodist

910

10 October 1919

Mortimer Brockie
Helen Annie Elizabeth Lawson

Mortimer Brockie
Helen Annie Elizabeth Lawson
💍 1919/4556

Bachelor
Spinster

Electric Wireman

23
19

Oriental Bay
Kelburn

12 months
6 months

St. Joseph's Church Buckle Street Wellington

7793

Walter Lawson Father

10 October 1919

Rev. D. H. Hurley, Roman Catholic

No	910
Date of Notice	10 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Mortimer Brockie	Helen Annie Elizabeth Lawson
	💍 1919/4556
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Electric Wireman
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Oriental Bay	Kelburn
Length of Residence	12 months	6 months
Marriage Place	St. Joseph's Church Buckle Street Wellington
Folio	7793
Consent	Walter Lawson Father
Date of Certificate	10 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. H. Hurley, Roman Catholic

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).