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 1927

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

916

13 October 1919

William James Trotter
Emily Evelyn Silvers

William James Trotter
Emily Evelyn Sievers
💍 1919/4542

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

25
23

Makara
Makara

Life
Life

The Basilica Hill Street Wellington

7799

13 October 1919

Rev. F. L. Dignan Roman Catholic

No	916
Date of Notice	13 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Trotter	Emily Evelyn Silvers
BDM Match (98%)	William James Trotter	Emily Evelyn Sievers
	💍 1919/4542
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Makara	Makara
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	The Basilica Hill Street Wellington
Folio	7799
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. L. Dignan Roman Catholic

917

14 October 1919

Robert Carnachan
Elsie Isabella Florence Rolston

Robert Carnachan
Elsie Isabella Florence Rolston
💍 1919/4543

Bachelor
Spinster

Ship's officer

35
21

Wellington
Wellington

6 years
3 years

Registrar's Office Wellington

7800

14 October 1919

Registrar

No	917
Date of Notice	14 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Carnachan	Elsie Isabella Florence Rolston
	💍 1919/4543
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ship's officer
Age	35	21
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	6 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Wellington
Folio	7800
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Registrar

918

14 October 1919

Gurdon Samuel
Una Mary Geddis

Gurdon Samuel
Una Mary Geddis
💍 1919/8156

Bachelor
Spinster

Solicitor

35
30

Wellington
Wellington

3 months
19 years

Unitarian Free Church Wellington

7801

14 October 1919

Rev. G. E. Hale Unitarian

No	918
Date of Notice	14 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gurdon Samuel	Una Mary Geddis
	💍 1919/8156
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Solicitor
Age	35	30
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 months	19 years
Marriage Place	Unitarian Free Church Wellington
Folio	7801
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. E. Hale Unitarian

919

14 October 1919

Albert John Percival Brittain
Elspeth Hilda Brittain

Albert John Percival Brittain
Elspeth Hilda Brittain
💍 1919/8167

Widower 14/5/1918
Widow 31/8/1918

Chemist's Assistant

36
29

Wellington
Wellington

16 months
14 years

Residence of Mr. L. Grabin 55 Hataitai Road Wellington

7802

14 October 1919

Rev. F. T. Read Methodist

No	919
Date of Notice	14 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert John Percival Brittain	Elspeth Hilda Brittain
	💍 1919/8167
Condition	Widower 14/5/1918	Widow 31/8/1918
Profession	Chemist's Assistant
Age	36	29
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	16 months	14 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. L. Grabin 55 Hataitai Road Wellington
Folio	7802
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. T. Read Methodist

920

14 October 1919

Roy Milton Staples
Evelyn May Cress

Roy Milton Staples
Evelyn May Cress
💍 1919/8174

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraph Lineman

26
23

Wellington
Wellington

Life
20 years

Residence of Bride's Parents 138 Brougham Street Wellington

7803

14 October 1919

Rev. J. G. Chapman Methodist

No	920
Date of Notice	14 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Roy Milton Staples	Evelyn May Cress
	💍 1919/8174
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraph Lineman
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	Life	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Bride's Parents 138 Brougham Street Wellington
Folio	7803
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. Chapman Methodist

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).