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 1941

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 December 1919 Registrar R. O. Evans

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

986

30 October 1919

Michael Francis McHugh
Ethel Clara Merry

Michael Francis McHugh
Ethel Clara Merry
💍 1919/9737

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Mechanic

20
22

Wellington
Wellington

Life
7 months

St Mary of the Angels Presbytery, Boulcott Street, Wellington

9507

Ethel Jane McHugh (Mother)

30 October 1919

Rev. S. Mahony, Roman Catholic

No	986
Date of Notice	30 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Francis McHugh	Ethel Clara Merry
	💍 1919/9737
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Mechanic
Age	20	22
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	Life	7 months
Marriage Place	St Mary of the Angels Presbytery, Boulcott Street, Wellington
Folio	9507
Consent	Ethel Jane McHugh (Mother)
Date of Certificate	30 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Mahony, Roman Catholic

987

31 October 1919

Cyril Arthur Benjamin Crisp
Annie Agnes Mason

Cyril Arthur Benjamin Crisp
Annie Agnes Mason
💍 1919/8211

Bachelor
Widow 21/10/1917

Civil Servant

23
23

Newtown
Newtown

18 months
23 years

St Anne's Church, Newtown, Wellington

7864

31 October 1919

Rev. M. Devoy, Roman Catholic

No	987
Date of Notice	31 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cyril Arthur Benjamin Crisp	Annie Agnes Mason
	💍 1919/8211
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 21/10/1917
Profession	Civil Servant
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Newtown	Newtown
Length of Residence	18 months	23 years
Marriage Place	St Anne's Church, Newtown, Wellington
Folio	7864
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Devoy, Roman Catholic

988

31 October 1919

Ernest Belton Justin
Cora Evelyn Curtis

Ernest Belton Tustin
Cora Evelyn Curtis
💍 1919/8212

Bachelor
Spinster

Barrister Solicitor

29
24

Karori
Karori

18 months
8 years

St Mary's Church, Karori, Wellington

7865

31 October 1919

Rev. G. Y. Woodward, Anglican

No	988
Date of Notice	31 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Belton Justin	Cora Evelyn Curtis
BDM Match (98%)	Ernest Belton Tustin	Cora Evelyn Curtis
	💍 1919/8212
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barrister Solicitor
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Karori	Karori
Length of Residence	18 months	8 years
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church, Karori, Wellington
Folio	7865
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Y. Woodward, Anglican

989

31 October 1919

Frederick Charles Rosenthal
Lilian Leah Weston

Frederick Charles Rosenthal
Lilian Leah Weston
💍 1919/8213

Bachelor
Spinster

Billiard Room Manager

32
22

Wellington
Wellington

2 years
20 years

The Presbyterian Manse, 35 Pirie Street, Wellington

7866

31 October 1919

Rev. J. K. Elliott, Presbyterian

No	989
Date of Notice	31 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Charles Rosenthal	Lilian Leah Weston
	💍 1919/8213
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Billiard Room Manager
Age	32	22
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	The Presbyterian Manse, 35 Pirie Street, Wellington
Folio	7866
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. K. Elliott, Presbyterian

990

31 October 1919

William James Chappell
Nilsene Marie Jensen

William James Chappell
Neilsene Marie Jensen
💍 1919/8214

Bachelor
Spinster

Sanitary Inspector

33
40

Wellington
Wellington

6 days
3 months

Presbyterian Church, Kent Terrace, Wellington

7867

31 October 1919

Rev. J. K. Elliott, Presbyterian

No	990
Date of Notice	31 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Chappell	Nilsene Marie Jensen
BDM Match (98%)	William James Chappell	Neilsene Marie Jensen
	💍 1919/8214
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sanitary Inspector
Age	33	40
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	6 days	3 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Kent Terrace, Wellington
Folio	7867
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. K. Elliott, 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).