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 1606

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

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

174

11 November 1919

Percy Knight Brightwell
Myrtle Ivy Woodley

Percy Knight Brightwell
Myrtle Ivy Woodley
💍 1919/9073

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
School teacher

34
23

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 days
10 years

Cuba Street Methodist Church, Palmerston North

8835

11 November 1919

Rev. F. W. Boys, Methodist

No	174
Date of Notice	11 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy Knight Brightwell	Myrtle Ivy Woodley
	💍 1919/9073
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	School teacher
Age	34	23
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 days	10 years
Marriage Place	Cuba Street Methodist Church, Palmerston North
Folio	8835
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. W. Boys, Methodist

175

13 November 1919

William Davison
Emily Callahan

William Davison
Emily Callahan
💍 1919/9074

Widower (25-3-19)
Divorced (Decree Absolute November 18th 1919)

Farmer
Nurse

49
43

Longburn
Longburn

42 years
2 years

Presbyterian Manse, Church Street, Palmerston North

8836

13 November 1919

Rev. A. Doull, Presbyterian

No	175
Date of Notice	13 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Davison	Emily Callahan
	💍 1919/9074
Condition	Widower (25-3-19)	Divorced (Decree Absolute November 18th 1919)
Profession	Farmer	Nurse
Age	49	43
Dwelling Place	Longburn	Longburn
Length of Residence	42 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Church Street, Palmerston North
Folio	8836
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Doull, Presbyterian

176

17 November 1919

Howard Cecil Smither
Marie Gatische

Howard Cecil Smither
Marie Gattsche
💍 1919/9075

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor mechanic
Domestic

22
20

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

2 years
20 years

St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Palmerston North

8837

John Heinsich Gatische, Father

17 November 1919

Rev. A. Doull, Presbyterian

No	176
Date of Notice	17 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Howard Cecil Smither	Marie Gatische
BDM Match (96%)	Howard Cecil Smither	Marie Gattsche
	💍 1919/9075
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor mechanic	Domestic
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Palmerston North
Folio	8837
Consent	John Heinsich Gatische, Father
Date of Certificate	17 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Doull, Presbyterian

177

18 November 1919

Denis Alfred Cyril Landall
Elsie Evans

Denis Alfred Cyril Landall
Elsie Evans
💍 1919/9076

Widower (November 22nd 1918)
Spinster

Driver
Domestic

21
23

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

9 months
23 years

The Residence of Mrs. C. J. Evans, 264 Church Street, Palmerston North

8838

18 November 1919

Rev. G. S. Cook, Methodist

No	177
Date of Notice	18 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Denis Alfred Cyril Landall	Elsie Evans
	💍 1919/9076
Condition	Widower (November 22nd 1918)	Spinster
Profession	Driver	Domestic
Age	21	23
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	9 months	23 years
Marriage Place	The Residence of Mrs. C. J. Evans, 264 Church Street, Palmerston North
Folio	8838
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. S. Cook, Methodist

178

18 November 1919

Horace James Richards
Rosanna Dunne

Horace James Richards
Rosanna Dunne
💍 1919/9077

Bachelor
Divorced (Decree Absolute November 6th 1917)

Clerk
Domestic

38
32

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

7 months
7 months

Registrar's Office, Palmerston North

8839

18 November 1919

C. E. Shorts, Registrar

No	178
Date of Notice	18 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Horace James Richards	Rosanna Dunne
	💍 1919/9077
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced (Decree Absolute November 6th 1917)
Profession	Clerk	Domestic
Age	38	32
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	7 months	7 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Palmerston North
Folio	8839
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 November 1919
Officiating Minister	C. E. Shorts, Registrar

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).