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 1566

District of Pahiatua Quarter ending 31 December 1919 Registrar D. O'Rourke

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

25 November 1919

Francis George Woods
Annie Mabey

Francis George Woods
Annie Mabey
💍 1919/9143

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

21
19

Mangatainoka
Konini

5 months
19 years

Church of England, Konini

8806

Lizzie Mabey Mother

25 November 1919

Rev H. W. Monaghan, Church of England

No	36
Date of Notice	25 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis George Woods	Annie Mabey
	💍 1919/9143
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Mangatainoka	Konini
Length of Residence	5 months	19 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Konini
Folio	8806
Consent	Lizzie Mabey Mother
Date of Certificate	25 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev H. W. Monaghan, Church of England

25 November 1919

Leslie Herbert Barrell
Ella Edith Polglase

Leslie Herbert Barrell
Ella Edith Polglase
💍 1919/9144

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Shop Assistant

27
24

Hamua
Pahiatua

4 months
24 years

Methodist Church, Pahiatua

8807

25 November 1919

Rev H. J. L. Grinstead

No	37
Date of Notice	25 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie Herbert Barrell	Ella Edith Polglase
	💍 1919/9144
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Shop Assistant
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Hamua	Pahiatua
Length of Residence	4 months	24 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Pahiatua
Folio	8807
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev H. J. L. Grinstead

26 November 1919

Thomas Martin Haddock
Margaret Catherine Browne

Thomas Martin Haddock
Margaret Catherine Browne
💍 1919/9145

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Nurse

38
33

Pahiatua
Pahiatua

3 days
6 months

Roman Catholic Church, Pahiatua

8808

26 November 1919

Rev T. McKenna, Roman Catholic

No	38
Date of Notice	26 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Martin Haddock	Margaret Catherine Browne
	💍 1919/9145
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Nurse
Age	38	33
Dwelling Place	Pahiatua	Pahiatua
Length of Residence	3 days	6 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Pahiatua
Folio	8808
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev T. McKenna, Roman Catholic

13 December 1919

James Edward Macdonald
Jessie Ann Priest

James Edward Macdonald
Jessie Ann Priest
💍 1919/9146

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic Duties

28
27

Ngaturi
Ngaturi

6 months
14 years

Residence of Mrs J. S. Priest, Ngaturi

8809

13 December 1919

Rev R. Welsh

No	39
Date of Notice	13 December 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Edward Macdonald	Jessie Ann Priest
	💍 1919/9146
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Ngaturi	Ngaturi
Length of Residence	6 months	14 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs J. S. Priest, Ngaturi
Folio	8809
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 December 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev R. Welsh

31 December 1919

James William Simpson
Susan May Mullan

James William Simpson
Susan May Mullan
💍 1920/2658

Widower (26. 10. 16)
Spinster

Storeman
Postal Clerk

35
28

Mangatainoka
Mangatainoka

4 days
6 weeks

Roman Catholic Church, Pahiatua

91/1920

31 December 1919

Rev T. McKenna, Roman Catholic

No	40
Date of Notice	31 December 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James William Simpson	Susan May Mullan
	💍 1920/2658
Condition	Widower (26. 10. 16)	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Postal Clerk
Age	35	28
Dwelling Place	Mangatainoka	Mangatainoka
Length of Residence	4 days	6 weeks
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Pahiatua
Folio	91/1920
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 December 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev T. McKenna, 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).