Intentions to Marry, 1919 Dunstan to Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840487, 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.

1919g contains pages 2943-3338, covering districts from Dunstan to Chatham Islands

Page 3305

District of Riverton Quarter ending 31 December 1919 Registrar G. Hansell

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

18/19

13 October 1919

James Hills Dick
Maria Winifred Anderson

James Wells Dick
Maria Winifred Anderson
💍 1919/9709

Widower
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

46
36

Waipapa
Waipapa

6 years
33 years

Registrar's Office, Riverton

9478

14 October 1919

G. Hansell, Registrar

No	18/19
Date of Notice	13 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Hills Dick	Maria Winifred Anderson
BDM Match (94%)	James Wells Dick	Maria Winifred Anderson
	💍 1919/9709
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	46	36
Dwelling Place	Waipapa	Waipapa
Length of Residence	6 years	33 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Riverton
Folio	9478
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 October 1919
Officiating Minister	G. Hansell, Registrar

19/19

15 October 1919

Henry Charles Johnstone
Marjorie Caroline White

Henry Charles Johnstone
Marjorie Caroline White
💍 1919/9710

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Domestic Duties

32
30

Riverton
Riverton

28 years
17 years

Methodist Church, Riverton

9479

15 October 1919

Rev. J. Field, Methodist

No	19/19
Date of Notice	15 October 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Charles Johnstone	Marjorie Caroline White
	💍 1919/9710
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Domestic Duties
Age	32	30
Dwelling Place	Riverton	Riverton
Length of Residence	28 years	17 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Riverton
Folio	9479
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 October 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Field, Methodist

20/19

8 November 1919

Henry Norman Beer
Florrie Annie Watson

Henry Norman Beer
Florrie Annie Watson
💍 1919/9711

Bachelor
Spinster

Boat Builder
Domestic Duties

31
26

Riverton
Riverton

31 years
22 years

Church of England, Riverton

9480

8 November 1919

Rev. W. W. Parata, Church of England

No	20/19
Date of Notice	8 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Norman Beer	Florrie Annie Watson
	💍 1919/9711
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boat Builder	Domestic Duties
Age	31	26
Dwelling Place	Riverton	Riverton
Length of Residence	31 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Riverton
Folio	9480
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. W. Parata, Church of England

21/19

28 November 1919

William Anderson
May Spark Officer

William Anderson
May Spark Officer
💍 1919/9712

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

28
28

Waipapa
Gropers Bush

24 years
28 years

Residence of Officer, Gropers Bush

9481

28 November 1919

Rev. C. A. Gray, Presbyterian

No	21/19
Date of Notice	28 November 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Anderson	May Spark Officer
	💍 1919/9712
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	28	28
Dwelling Place	Waipapa	Gropers Bush
Length of Residence	24 years	28 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Officer, Gropers Bush
Folio	9481
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 November 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. A. Gray, Presbyterian

22/19

2 December 1919

Athol Adrian Hand
Christina Ethel Baxter

Athol Adrian Ward
Christina Ethel Baxter
💍 1919/9713

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

35
28

Hekeia
Riverton

35 years
28 years

Residence of John Baxter, Riverton

9482

2 December 1919

Rev. J. Field, Methodist

No	22/19
Date of Notice	2 December 1919
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Athol Adrian Hand	Christina Ethel Baxter
BDM Match (94%)	Athol Adrian Ward	Christina Ethel Baxter
	💍 1919/9713
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	35	28
Dwelling Place	Hekeia	Riverton
Length of Residence	35 years	28 years
Marriage Place	Residence of John Baxter, Riverton
Folio	9482
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 December 1919
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Field, Methodist

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).