Intentions to Marry, 1920 Bay of Islands to Raglan

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840489, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1920 is bound in eight volumes (a to h) with continuous page numbers. Each volume contains a different set of districts, going from north to south.

1920b contains pages 471-938, covering districts from Bay of Islands to Raglan

Page 509

District of Dargaville Quarter ending 31 December 1920 Registrar A. Graham

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

5 October 1920

Thomas Francis McInerney
Mary Eliza Marsh

Thomas Francis McNamara
Mary Eliza Marston
💍 1920/9956

Widower
Spinster

Bushman
Domestic duties

34
20

Dargaville
Dargaville

14 years
2 years

Office of Registrar of marriages, Tekopuru

12121

Mary Jane Marsh, mother

5 October 1920

A. Graham, Registrar

No	28
Date of Notice	5 October 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Francis McInerney	Mary Eliza Marsh
BDM Match (77%)	Thomas Francis McNamara	Mary Eliza Marston
	💍 1920/9956
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Bushman	Domestic duties
Age	34	20
Dwelling Place	Dargaville	Dargaville
Length of Residence	14 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of marriages, Tekopuru
Folio	12121
Consent	Mary Jane Marsh, mother
Date of Certificate	5 October 1920
Officiating Minister	A. Graham, Registrar

16 October 1920

Thomas Hislop Kenny
Hinemoa Eunice Rodgers

Thomas Hislop Kenny
Hinemoa Eunice Hodges
💍 1920/11404

Bachelor
Spinster

Auctioneer
Domestic duties

30
22

Dargaville
Dargaville

8 years
Life

Presbyterian Church, Dargaville

10710

16 October 1920

Rev. W. B. Black, Presbyterian

No	29
Date of Notice	16 October 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Hislop Kenny	Hinemoa Eunice Rodgers
BDM Match (95%)	Thomas Hislop Kenny	Hinemoa Eunice Hodges
	💍 1920/11404
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Auctioneer	Domestic duties
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Dargaville	Dargaville
Length of Residence	8 years	Life
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Dargaville
Folio	10710
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 October 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. B. Black, Presbyterian

27 October 1920

James Henry Ashton
Hilda Muriel Underwood

James Henry Ashton
Hilda Muriel Underwood
💍 1920/11392

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor proprietor
Domestic duties

34
23

Dargaville
Mangawhare

4 days
5 years

Residence of M. Underwood, Mangawhare

10711

1 November 1920

Rev. W. B. Black, Presbyterian

No	30
Date of Notice	27 October 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Henry Ashton	Hilda Muriel Underwood
	💍 1920/11392
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor proprietor	Domestic duties
Age	34	23
Dwelling Place	Dargaville	Mangawhare
Length of Residence	4 days	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of M. Underwood, Mangawhare
Folio	10711
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 November 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. B. Black, Presbyterian

27 October 1920

Walter Robert Mearns Stewart
Doris Elizabeth Florence Girdler

Walter Robert Mearns Stewart
Doris Elizabeth Florence Girdler
💍 1920/11393

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank accountant
Domestic duties

25
22

Dargaville
Dargaville

3 years
18 years

Church of England, Dargaville

10712

27 October 1920

Rev. H. M. Smyth, Church of England

No	31
Date of Notice	27 October 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Robert Mearns Stewart	Doris Elizabeth Florence Girdler
	💍 1920/11393
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank accountant	Domestic duties
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Dargaville	Dargaville
Length of Residence	3 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Dargaville
Folio	10712
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 October 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. M. Smyth, Church of England

4 November 1920

Arthur John Henry Rowe
Edith Maria Allen

Arthur John Henry Howe
Edith Maria Allen
💍 1920/11394

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

24
23

Mangawhare
Mangawhare

19 months
3 months

Church of England, Dargaville

10713

4 November 1920

Rev. H. M. Smyth, Church of England

No	32
Date of Notice	4 November 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur John Henry Rowe	Edith Maria Allen
BDM Match (98%)	Arthur John Henry Howe	Edith Maria Allen
	💍 1920/11394
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Mangawhare	Mangawhare
Length of Residence	19 months	3 months
Marriage Place	Church of England, Dargaville
Folio	10713
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 November 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. M. Smyth, Church of England

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).