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 585

District of Hamilton Quarter ending 31 March 1920 Registrar A. Holt

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

11 February 1920

Lawrence Shanaghan
Catherine McKernean

Lawrence Shanaghan
Catherine McKernean
💍 1920/4627

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinetmaker
Laundress

25
24

Hamilton
Hamilton

6 months
6 months

Roman Catholic Church, Hamilton

1179

11 February 1920

W. Dore, Roman Catholic

No	21
Date of Notice	11 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lawrence Shanaghan	Catherine McKernean
	💍 1920/4627
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinetmaker	Laundress
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Hamilton
Length of Residence	6 months	6 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Hamilton
Folio	1179
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1920
Officiating Minister	W. Dore, Roman Catholic

12 February 1920

Herman Mahler Fleming
Lily Winifred Oliver

Herman Mahler Fleming
Lily Winifred Oliver
💍 1920/5491

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

26
20

Tamahere
Hamilton

3 days
14 years

Church of England, Tamahere

3153

Violet Constance Lydia Oliver, Step-mother & Guardian

12 February 1920

Rev. W. Turner, Anglican

No	22
Date of Notice	12 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herman Mahler Fleming	Lily Winifred Oliver
	💍 1920/5491
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Tamahere	Hamilton
Length of Residence	3 days	14 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Tamahere
Folio	3153
Consent	Violet Constance Lydia Oliver, Step-mother & Guardian
Date of Certificate	12 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Turner, Anglican

12 February 1920

William Peter Larsen
Ethel Grace Magdalene Bloxham

William Peter Larsen
Ethel Grace Magdaline Bloxham
💍 1920/4628

Bachelor
Widow 12/5/1908

Labourer
Domestic Servant

35
29

Hamilton
Hamilton

3 months
1 week

Registrar's Office, Hamilton

1180

12 February 1920

A. Stott, Registrar

No	23
Date of Notice	12 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Peter Larsen	Ethel Grace Magdalene Bloxham
BDM Match (98%)	William Peter Larsen	Ethel Grace Magdaline Bloxham
	💍 1920/4628
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 12/5/1908
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	35	29
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Hamilton
Length of Residence	3 months	1 week
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Hamilton
Folio	1180
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1920
Officiating Minister	A. Stott, Registrar

16 February 1920

Cyril John Lowry
Henrietta Jessie Drummond

Cyril John Lowry
Henrietta Jessie Drummond
💍 1920/4629

Bachelor
Spinster

Road Contractor
Domestic Duties

28
27

Hamilton
Frankton Junction

4 days
4 years

Presbyterian Church, Hamilton

1181

16 February 1920

Rev. Mackie, Presbyterian

No	24
Date of Notice	16 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cyril John Lowry	Henrietta Jessie Drummond
	💍 1920/4629
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Road Contractor	Domestic Duties
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Frankton Junction
Length of Residence	4 days	4 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Hamilton
Folio	1181
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. Mackie, Presbyterian

16 February 1920

Frank David Dent
Cassie Carter Natzke

Frank David Dent
Cassie Carter Natzke
💍 1920/4630

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier R.N.Z.A. Barracks
Domestic Duties

24
21

Hamilton
Hamilton

1 year
1 year

Methodist Church, Hamilton

1182

16 February 1920

Rev. S. Henderson, Methodist

No	25
Date of Notice	16 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank David Dent	Cassie Carter Natzke
	💍 1920/4630
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier R.N.Z.A. Barracks	Domestic Duties
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Hamilton
Length of Residence	1 year	1 year
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Hamilton
Folio	1182
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Henderson, Methodist

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).