Intentions to Marry, 1920 Dannevirke to Palmerston North

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840491, 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.

1920d contains pages 1399-1884, covering districts from Dannevirke to Palmerston North

Page 1535

District of Takapau Quarter ending 31 March 1920 Registrar F. J. Mauret

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

6 January 1920

Hubert Henry Sherwill Ryder
Christina Maud Waldin

Hubert Henry Sherwill Ryder
Christina Maud Waldin
💍 1920/3319

Widower (22/11/18)
Spinster

Farmer
Household duties

50
33

Langdale Whareama
Ashley Clinton

25 years
3 months

St Marks Church of England, Takapau

1459

10 January 1920

Rev H. Collier, Church of England

No	1
Date of Notice	6 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hubert Henry Sherwill Ryder	Christina Maud Waldin
	💍 1920/3319
Condition	Widower (22/11/18)	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Household duties
Age	50	33
Dwelling Place	Langdale Whareama	Ashley Clinton
Length of Residence	25 years	3 months
Marriage Place	St Marks Church of England, Takapau
Folio	1459
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev H. Collier, Church of England

16 February 1920

William Ellis
May Penelope Janett

William Ellis
May Penelope Janett
💍 1920/3320

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Household duties

32
23

Halcombe, Takapau
Marakeke

3 days / 2 years
17 years

Residence of Mrs J. Janett, Marakeke

1460

16 February 1920

Rev L. J. Hodson, Presbyterian

No	2
Date of Notice	16 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Ellis	May Penelope Janett
	💍 1920/3320
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Household duties
Age	32	23
Dwelling Place	Halcombe, Takapau	Marakeke
Length of Residence	3 days / 2 years	17 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs J. Janett, Marakeke
Folio	1460
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev L. J. Hodson, Presbyterian

5 March 1920

William James Vickers
Louisa Pine

William James Vickers
Louisa Pine
💍 1920/3321

Widower (7/10/16)
Divorcee (Decree Absolute 14/7/19)

Hairdresser
Household duties

44
47

Takapau
Norsewood, Takapau

4 days
3 days

Registrar's Office, Takapau

1461

8 March 1920

F. J. Mauret, Registrar, Takapau

No	3
Date of Notice	5 March 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Vickers	Louisa Pine
	💍 1920/3321
Condition	Widower (7/10/16)	Divorcee (Decree Absolute 14/7/19)
Profession	Hairdresser	Household duties
Age	44	47
Dwelling Place	Takapau	Norsewood, Takapau
Length of Residence	4 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Takapau
Folio	1461
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 March 1920
Officiating Minister	F. J. Mauret, Registrar, Takapau

5 March 1920

Roy McDermott
Louisa Ireland

Roy McDermott
Louisa Ireland
💍 1920/3322

Bachelor
Widow (12/8/16)

Farmer
Shopkeeper

26
27

Takapau
Takapau

2 1/2 years
5 years

Presbyterian Church, Takapau

1462

5 March 1920

Rev L. J. Hodson, Presbyterian

No	4
Date of Notice	5 March 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Roy McDermott	Louisa Ireland
	💍 1920/3322
Condition	Bachelor	Widow (12/8/16)
Profession	Farmer	Shopkeeper
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Takapau	Takapau
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Takapau
Folio	1462
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev L. J. Hodson, Presbyterian

9 March 1920

Leonard William Henry Eldershaw
Margaret Jane Monat

Leonard William Henry Eldershaw
Margaret Jane Mouat
💍 1920/3323

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Household duties

24
16

Hastings, Takapau
Takapau

3 days
16 years

Residence of Mrs J. Monat, Takapau

1463

Louisa Monat (formerly Monat), mother

9 March 1920

Rev L. J. Hodson, Presbyterian

No	5
Date of Notice	9 March 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard William Henry Eldershaw	Margaret Jane Monat
BDM Match (97%)	Leonard William Henry Eldershaw	Margaret Jane Mouat
	💍 1920/3323
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Household duties
Age	24	16
Dwelling Place	Hastings, Takapau	Takapau
Length of Residence	3 days	16 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs J. Monat, Takapau
Folio	1463
Consent	Louisa Monat (formerly Monat), mother
Date of Certificate	9 March 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev L. J. Hodson, Presbyterian

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).