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 1752

District of Masterton Quarter ending 31 March 1920 Registrar J. Miller

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

30 January 1920

Edgar Harold Bold
Daisy Evelyn Maud Hodder

Edgar Harold Bold
Daisy Evelyn Maud Hooker
💍 1920/4780

Bachelor
Spinster

Farming
Domestic Duties

20
21

Masterton
Masterton

7 weeks
7 weeks

Residence of Mrs Ellen Masters at 133 Dixon Street Masterton

1582

Edwin Bold Father

30 January 1920

Rev. George T. Brown M.A. Presbyterian

No	16
Date of Notice	30 January 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edgar Harold Bold	Daisy Evelyn Maud Hodder
BDM Match (96%)	Edgar Harold Bold	Daisy Evelyn Maud Hooker
	💍 1920/4780
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farming	Domestic Duties
Age	20	21
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	7 weeks	7 weeks
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Ellen Masters at 133 Dixon Street Masterton
Folio	1582
Consent	Edwin Bold Father
Date of Certificate	30 January 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. George T. Brown M.A. Presbyterian

2 February 1920

Edwin Howe
Blanche Victoria Elsie Lyons

Edwin Howe
Blanche Victoria Elsie Lyons
💍 1920/4781

Widower 6/8/19
Spinster

Instructor in Woodwork
Maternity Nurse

44
41

Masterton
Masterton

5 days
5 years

St Matthew's Church of England at Masterton

1583

2 February 1920

Rev. J. Walker. English

No	17
Date of Notice	2 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin Howe	Blanche Victoria Elsie Lyons
	💍 1920/4781
Condition	Widower 6/8/19	Spinster
Profession	Instructor in Woodwork	Maternity Nurse
Age	44	41
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	5 days	5 years
Marriage Place	St Matthew's Church of England at Masterton
Folio	1583
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Walker. English

2 February 1920

Geoffrey Frere Rawson
Doris Elinor Margaret Hindlesmith

Geoffrey Frere Rawson
Doris Elinor Margaret Hindlesmith
💍 1920/4782

Bachelor
Widow (1.10.1918)

Farmer
Home Duties

30
27

Masterton
Masterton

3 days
15 months

St Matthew's Church of England at Masterton

1584

2 February 1920

Rev. B. Ashcroft. English

No	18
Date of Notice	2 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Geoffrey Frere Rawson	Doris Elinor Margaret Hindlesmith
	💍 1920/4782
Condition	Bachelor	Widow (1.10.1918)
Profession	Farmer	Home Duties
Age	30	27
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	3 days	15 months
Marriage Place	St Matthew's Church of England at Masterton
Folio	1584
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. Ashcroft. English

7 February 1920

David William White
Emily Victoria Southgate

David William White
Emily Victoria Southgate
💍 1920/4759

Bachelor
Spinster

Watchmaker
Home duties

25
22

Masterton
Masterton

3 days
8 years

St Matthew's Church of England at Masterton

1585

7 February 1920

Rev. John Walker English

No	19
Date of Notice	7 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David William White	Emily Victoria Southgate
	💍 1920/4759
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Watchmaker	Home duties
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	3 days	8 years
Marriage Place	St Matthew's Church of England at Masterton
Folio	1585
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Walker English

9 February 1920

Jacob Felix Mendelsohn
Vera Dinah Caselberg

Jacob Felix Mendelssohn
Vera Dinah Caselberg
💍 1920/4760

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller
Domestic Duties

37
25

Masterton
Masterton

4 days
25 years

House of Mr Myer Caselberg at Worksop Road Masterton

1586

9 February 1920

Rev. Hermann Van Staveren Hebrew

No	20
Date of Notice	9 February 1920
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jacob Felix Mendelsohn	Vera Dinah Caselberg
BDM Match (98%)	Jacob Felix Mendelssohn	Vera Dinah Caselberg
	💍 1920/4760
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller	Domestic Duties
Age	37	25
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	4 days	25 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr Myer Caselberg at Worksop Road Masterton
Folio	1586
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 February 1920
Officiating Minister	Rev. Hermann Van Staveren Hebrew

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).