Intentions to Marry, 1921 Bay of Islands to Raglan

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840497, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1921 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.

1921b contains pages 433-884, covering districts from Bay of Islands to Raglan

Page 469

District of Dargaville Quarter ending 31 December 1921 Registrar J. A. McCorrish

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

10 October 1921

Arthur James Woods
Blanche Estelle French

Arthur James Woods
Blanche Estelle French
💍 1921/10618

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Clerk

24
21

Aoroa
Aoroa

24 years
7 years

Methodist Church, Mangawhare

9464

10 October 1921

Rev. John Southern, Methodist Minister

No	31
Date of Notice	10 October 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur James Woods	Blanche Estelle French
	💍 1921/10618
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Clerk
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Aoroa	Aoroa
Length of Residence	24 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Mangawhare
Folio	9464
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 October 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Southern, Methodist Minister

12 November 1921

Joseph Shephard
Nellie Bailey

Joseph Shephard
Nellie Bailey
💍 1921/10619

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic Duties

39
30

Hore Hore, Dargaville
Hore Hore, Dargaville

3 weeks
10 weeks

Church of England, Dargaville

9465

12 November 1921

Rev. H. A. Johnson, Anglican Minister

No	32
Date of Notice	12 November 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Shephard	Nellie Bailey
	💍 1921/10619
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	39	30
Dwelling Place	Hore Hore, Dargaville	Hore Hore, Dargaville
Length of Residence	3 weeks	10 weeks
Marriage Place	Church of England, Dargaville
Folio	9465
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 November 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. A. Johnson, Anglican Minister

15 November 1921

Augustus Gordon Roose
Ada Gertrude Baldwin

Augustus Gordon Roose
Ada Gertrude Baldwin
💍 1921/10620

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer's assistant
Domestic Duties

23
19

Dargaville
Kirikopuni

2 years
19 years

St Andrews Presbyterian Church, Dargaville

9466

Eber Baldwin, Father.

15 November 1921

Rev. W. B. Black, Presbyterian Minister

No	33
Date of Notice	15 November 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Augustus Gordon Roose	Ada Gertrude Baldwin
	💍 1921/10620
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer's assistant	Domestic Duties
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Dargaville	Kirikopuni
Length of Residence	2 years	19 years
Marriage Place	St Andrews Presbyterian Church, Dargaville
Folio	9466
Consent	Eber Baldwin, Father.
Date of Certificate	15 November 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. B. Black, Presbyterian Minister

25 November 1921

Duncan Hugh Fraser
Nora May Martin

Duncan Hugh Fraser
Nora May Martin
💍 1921/10621

Bachelor
Spinster

Coachbuilder
Domestic Duties

25
19

Mangawhare
Dargaville

2 years
19 years

Registrar's Office, Dargaville

9467

Elizabeth Martin, Mother

25 November 1921

Registrar of Marriages, Dargaville

No	34
Date of Notice	25 November 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Duncan Hugh Fraser	Nora May Martin
	💍 1921/10621
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coachbuilder	Domestic Duties
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Mangawhare	Dargaville
Length of Residence	2 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Dargaville
Folio	9467
Consent	Elizabeth Martin, Mother
Date of Certificate	25 November 1921
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Dargaville

29 December 1921

Nathaniel Martin Robinson
Cora Elvira Meurant

Nathaniel Martin Robinson
Cora Elvira Meurant
💍 1921/10622

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Waitress

28
19

Dargaville
Dargaville

28 years
4 years

Registrar's Office, Dargaville

9468

Albert Louis Meurant, Father of Bride

29 December 1921

Registrar of Marriages, Dargaville

No	35
Date of Notice	29 December 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Nathaniel Martin Robinson	Cora Elvira Meurant
	💍 1921/10622
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Waitress
Age	28	19
Dwelling Place	Dargaville	Dargaville
Length of Residence	28 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Dargaville
Folio	9468
Consent	Albert Louis Meurant, Father of Bride
Date of Certificate	29 December 1921
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Dargaville

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).