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 519

District of Gisborne Quarter ending 31 December 1921 Registrar H. Hill

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

181

15 November 1921

William John Edward Riddiford
Frances Ethel Tait

William John Edward Riddiford
Frances Ethel Tait
💍 1921/8651

Bachelor
Spinster

General Labourer
Home Duties

20
28

Gisborne
Whatatutu

3 years
Life

The Holy Trinity Church of England, Gisborne

9495

Charles Edward Riddiford (Father)

15 November 1921

Rev. Horace Packe, Anglican

No	181
Date of Notice	15 November 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Edward Riddiford	Frances Ethel Tait
	💍 1921/8651
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	General Labourer	Home Duties
Age	20	28
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Whatatutu
Length of Residence	3 years	Life
Marriage Place	The Holy Trinity Church of England, Gisborne
Folio	9495
Consent	Charles Edward Riddiford (Father)
Date of Certificate	15 November 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. Horace Packe, Anglican

182

15 November 1921

Henry Parnell
Elma Magdalene Gibson

Henry Parnell
Elma Magdaline Gibson
💍 1921/8652

Bachelor
Spinster

Ironmonger
Domestic Duties

39
35

Gisborne
Gisborne

Life
10 days

The Private residence of the Bridegroom, Tukura Road, Kaiti, Gisborne

9496

15 November 1921

Rev. James Aitken, Presbyterian

No	182
Date of Notice	15 November 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Parnell	Elma Magdalene Gibson
BDM Match (98%)	Henry Parnell	Elma Magdaline Gibson
	💍 1921/8652
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ironmonger	Domestic Duties
Age	39	35
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	Life	10 days
Marriage Place	The Private residence of the Bridegroom, Tukura Road, Kaiti, Gisborne
Folio	9496
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 November 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Aitken, Presbyterian

183

23 November 1921

Paul August Schwabe
Elsie Lawrence

Paul August Schwabe
Elsie Lawrence
💍 1921/8653

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Shorthand Writer

24
24

Hamilton
Gisborne

4 days
13 years

Methodist Church, Bright Street, Gisborne

9497

23 November 1921

Rev. Edwin T. Cox, Methodist Minister

No	183
Date of Notice	23 November 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Paul August Schwabe	Elsie Lawrence
	💍 1921/8653
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Shorthand Writer
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Gisborne
Length of Residence	4 days	13 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Bright Street, Gisborne
Folio	9497
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 November 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. Edwin T. Cox, Methodist Minister

184

28 November 1921

Percival Taylor Weeks
Gwendoline Bowdler

Percival Taylor Weeks
Gwendoline Bowdler
💍 1921/8654

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

26
19

Tolaga Bay
Gisborne

2 days
2 years

St Luke's Anglican Church, Waerenga-a-hika, Poverty Bay

9498

Minnie Ann Bowdler (Mother)

28 November 1921

Rev. Gerald L. Morse, Anglican, Waerenga-a-hika

No	184
Date of Notice	28 November 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percival Taylor Weeks	Gwendoline Bowdler
	💍 1921/8654
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Tolaga Bay	Gisborne
Length of Residence	2 days	2 years
Marriage Place	St Luke's Anglican Church, Waerenga-a-hika, Poverty Bay
Folio	9498
Consent	Minnie Ann Bowdler (Mother)
Date of Certificate	28 November 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. Gerald L. Morse, Anglican, Waerenga-a-hika

185

29 November 1921

Philip Newton Browne
Ethel Florence Vick

Philip Newton Brown
Ethel Florence Hick
💍 1921/8655

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic Help

28
26

Gisborne
Gisborne

5 years
Life

Methodist Church, Bright Street, Gisborne

9499

29 November 1921

Rev. Edwin T. Cox, Methodist

No	185
Date of Notice	29 November 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Philip Newton Browne	Ethel Florence Vick
BDM Match (95%)	Philip Newton Brown	Ethel Florence Hick
	💍 1921/8655
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic Help
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	5 years	Life
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Bright Street, Gisborne
Folio	9499
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 November 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. Edwin T. Cox, Methodist

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).