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 547

District of Hamilton Quarter ending 30 June 1921 Registrar A. W. Newton

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 April 1921

John Kelly
Maud Mulcahy

John Kelly
Maud Mulcahy
💍 1921/10510

Bachelor
Spinster

Chemist

31
24

Hamilton
Hamilton

6 months
24 years

Church of "Our Lady of the Rosary" Hamilton

4333

30 April 1921

Mr. J. Bleakley

No	41
Date of Notice	30 April 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Kelly	Maud Mulcahy
	💍 1921/10510
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chemist
Age	31	24
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Hamilton
Length of Residence	6 months	24 years
Marriage Place	Church of "Our Lady of the Rosary" Hamilton
Folio	4333
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 April 1921
Officiating Minister	Mr. J. Bleakley

3 May 1921

William Rainsford Smith
Margaret Aylward

William Rainsford Smith
Margaret Aylward
💍 1921/10511

Widower 19 November 1918
Divorced decree absolute 16 August 1918

Farmer

48
43

Frankton Junction
Frankton Junction

3 days
4 months

Residence of Mr. J. Cruickshank Lyon Street Frankton Junction

4334

3 May 1921

J. J. Burrows

No	42
Date of Notice	3 May 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Rainsford Smith	Margaret Aylward
	💍 1921/10511
Condition	Widower 19 November 1918	Divorced decree absolute 16 August 1918
Profession	Farmer
Age	48	43
Dwelling Place	Frankton Junction	Frankton Junction
Length of Residence	3 days	4 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. J. Cruickshank Lyon Street Frankton Junction
Folio	4334
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 May 1921
Officiating Minister	J. J. Burrows

3 May 1921

Walter Stannard Libby
Florence Reta Richards

Walter Shannard Tibby
Florence Reba Richards
💍 1921/10488

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Mechanic

22
23

Hamilton
Hamilton

2 years
3 years

St. Andrews Presbyterian Church Claudelands

4335

3 May 1921

R. Mackie

No	43
Date of Notice	3 May 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Stannard Libby	Florence Reta Richards
BDM Match (93%)	Walter Shannard Tibby	Florence Reba Richards
	💍 1921/10488
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Mechanic
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Hamilton
Length of Residence	2 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Presbyterian Church Claudelands
Folio	4335
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 May 1921
Officiating Minister	R. Mackie

10 May 1921

Pierce Champion Tarrant
Elizabeth Sarah Backeth

Pierce Champion Tarrant
Elizabeth Sarah Cackett
💍 1921/10489

Bachelor
Widow 17 May 1912

Farmer

41
35

Hamilton
Hamilton

3 days
3 1/2 years

Baptist Church Hamilton

4336

10 May 1921

H. G. Hercus

No	44
Date of Notice	10 May 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Pierce Champion Tarrant	Elizabeth Sarah Backeth
BDM Match (96%)	Pierce Champion Tarrant	Elizabeth Sarah Cackett
	💍 1921/10489
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 17 May 1912
Profession	Farmer
Age	41	35
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Hamilton
Length of Residence	3 days	3 1/2 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church Hamilton
Folio	4336
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 May 1921
Officiating Minister	H. G. Hercus

14 May 1921

James Alexander Haldane Stevenson
Ella Dean

James Alexander Haldane Stevenson
Ella Dean
💍 1921/10490

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

33
28

Hamilton
Hamilton

1 day
3 months

Residence of Mr. S. Gill Ulster Street Hamilton

4337

14 May 1921

E. J. Olds

No	45
Date of Notice	14 May 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Alexander Haldane Stevenson	Ella Dean
	💍 1921/10490
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	33	28
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Hamilton
Length of Residence	1 day	3 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. S. Gill Ulster Street Hamilton
Folio	4337
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 May 1921
Officiating Minister	E. J. Olds

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).