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 871

District of Pukekohe Quarter ending 30 June 1921 Registrar H. Waters

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

25 May 1921

Samuel Aaron Aiken
Emily Begbie

Samuel Aaron Aicken
Emily Begbie
💍 1921/7314

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Nurse

43
39

Ararimu
Pukekohe East

43 years
4 days

The residence of Mr. Robert Begbie, Pukekohe East

5721

25 May 1921

Rev. S. Nixon, Presbyterian

No	31
Date of Notice	25 May 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Aaron Aiken	Emily Begbie
BDM Match (97%)	Samuel Aaron Aicken	Emily Begbie
	💍 1921/7314
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Nurse
Age	43	39
Dwelling Place	Ararimu	Pukekohe East
Length of Residence	43 years	4 days
Marriage Place	The residence of Mr. Robert Begbie, Pukekohe East
Folio	5721
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 May 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Nixon, Presbyterian

27 May 1921

George Batty
Florence May Begbie

George Batty
Florence May Begbie
💍 1921/7315

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker
Nurse

27
28

Pukekohe East
Pukekohe East

2 days
1 year

The residence of Mr. Robert Begbie, Pukekohe East

5722

27 May 1921

Rev. S. Nixon, Presbyterian

No	32
Date of Notice	27 May 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Batty	Florence May Begbie
	💍 1921/7315
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker	Nurse
Age	27	28
Dwelling Place	Pukekohe East	Pukekohe East
Length of Residence	2 days	1 year
Marriage Place	The residence of Mr. Robert Begbie, Pukekohe East
Folio	5722
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 May 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Nixon, Presbyterian

6 June 1921

Herbert James Flay
Sarah Greener

Herbert James Flay
Sarah Greener
💍 1921/6326

Widower July 15, 1904
Widow September 12, 1914

Farmer
Domestic duties

55
53

Bombay
Bombay

54 years
3 months

St. Peters Church, Bombay

4424

6 June 1921

Rev. C. A. Vaughan, Church of England

No	33
Date of Notice	6 June 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert James Flay	Sarah Greener
	💍 1921/6326
Condition	Widower July 15, 1904	Widow September 12, 1914
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	55	53
Dwelling Place	Bombay	Bombay
Length of Residence	54 years	3 months
Marriage Place	St. Peters Church, Bombay
Folio	4424
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 June 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. A. Vaughan, Church of England

6 June 1921

George Douglas Arvidson
Emily Mary Jeanette Hutchings

George Douglas Arvidson
Emily Mary Jannette Hutchings
💍 1921/6327

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Laborer
Domestic duties

23
21

Pukekohe
Waiuku

3 days
2 years

Church of England, Pukekohe

4425

6 June 1921

Rev. J. P. Cowie, Church of England

No	34
Date of Notice	6 June 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Douglas Arvidson	Emily Mary Jeanette Hutchings
BDM Match (97%)	George Douglas Arvidson	Emily Mary Jannette Hutchings
	💍 1921/6327
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Laborer	Domestic duties
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Pukekohe	Waiuku
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Pukekohe
Folio	4425
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 June 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. P. Cowie, Church of England

10 June 1921

William John Wilson
Veronica Gwendoline Moloney

William John Wilson
Veronica Gwendoline Moloney
💍 1921/6480

Bachelor
Spinster

Timber yardman
Domestic duties

29
24

Pukekohe
Pukekohe

6 years
3 years

St. Patricks Church, Pukekohe

4426

10 June 1921

Rev. J. A. Molloy, Roman Catholic

No	35
Date of Notice	10 June 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Wilson	Veronica Gwendoline Moloney
	💍 1921/6480
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Timber yardman	Domestic duties
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Pukekohe	Pukekohe
Length of Residence	6 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Patricks Church, Pukekohe
Folio	4426
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 June 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Molloy, Roman Catholic

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).