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 872

District of Pukekohe Quarter ending 30 June 1921 Registrar J. T. Williams

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

13 June 1921

James Matthew Wylie
Ivy Floris Needham

James Matthew Wylie
Ivy Floris Needham
💍 1921/6491

Bachelor
Spinster

Cheesemaker
Domestic duties

26
22

Patumahoe
Patumahoe

3 days
11 months

Methodist Church, Pukekohe

4427

13 June 1921

Rev. J. Olphert, Methodist

No	36
Date of Notice	13 June 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Matthew Wylie	Ivy Floris Needham
	💍 1921/6491
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cheesemaker	Domestic duties
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Patumahoe	Patumahoe
Length of Residence	3 days	11 months
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Pukekohe
Folio	4427
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 June 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Olphert, Methodist

14 June 1921

Benjamin Paterson
Agnes May Slade

Benjamin Paterson
Agnes May Slade
💍 1921/6498

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

45
37

Pukekohe
Pukekohe

1 day
1 week

The residence of Mrs M. Slade, Lake Farm, Pukekohe

4428

14 June 1921

Rev. A. H. Coates, Presbyterian

No	37
Date of Notice	14 June 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Benjamin Paterson	Agnes May Slade
	💍 1921/6498
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	45	37
Dwelling Place	Pukekohe	Pukekohe
Length of Residence	1 day	1 week
Marriage Place	The residence of Mrs M. Slade, Lake Farm, Pukekohe
Folio	4428
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 June 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. H. Coates, Presbyterian

16 June 1921

William John Garvie
Pretoria Mary Collins

William John Garrie
Pretoria Mary Collins
💍 1921/6499

Divorced (Decree absolute June 6th 1921)
Spinster

General Store-keeper
Domestic duties

36
20

Mauku
Mauku

21 months
14 months

The residence of Mr W. J. Garvie, Mauku

4429

John Collins, Father

16 June 1921

Rev. A. H. Coates, Presbyterian

No	38
Date of Notice	16 June 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Garvie	Pretoria Mary Collins
BDM Match (97%)	William John Garrie	Pretoria Mary Collins
	💍 1921/6499
Condition	Divorced (Decree absolute June 6th 1921)	Spinster
Profession	General Store-keeper	Domestic duties
Age	36	20
Dwelling Place	Mauku	Mauku
Length of Residence	21 months	14 months
Marriage Place	The residence of Mr W. J. Garvie, Mauku
Folio	4429
Consent	John Collins, Father
Date of Certificate	16 June 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. H. Coates, Presbyterian

24 June 1921

Walter James Jefferis
Lillie Bullock

Walter James Jefferis
Lillie Bullock
💍 1921/6500

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

39
19

Buckland
Buckland

10 years
6 years

St Pauls Church, Buckland

4430

Herbert Bullock, Father

24 June 1921

Rev. J. P. Cowie, Church of England

No	39
Date of Notice	24 June 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter James Jefferis	Lillie Bullock
	💍 1921/6500
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	39	19
Dwelling Place	Buckland	Buckland
Length of Residence	10 years	6 years
Marriage Place	St Pauls Church, Buckland
Folio	4430
Consent	Herbert Bullock, Father
Date of Certificate	24 June 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. P. Cowie, Church of England

25 June 1921

Arthur Frederick Needham
Violet Myrtle Short

Arthur Frederick Needham
Violet Myrtle Short
💍 1921/6501

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

26
21

Patumahoe
Patumahoe

1 year
3 years

Methodist Church, Pukekohe

4431

25 June 1921

Rev. J. Olphert, Methodist

No	40
Date of Notice	25 June 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Frederick Needham	Violet Myrtle Short
	💍 1921/6501
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Patumahoe	Patumahoe
Length of Residence	1 year	3 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Pukekohe
Folio	4431
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 June 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Olphert, 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).