Intentions to Marry, 1921 Rangiriri to Whangamomona

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840498, 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.

1921c contains pages 885-1316, covering districts from Rangiriri to Whangamomona

Page 931

District of Taumarunui Quarter ending 30 September 1921 Registrar H. M. Lean

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

2 July 1921

William Charles Leslie
Eileen Frances Prattan

William Charles Leslie
Eileen Frances Grattan
💍 1921/3286

Bachelor
Spinster

Bushman
Dressmaker

29
18

Taumarunui
Taumarunui

3 years
10 years

Church of England, Taumarunui

7078

Henry L. D. Prattan, Father

2 July 1921

J. A. Kempthorne, Anglican

No	19
Date of Notice	2 July 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Charles Leslie	Eileen Frances Prattan
BDM Match (98%)	William Charles Leslie	Eileen Frances Grattan
	💍 1921/3286
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bushman	Dressmaker
Age	29	18
Dwelling Place	Taumarunui	Taumarunui
Length of Residence	3 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Taumarunui
Folio	7078
Consent	Henry L. D. Prattan, Father
Date of Certificate	2 July 1921
Officiating Minister	J. A. Kempthorne, Anglican

4 July 1921

Alexander Finlayson McKenzie
Annie Margaret Cameron

Alexander Finlayson McKenzie
Annie Margaret Cameron
💍 1921/3287

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
School Teacher

43
29

Tokirima
Otunui

2 years
10 years

Presbyterian Church, Taumarunui

7079

4 July 1921

E. Bishop

No	20
Date of Notice	4 July 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Finlayson McKenzie	Annie Margaret Cameron
	💍 1921/3287
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	School Teacher
Age	43	29
Dwelling Place	Tokirima	Otunui
Length of Residence	2 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Taumarunui
Folio	7079
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 July 1921
Officiating Minister	E. Bishop

22 July 1921

Austin Frawley
Leah Annie Hill

Austin Frowley
Leah Annie Hill
💍 1921/3288

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Domestic Duties

34
32

Ohura
Taumarunui

5 years
2 years

Roman Catholic Church, Taumarunui

7080

22 July 1921

J. Duffy

No	21
Date of Notice	22 July 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Austin Frawley	Leah Annie Hill
BDM Match (96%)	Austin Frowley	Leah Annie Hill
	💍 1921/3288
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Domestic Duties
Age	34	32
Dwelling Place	Ohura	Taumarunui
Length of Residence	5 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Taumarunui
Folio	7080
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 July 1921
Officiating Minister	J. Duffy

3 August 1921

George Stallworthy
Jane McKay

George Stallworthy
Jane McKay
💍 1921/3289

Widower 4 March 1919
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

34
28

Aratapu
Aratapu

30 years
1 year

Residence of C. R. Kelland, Taumarunui

7081

3 August 1921

J. Duffy

No	22
Date of Notice	3 August 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Stallworthy	Jane McKay
	💍 1921/3289
Condition	Widower 4 March 1919	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	34	28
Dwelling Place	Aratapu	Aratapu
Length of Residence	30 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Residence of C. R. Kelland, Taumarunui
Folio	7081
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 August 1921
Officiating Minister	J. Duffy

6 August 1921

Andrew Francis Robert Elliott
Amelia Pankhurst

Andrew Francis Robert Elliott
Amelia Fankhouser
💍 1921/3290

Bachelor
Widow 2 September 1918

Labourer
Domestic Duties

43
49

Owhango
Taumarunui

13 years
7 months

Residence of C. Pankhurst, Taumarunui

7082

6 August 1921

E. Bishop

No	23
Date of Notice	6 August 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Francis Robert Elliott	Amelia Pankhurst
BDM Match (85%)	Andrew Francis Robert Elliott	Amelia Fankhouser
	💍 1921/3290
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 2 September 1918
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	43	49
Dwelling Place	Owhango	Taumarunui
Length of Residence	13 years	7 months
Marriage Place	Residence of C. Pankhurst, Taumarunui
Folio	7082
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 August 1921
Officiating Minister	E. Bishop

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).