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 1027

District of Tirau Quarter ending 31 December 1921 Registrar J. Prebeth

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

1 October 1921

Arthur Eyre Bates
Ivy Fairhall

Arthur Espre Bates
Ivy Fairhall
💍 1921/5822

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

22
19

Putaruru
Putaruru

6 months
4 months

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Tirau

9726

Roland Fairhall (Father)

1 October 1921

The Registrar of Marriages, Tirau

No	11
Date of Notice	1 October 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Eyre Bates	Ivy Fairhall
BDM Match (94%)	Arthur Espre Bates	Ivy Fairhall
	💍 1921/5822
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Putaruru	Putaruru
Length of Residence	6 months	4 months
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Tirau
Folio	9726
Consent	Roland Fairhall (Father)
Date of Certificate	1 October 1921
Officiating Minister	The Registrar of Marriages, Tirau

15 November 1921

Edwin Kelly
Eliza Hetherington

Edwin Kelly
Eliza Hetherington
💍 1921/5829

Bachelor
Spinster

Driver
Domestic duties

35
24

Tirau
Tirau

2 years
14 years

Residence of William Hetherington, Tirau

9727

15 November 1921

Rev. W. E. Connolly, Church of England

No	12
Date of Notice	15 November 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin Kelly	Eliza Hetherington
	💍 1921/5829
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Driver	Domestic duties
Age	35	24
Dwelling Place	Tirau	Tirau
Length of Residence	2 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Residence of William Hetherington, Tirau
Folio	9727
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 November 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. E. Connolly, Church of England

22 November 1921

George Coats
Mabel Hansen

George Coats
Mabel Hansen
💍 1921/5830

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

22
22

Okoroire
Okoroire

17 years
5 years

Methodist Church, Putaruru

9728

22 November 1921

Mr. Walter Parker, Methodist

No	13
Date of Notice	22 November 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Coats	Mabel Hansen
	💍 1921/5830
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Okoroire	Okoroire
Length of Residence	17 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Putaruru
Folio	9728
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 November 1921
Officiating Minister	Mr. Walter Parker, Methodist

25 November 1921

Randall Colin Erikson
Evelyn May Elizabeth Ashworth

Randall Colin Erikson
Evelyn May Elizabeth Ashworth
💍 1921/5831

Bachelor
Spinster

Postal Clerk
Domestic duties

21
20

Tokoroa
Putaruru

4 days
14 days

Public Hall, Tokoroa

9729

John James Ashworth (father)

25 November 1921

Mr. Walter Parker, Methodist

No	14
Date of Notice	25 November 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Randall Colin Erikson	Evelyn May Elizabeth Ashworth
	💍 1921/5831
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Postal Clerk	Domestic duties
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Tokoroa	Putaruru
Length of Residence	4 days	14 days
Marriage Place	Public Hall, Tokoroa
Folio	9729
Consent	John James Ashworth (father)
Date of Certificate	25 November 1921
Officiating Minister	Mr. Walter Parker, Methodist

6 December 1921

Richard Henderson Hildreth
Ruth Helen Pearson

Richard Henderson Hildreth
Ruth Helen Pearson
💍 1921/5832

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

36
21

Pukeatua
Puketurua

14 years
13 years

Residence of William Pearson, Puketurua

9730

6 December 1921

Mr. Walter Parker, Methodist

No	15
Date of Notice	6 December 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Henderson Hildreth	Ruth Helen Pearson
	💍 1921/5832
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	36	21
Dwelling Place	Pukeatua	Puketurua
Length of Residence	14 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Residence of William Pearson, Puketurua
Folio	9730
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 December 1921
Officiating Minister	Mr. Walter Parker, 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).