Intentions to Marry, 1921 Dannevirke to Palmerston North

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840499, 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.

1921d contains pages 1317-1734, covering districts from Dannevirke to Palmerston North

Page 1391

District of Napier Quarter ending 31 December 1921 Registrar W. Buchanan

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

137

1 October 1921

Edward James Butler
Lilian Margaret Stuart

Edward James Butler
Lilian Margaret Stuart
💍 1921/3890

Bachelor
Widow

Staff Officer, Defence Dept.
Domestic Duties

34
37

Napier
Napier

18 months
18 months

Roman Catholic Church, Napier

9908

1 October 1921

Father J. Campbell, Roman Catholic

No	137
Date of Notice	1 October 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward James Butler	Lilian Margaret Stuart
	💍 1921/3890
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Staff Officer, Defence Dept.	Domestic Duties
Age	34	37
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	18 months	18 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Napier
Folio	9908
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 October 1921
Officiating Minister	Father J. Campbell, Roman Catholic

138

4 October 1921

Norman Alfred William Rayner
Madeline Effie Hillson

Norman Alfred William Rayner
Madelene Effie Hillson
💍 1921/3891

Bachelor
Spinster

Boiler maker
Domestic

23
20

Napier
Napier

2 years
20 years

St. Paul's Church, Napier

9909

Arthur William Hillson, Father

4 October 1921

J. A. Asher, Presbyterian

No	138
Date of Notice	4 October 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Alfred William Rayner	Madeline Effie Hillson
BDM Match (98%)	Norman Alfred William Rayner	Madelene Effie Hillson
	💍 1921/3891
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boiler maker	Domestic
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Napier
Folio	9909
Consent	Arthur William Hillson, Father
Date of Certificate	4 October 1921
Officiating Minister	J. A. Asher, Presbyterian

139

4 October 1921

Hyslop Johnson
Mary Maria Strachan

Hyslop Johnson
Mary Maria Strachan
💍 1921/3868

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Domestic Duties

26
27

Port Ahuriri
Taradale

26 years
27 years

Presbyterian Church, Taradale

9910

4 October 1921

A. H. Norrie, Presbyterian

No	139
Date of Notice	4 October 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hyslop Johnson	Mary Maria Strachan
	💍 1921/3868
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Domestic Duties
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Port Ahuriri	Taradale
Length of Residence	26 years	27 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Taradale
Folio	9910
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 October 1921
Officiating Minister	A. H. Norrie, Presbyterian

140

7 October 1921

George Alfred Byre
Elsie Maud Bosgwell

George Alfred Eyre
Elsie Maud Cogswell
💍 1921/3869

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Telephone Clerk

46
30

Ngaruawahia
Napier

30 years
30 years

St. Augustine's Church, Napier

9911

7 October 1921

Canon Rice, Church of England

No	140
Date of Notice	7 October 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Alfred Byre	Elsie Maud Bosgwell
BDM Match (89%)	George Alfred Eyre	Elsie Maud Cogswell
	💍 1921/3869
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Telephone Clerk
Age	46	30
Dwelling Place	Ngaruawahia	Napier
Length of Residence	30 years	30 years
Marriage Place	St. Augustine's Church, Napier
Folio	9911
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 October 1921
Officiating Minister	Canon Rice, Church of England

141

8 October 1921

George Astor Stephenson
Doris Violet Palmer

George Astor Stephenson
Doris Violet Palmer
💍 1921/3870

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

23
21

Napier
Napier

4 years
7 days

St. Augustine's Church, Napier

9912

8 October 1921

Canon Rice, Church of England

No	141
Date of Notice	8 October 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Astor Stephenson	Doris Violet Palmer
	💍 1921/3870
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	4 years	7 days
Marriage Place	St. Augustine's Church, Napier
Folio	9912
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 October 1921
Officiating Minister	Canon Rice, Church of England

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).