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 1393

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

147

27 October 1921

Arthur Sawyer
Hannah Haache

Arthur Sawyer
Hannah Hacche
💍 1921/3876

Widower (Dissolved 28 December 1914)
Widow (Dissolved 13 November 1915)

Greenkeeper
Domestic Duties

63
38

Gisborne
Napier

35 years
14 days

Baptist Church, Napier

9918

27 October 1921

J. H. Bowen, Baptist

No	147
Date of Notice	27 October 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Sawyer	Hannah Haache
BDM Match (96%)	Arthur Sawyer	Hannah Hacche
	💍 1921/3876
Condition	Widower (Dissolved 28 December 1914)	Widow (Dissolved 13 November 1915)
Profession	Greenkeeper	Domestic Duties
Age	63	38
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Napier
Length of Residence	35 years	14 days
Marriage Place	Baptist Church, Napier
Folio	9918
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 October 1921
Officiating Minister	J. H. Bowen, Baptist

148

31 October 1921

Walter James Ebbitt
Margaret Annie Sedcole

Walter James Ebbitt
Margaret Annie Sedcole
💍 1921/3877

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Driver
Domestic Duties

23
18

Napier
Napier

4 days
4 days

St. Patrick's Church, Napier

9919

David Sedcole, Father

31 October 1921

Father Blaney, Roman Catholic

No	148
Date of Notice	31 October 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter James Ebbitt	Margaret Annie Sedcole
	💍 1921/3877
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Driver	Domestic Duties
Age	23	18
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Church, Napier
Folio	9919
Consent	David Sedcole, Father
Date of Certificate	31 October 1921
Officiating Minister	Father Blaney, Roman Catholic

149

1 November 1921

William Alexander Greer
Mahalath King

William Alexander Greer
Mahalath King
💍 1921/3879

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Engineer
Domestic Duties

26
22

Napier
Napier

4 years
22 years

St. John's Cathedral, Napier

9920

1 November 1921

Dean Mayne, Church of England

No	149
Date of Notice	1 November 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Alexander Greer	Mahalath King
	💍 1921/3879
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Engineer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	4 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Cathedral, Napier
Folio	9920
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 November 1921
Officiating Minister	Dean Mayne, Church of England

150

1 November 1921

Francis Grippin Brady
Grace Rosetta Remnant

Francis Grippin Brady
Grace Rosetta Remnant
💍 1921/3880

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraphist
Nurse

29
21

Napier
Palmerston North

24 years
21 years

St. Patrick's Church, Napier

9921

1 November 1921

Father Campbell, Roman Catholic

No	150
Date of Notice	1 November 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Grippin Brady	Grace Rosetta Remnant
	💍 1921/3880
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist	Nurse
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Napier	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	24 years	21 years
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Church, Napier
Folio	9921
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 November 1921
Officiating Minister	Father Campbell, Roman Catholic

151

7 November 1921

Thomas Latimer Neal
Isabella Annie Elizabeth Godd

Thomas Latimer Neal
Annie Isabella Codd
💍 1921/3881

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Domestic Duties

35
33

Napier
Napier

35 years
33 years

St. Augustine's Church, Napier

9922

7 November 1921

J. B. Redgrave, Church of England

No	151
Date of Notice	7 November 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Latimer Neal	Isabella Annie Elizabeth Godd
BDM Match (71%)	Thomas Latimer Neal	Annie Isabella Codd
	💍 1921/3881
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Domestic Duties
Age	35	33
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	35 years	33 years
Marriage Place	St. Augustine's Church, Napier
Folio	9922
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 November 1921
Officiating Minister	J. B. Redgrave, 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).