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 1705

District of Palmerston North Quarter ending 30 June 1921 Registrar C. R. Shortt

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

31 May 1921

Norman James McDairmid Sandilands
Catherine Grant Meldrum

Norman James McDiarmid Sandilands
Catherine Grant Meldrum
💍 1921/6788

Bachelor
Spinster

Upholsterer
Domestic

32
29

Palmerston North
Wellington

2 months
20 years

St Andrews Presbyterian Church

4993

31 May 1921

Rev A. Doull, Presbyterian

No	93
Date of Notice	31 May 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman James McDairmid Sandilands	Catherine Grant Meldrum
BDM Match (97%)	Norman James McDiarmid Sandilands	Catherine Grant Meldrum
	💍 1921/6788
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Upholsterer	Domestic
Age	32	29
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Wellington
Length of Residence	2 months	20 years
Marriage Place	St Andrews Presbyterian Church
Folio	4993
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev A. Doull, Presbyterian

2 June 1921

Albert George Dalby
Hester Maud Knight

Albert George Dalby
Hester Maud Knight
💍 1921/6789

Bachelor
Spinster

Driver
Machinist

38
22

Hunterville
Palmerston North

9 years
5 months

Residence of Mrs Hugh McConnell, 35 Alexandra Street, Palmerston North

4994

2 June 1921

Rev A. Doull, Presbyterian

No	94
Date of Notice	2 June 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert George Dalby	Hester Maud Knight
	💍 1921/6789
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Driver	Machinist
Age	38	22
Dwelling Place	Hunterville	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	9 years	5 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Hugh McConnell, 35 Alexandra Street, Palmerston North
Folio	4994
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev A. Doull, Presbyterian

4 June 1921

Harry Lewis Parkinson
Cecilia Maud O'Sullivan

Harry Lewis Parkinson
Cecilia Maud O'Sullivan
💍 1921/6790

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic

27
21

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 days
3 days

St Peters Church of England

4995

4 June 1921

Rev John Hobbs, Anglican

No	95
Date of Notice	4 June 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Lewis Parkinson	Cecilia Maud O'Sullivan
	💍 1921/6790
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St Peters Church of England
Folio	4995
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 June 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev John Hobbs, Anglican

4 June 1921

Lawrence Arthur Lancaster
James Tait

Lawrence Arthur Lancaster
Agnes Tait
💍 1921/6792

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

24
23

Kairanga
Palmerston North

12 years
13 years

St Andrews Presbyterian Church

4996

4 June 1921

Rev A. Doull, Presbyterian

No	96
Date of Notice	4 June 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lawrence Arthur Lancaster	James Tait
BDM Match (85%)	Lawrence Arthur Lancaster	Agnes Tait
	💍 1921/6792
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Kairanga	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	12 years	13 years
Marriage Place	St Andrews Presbyterian Church
Folio	4996
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 June 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev A. Doull, Presbyterian

4 June 1921

Edgar Frank Johnson
Mary Annie Jellyman

Edgar Frank Johanson
Mary Annie Jellyman
💍 1921/6793

Bachelor
Spinster

Horse driver
Domestic

28
21

Palmerston North
Ashhurst

28 years
7 years

Residence of Mr John Jellyman

4997

4 June 1921

Rev G.S. Cook, Methodist

No	97
Date of Notice	4 June 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edgar Frank Johnson	Mary Annie Jellyman
BDM Match (98%)	Edgar Frank Johanson	Mary Annie Jellyman
	💍 1921/6793
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Horse driver	Domestic
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Ashhurst
Length of Residence	28 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr John Jellyman
Folio	4997
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 June 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev G.S. Cook, 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).