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 1711

District of Palmerston North Quarter ending 30 September 1921 Registrar C. R. Shorth

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

115

2 July 1921

Cecil Thomas Hopetoun Boyd
Annie Louisa Scott

Cecil Thomas Hopetown Boyd
Annie Louisa Scott
💍 1921/4247

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraph Lineman
Domestic

21
27

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

5 months
5 months

All Saints Church of England, Palmerston North

7490

2 July 1921

Rev H.G.Blackburne, Anglican

No	115
Date of Notice	2 July 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cecil Thomas Hopetoun Boyd	Annie Louisa Scott
BDM Match (98%)	Cecil Thomas Hopetown Boyd	Annie Louisa Scott
	💍 1921/4247
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraph Lineman	Domestic
Age	21	27
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	5 months	5 months
Marriage Place	All Saints Church of England, Palmerston North
Folio	7490
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 July 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev H.G.Blackburne, Anglican

116

2 July 1921

Alfred George Britton
Martha Nichol Thomson

Alfred George Britton
Martha Nichol Thomson
💍 1921/4248

Bachelor
Spinster

Canvasser
Domestic

31
23

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

2 years
1 year

Residence of Mr A.V.Thomson, 19 Campbell Street, Palmerston North

7491

2 July 1921

Rev A. Doull, Presbyterian

No	116
Date of Notice	2 July 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred George Britton	Martha Nichol Thomson
	💍 1921/4248
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Canvasser	Domestic
Age	31	23
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	2 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr A.V.Thomson, 19 Campbell Street, Palmerston North
Folio	7491
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 July 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev A. Doull, Presbyterian

117

4 July 1921

Charles Sandell
Mary Ann Jamieson

Charles Randall
Mary Ann Jamieson
💍 1921/4249

Bachelor
Spinster

Bricklayer
Dressmaker

39
34

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

12 years

Methodist Church, Cuba Street, Palmerston North

7492

4 July 1921

Rev A. Ashcroft, Methodist

No	117
Date of Notice	4 July 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Sandell	Mary Ann Jamieson
BDM Match (93%)	Charles Randall	Mary Ann Jamieson
	💍 1921/4249
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bricklayer	Dressmaker
Age	39	34
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	12 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Cuba Street, Palmerston North
Folio	7492
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 July 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev A. Ashcroft, Methodist

118

4 July 1921

Richard George Scott
Rosabel Susannah Edwards

Richard George Scott
Rosabel Susanah Edwards
💍 1921/4250

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Saleswoman

24
26

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

1 year
26 years

St Pauls Methodist Church, Palmerston North

7493

4 July 1921

Rev G.S.Cook, Methodist

No	118
Date of Notice	4 July 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard George Scott	Rosabel Susannah Edwards
BDM Match (98%)	Richard George Scott	Rosabel Susanah Edwards
	💍 1921/4250
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Saleswoman
Age	24	26
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	1 year	26 years
Marriage Place	St Pauls Methodist Church, Palmerston North
Folio	7493
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 July 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev G.S.Cook, Methodist

119

8 July 1921

Frederick William Scott
Faith Doran

Frederick William Scott
Faith Doran
💍 1921/4252

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmlabourer
Schoolteacher

25
27

Palmerston North
Raetihi

3 days
2 years

Parsonage, 280 Church Street, Palmerston North

7494

8 July 1921

Rev G.S.Cook, Methodist

No	119
Date of Notice	8 July 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick William Scott	Faith Doran
	💍 1921/4252
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmlabourer	Schoolteacher
Age	25	27
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Raetihi
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	Parsonage, 280 Church Street, Palmerston North
Folio	7494
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 July 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).