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 1723

District of Palmerston North Quarter ending 31 December 1921 Registrar C.E. 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

173

3 October 1921

Walter Selwyn Armiger
Thelma Susan Collier

Walter Selwyn Armiger
Thelma Susan Collier
💍 1921/6012

Bachelor
Spinster

Ironmonger
Drapers Assistant

25
26

Palmerston North
Auckland

3 days
2 years

In the Sacristy St Patricks Roman Catholic

3 October 1921

Rev J.F.MacManus, Roman Catholic

No	173
Date of Notice	3 October 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Selwyn Armiger	Thelma Susan Collier
	💍 1921/6012
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ironmonger	Drapers Assistant
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	In the Sacristy St Patricks Roman Catholic
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 October 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev J.F.MacManus, Roman Catholic

174

4 October 1921

Arthur Godfrey
Mary Agnes Read

Arthur Godfrey
Mary Agnes Read
💍 1921/6023

Widower (since June 1st 1915)
Widow (since July 10th 1911)

Gardener
Domestic

60
53

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

15 years
6 months

Residence of Mr A.Godfrey 14 Brightwater Terrace Palmerston North

10052

4 October 1921

Rev G.S.Cook, Methodist

No	174
Date of Notice	4 October 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Godfrey	Mary Agnes Read
	💍 1921/6023
Condition	Widower (since June 1st 1915)	Widow (since July 10th 1911)
Profession	Gardener	Domestic
Age	60	53
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	15 years	6 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr A.Godfrey 14 Brightwater Terrace Palmerston North
Folio	10052
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 October 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev G.S.Cook, Methodist

175

4 October 1921

James Edward Hedley Mewett
Dorothy Webster

James Edward Hedley Mewett
Dorothy Webster
💍 1921/6030

Bachelor
Spinster

Secretary
Home duties

27
25

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

2 years
7 years

St Peters Church of England

10053

4 October 1921

Rev H.G.Blackburne, Anglican

No	175
Date of Notice	4 October 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Edward Hedley Mewett	Dorothy Webster
	💍 1921/6030
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Secretary	Home duties
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	2 years	7 years
Marriage Place	St Peters Church of England
Folio	10053
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 October 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev H.G.Blackburne, Anglican

176

5 October 1921

Ernest William Mindrup
Pauline Mary Brown

Ernest William Hindrup
Pauline Mary Brown
💍 1921/6031

Bachelor
Married (Has not seen husband for seven years past)

Driver
Domestic

33
34

Palmerston North
Feilding

3 days
1 year

Registrar's Office Palmerston North

10054

5 October 1921

C.E.Shortt, Registrar

No	176
Date of Notice	5 October 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest William Mindrup	Pauline Mary Brown
BDM Match (98%)	Ernest William Hindrup	Pauline Mary Brown
	💍 1921/6031
Condition	Bachelor	Married (Has not seen husband for seven years past)
Profession	Driver	Domestic
Age	33	34
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Feilding
Length of Residence	3 days	1 year
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Palmerston North
Folio	10054
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 October 1921
Officiating Minister	C.E.Shortt, Registrar

177

5 October 1921

Francis Henry Harding
Alice Gladys Harris

Francis Henry Harding
Alice Gladys Harris
💍 1921/6032

Bachelor
Widow (since July 1916 Killed in action)

Police Constable
Telephone operator

29
27

Palmerston North
Wellington

10 days
3 weeks

Registrar's Office Palmerston North

10055

5 October 1921

C.E.Shortt, Registrar

No	177
Date of Notice	5 October 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Henry Harding	Alice Gladys Harris
	💍 1921/6032
Condition	Bachelor	Widow (since July 1916 Killed in action)
Profession	Police Constable	Telephone operator
Age	29	27
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Wellington
Length of Residence	10 days	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Palmerston North
Folio	10055
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 October 1921
Officiating Minister	C.E.Shortt, Registrar

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).