Intentions to Marry, 1921 Pongaroa to Wellington

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840500, 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.

1921e contains pages 1735-2142, covering districts from Pongaroa to Wellington

Page 1787

District of 31 March 1921 Quarter ending Taihape Registrar [illegible]

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

15 January 1921

Gilbert White Batley
Madeline Mary Smith

Gilbert Whiti Batley
Madeline Mary Smith
💍 1921/9692

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

30
27

Taihape
Taihape

30 years
27 years

St. Margaret's Church of England, Taihape

2307

15 January 1921

Rev. W. H. Stent, Anglican

No	1
Date of Notice	15 January 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gilbert White Batley	Madeline Mary Smith
BDM Match (98%)	Gilbert Whiti Batley	Madeline Mary Smith
	💍 1921/9692
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	30	27
Dwelling Place	Taihape	Taihape
Length of Residence	30 years	27 years
Marriage Place	St. Margaret's Church of England, Taihape
Folio	2307
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Stent, Anglican

2 February 1921

John Keeffe
Elvina Elizabeth Esler

John Keeffe
Elvina Elizabeth Esler
💍 1921/9693

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer
Domestic Duties

60
37

Hihitahi
Hihitahi

30 years
4.10.19

Dwelling of Mr. P. Casey, Taorua

2308

2 February 1921

Father Harnett, Roman Catholic

No	2
Date of Notice	2 February 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Keeffe	Elvina Elizabeth Esler
	💍 1921/9693
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	60	37
Dwelling Place	Hihitahi	Hihitahi
Length of Residence	30 years	4.10.19
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mr. P. Casey, Taorua
Folio	2308
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1921
Officiating Minister	Father Harnett, Roman Catholic

5 February 1921

Leslie Allen Jenkins
Margaret Katherine McGowan

Leslie Allen Jenkins
Margaret Catherine McGowan
💍 1921/9694

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

22
23

Taihape
Taihape

5 1/2 years
15 years

Roman Catholic Church, Taihape

2309

5 February 1921

Father Harnett, Roman Catholic

No	3
Date of Notice	5 February 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie Allen Jenkins	Margaret Katherine McGowan
BDM Match (98%)	Leslie Allen Jenkins	Margaret Catherine McGowan
	💍 1921/9694
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Taihape	Taihape
Length of Residence	5 1/2 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Taihape
Folio	2309
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1921
Officiating Minister	Father Harnett, Roman Catholic

8 February 1921

Herbert Richard Thorn
Elsie Matthews

Herbert Richard Thorn
Elsie Matthews
💍 1921/9671

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Domestic Duties

29
21

Taihape
Taihape

9 years
20 years

Registrar's Office, Taihape

2310

8 February 1921

A. L. Berry, Registrar

No	4
Date of Notice	8 February 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Richard Thorn	Elsie Matthews
	💍 1921/9671
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Taihape	Taihape
Length of Residence	9 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Taihape
Folio	2310
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1921
Officiating Minister	A. L. Berry, Registrar

10 February 1921

Frederick James Bankart
Bertha Annie Joan Ross

Frederick James Bankart
Bertha Annie Joan Ross
💍 1921/9672

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Domestic Duties

24
21

Raketapauma
Raketapauma

6 weeks
6 weeks

Registrar's Office, Taihape

2311

10 February 1921

A. L. Berry, Registrar

No	5
Date of Notice	10 February 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick James Bankart	Bertha Annie Joan Ross
	💍 1921/9672
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Domestic Duties
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Raketapauma	Raketapauma
Length of Residence	6 weeks	6 weeks
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Taihape
Folio	2311
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1921
Officiating Minister	A. L. Berry, 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).