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 1797

District of 30 September 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

1 July 1921

Herbert William Whale
Mabel Deborah Louisa Irwin

Herbert William Whale
Mabel Deborah Louisa Irwin
💍 1921/3510

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Home Duties

21
20

Wangaehu
Taihape

4 Months
15 years

Methodist Church, Taihape

7575

Patrick Irwin, Father

2 July 1921

Rev. W. Lea, Methodist, Taihape

No	35
Date of Notice	1 July 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert William Whale	Mabel Deborah Louisa Irwin
	💍 1921/3510
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Home Duties
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Wangaehu	Taihape
Length of Residence	4 Months	15 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Taihape
Folio	7575
Consent	Patrick Irwin, Father
Date of Certificate	2 July 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Lea, Methodist, Taihape

19 July 1921

Charles Joseph Lagatherley
Alveresi Robina Egan

Charles Joseph Fazakerley
Alveri Robina Egan
💍 1921/4265

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

33
19

Winiata
Ohutu

6 Months
19 years

Roman Catholic Church, Taihape

7576

John Egan, Father

20 July 1921

Rev. Hartnett, Roman Catholic, Taihape

No	36
Date of Notice	19 July 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Joseph Lagatherley	Alveresi Robina Egan
BDM Match (87%)	Charles Joseph Fazakerley	Alveri Robina Egan
	💍 1921/4265
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	33	19
Dwelling Place	Winiata	Ohutu
Length of Residence	6 Months	19 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Taihape
Folio	7576
Consent	John Egan, Father
Date of Certificate	20 July 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. Hartnett, Roman Catholic, Taihape

19 July 1921

William McKee
Dorothy Irene Lucy Holder

William McKee
Dorothy Irene Lucy Holder
💍 1921/4276

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Typiste

26
24

Te Miro
Taihape

18 months
11 years

St. Margaret's Church of England, Taihape

7577

[illegible]

20 July 1921

Rev. W. F. Stent, Church of England, Taihape

No	37
Date of Notice	19 July 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William McKee	Dorothy Irene Lucy Holder
	💍 1921/4276
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Typiste
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Te Miro	Taihape
Length of Residence	18 months	11 years
Marriage Place	St. Margaret's Church of England, Taihape
Folio	7577
Consent	[illegible]
Date of Certificate	20 July 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. F. Stent, Church of England, Taihape

23 July 1921

Alfred William Skjottrup
Cecilia Amelia Bartosch

Alfred William Skjottrup
Cecilia Amelia Bartosh
💍 1921/4283

Bachelor
Spinster

Mill hand
Domestic Duties

29
26

Taihape
Ohutu

2 days
10 years

Roman Catholic Presbyterian, Taihape

7578

[illegible]

25 July 1921

Father Harnett, Roman Catholic, Taihape

No	38
Date of Notice	23 July 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred William Skjottrup	Cecilia Amelia Bartosch
BDM Match (98%)	Alfred William Skjottrup	Cecilia Amelia Bartosh
	💍 1921/4283
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mill hand	Domestic Duties
Age	29	26
Dwelling Place	Taihape	Ohutu
Length of Residence	2 days	10 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Presbyterian, Taihape
Folio	7578
Consent	[illegible]
Date of Certificate	25 July 1921
Officiating Minister	Father Harnett, Roman Catholic, Taihape

4 August 1921

Ernest Lorenzo Hawken
Ethel Isabell Thomas

Ernest Lorenzo Hawken
Ethel Isabel Thomas
💍 1921/4284

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmill yardman
Dressmaker

30
28

Turangaare
Turangaare

3 years
1 year

Methodist Church, Taihape

7579

[illegible]

5 August 1921

Rev. W. Lea, Methodist, Taihape

No	39
Date of Notice	4 August 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Lorenzo Hawken	Ethel Isabell Thomas
BDM Match (98%)	Ernest Lorenzo Hawken	Ethel Isabel Thomas
	💍 1921/4284
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmill yardman	Dressmaker
Age	30	28
Dwelling Place	Turangaare	Turangaare
Length of Residence	3 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Taihape
Folio	7579
Consent	[illegible]
Date of Certificate	5 August 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Lea, Methodist, Taihape

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).