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 2014

District of 30 September 1921 Quarter ending Wellington

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

151

15 July 1921

George Morrison
Helen Joss McKenzie

George Morrison
Helen Goss McKenzie
💍 1921/7637

Bachelor
Spinster

Drapers assistant

22
23

Wellington
Wellington

15 months
5 years

Church of Sacred Heart Near Hill Street Wellington

6072

15 July 1921

Rev P Moloney, Roman Catholic

No	151
Date of Notice	15 July 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Morrison	Helen Joss McKenzie
BDM Match (97%)	George Morrison	Helen Goss McKenzie
	💍 1921/7637
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Drapers assistant
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	15 months	5 years
Marriage Place	Church of Sacred Heart Near Hill Street Wellington
Folio	6072
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 July 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev P Moloney, Roman Catholic

152

15 July 1921

Richard Charles Matthews
Sarah Ann Ball

Richard Charles Matthews
Sarah Ann Ball
💍 1921/7638

Widower (since 27.4.1912)
Spinster

Carrier

46
49

Wellington
Wellington

12 months
12 months

House of Res. Beckingham 52 Ellice Avenue

6073

15 July 1921

Rev D Beckingham, Baptist

No	152
Date of Notice	15 July 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Charles Matthews	Sarah Ann Ball
	💍 1921/7638
Condition	Widower (since 27.4.1912)	Spinster
Profession	Carrier
Age	46	49
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	12 months	12 months
Marriage Place	House of Res. Beckingham 52 Ellice Avenue
Folio	6073
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 July 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev D Beckingham, Baptist

153

15 July 1921

Francis James Bartosh
Doris Jean Page

Francis James Bartosh
Doris Jean Page
💍 1921/7639

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener

29
21

Taita
Lower Hutt

3 years
2 years

Knox Presbyterian Church

6074

15 July 1921

Rev J McCaw, Presbyterian

No	153
Date of Notice	15 July 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis James Bartosh	Doris Jean Page
	💍 1921/7639
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Taita	Lower Hutt
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Knox Presbyterian Church
Folio	6074
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 July 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev J McCaw, Presbyterian

154

15 July 1921

Frank Norman Spackman
Martha Elizabeth Foster

Frank Norman Spackman
Martha Elizabeth Foster
💍 1921/7640

Widower (since 20.6.1920)
Spinster

Tailor

33
31

Wellington
Wellington

5 years
7 years

One Tree Road Lyall Bay

6075

(156) Foster 156

15 July 1921

Rev N Shriver, Presbyterian

No	154
Date of Notice	15 July 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Norman Spackman	Martha Elizabeth Foster
	💍 1921/7640
Condition	Widower (since 20.6.1920)	Spinster
Profession	Tailor
Age	33	31
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	5 years	7 years
Marriage Place	One Tree Road Lyall Bay
Folio	6075
Consent	(156) Foster 156
Date of Certificate	15 July 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev N Shriver, Presbyterian

155

15 July 1921

Thomas Ralph Whatmough
Elizabeth Alice Cornwall

Thomas Ralph Whatmough
Elizabeth Alice Cornwall
💍 1921/7648

Widower (Previous dates noted: 14.7.1921, 18.6.1919, 18.6.1919)
Divorced (Decree Absolute 14.3.1921)

Wool classes

39
36

Wellington
Wellington

16 years
3 years

Congregational Church The Terrace Wellington

6076

15 July 1921

Rev R B Orr, Presbyterian

No	155
Date of Notice	15 July 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Ralph Whatmough	Elizabeth Alice Cornwall
	💍 1921/7648
Condition	Widower (Previous dates noted: 14.7.1921, 18.6.1919, 18.6.1919)	Divorced (Decree Absolute 14.3.1921)
Profession	Wool classes
Age	39	36
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	16 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Congregational Church The Terrace Wellington
Folio	6076
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 July 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev R B Orr, Presbyterian

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).