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 1886

District of 31 March 1921 Quarter ending Wellington Registrar Deputy Registrar

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

126

3 February 1921

John Ryan
Rachel McLaughlin

John Ryan
Rachel McLaughlin
💍 1921/984

Bachelor
Spinster

Postal Telegraph Employee

Wellington
Wellington

6 months

The Basilica, Hill Street, Wellington

565

3 February 1921

Rev. J. L. Dignan, Roman Catholic

No	126
Date of Notice	3 February 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Ryan	Rachel McLaughlin
	💍 1921/984
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Postal Telegraph Employee
Age	34
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	6 months
Marriage Place	The Basilica, Hill Street, Wellington
Folio	565
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. L. Dignan, Roman Catholic

127

3 February 1921

William James Horton
Winifred May Ives

William James Norton
Winifred Mabel Iris
💍 1921/985

William James Carran
Winifred Annie Don
💍 1921/1709

William Bowers
Winifred Mary Dozell
💍 1921/10452

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

24
21

Wellington
Wellington

12 months
3 years

Residence of Rev. J. K. Elliott, 37 Kent Terrace, Wellington

566

3 February 1921

Rev. J. K. Elliott, Presbyterian

No	127
Date of Notice	3 February 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Horton	Winifred May Ives
BDM Match (84%)	William James Norton	Winifred Mabel Iris
	💍 1921/985
BDM Match (65%)	William James Carran	Winifred Annie Don
	💍 1921/1709
BDM Match (60%)	William Bowers	Winifred Mary Dozell
	💍 1921/10452
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	12 months	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. J. K. Elliott, 37 Kent Terrace, Wellington
Folio	566
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. K. Elliott, Presbyterian

128

4 February 1921

Clarence La Roche
Annie Isabelle Kroupa

Clarence La Roche
Annie Isabelle Kroupa
💍 1921/986

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

25
27

Wellington
Wellington

2 1/2 years
6 years

St. Peter's Church, Wellington

567

4 February 1921

Rev. T. F. Taylor, Anglican

No	128
Date of Notice	4 February 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Clarence La Roche	Annie Isabelle Kroupa
	💍 1921/986
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	25	27
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	6 years
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church, Wellington
Folio	567
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. F. Taylor, Anglican

129

4 February 1921

Harold Thomas Watson
Gertrude May Pearce

Harold Thomas Watson
Gertrude May Pearce
💍 1921/987

Bachelor
Spinster

Electrician

22
23

Wellington
Petone

17 years
5 years

St. Mary of the Angels, Presbyterian Church, 5 Boulecott Street, Wellington

568

4 February 1921

Rev. M. Murphy, Roman Catholic

No	129
Date of Notice	4 February 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Thomas Watson	Gertrude May Pearce
	💍 1921/987
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Electrician
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Petone
Length of Residence	17 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary of the Angels, Presbyterian Church, 5 Boulecott Street, Wellington
Folio	568
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Murphy, Roman Catholic

130

4 February 1921

Morris Ernest Lines
Vivian Violet Mardell

Morris ERnest Lines
Lilian Violet Mardell
💍 1921/988

Bachelor
Spinster

Police Constable

23
23

Wellington
Wellington

1 year
10 years

Trinity Methodist Church, Newtown, Wellington

569

4 February 1921

Rev. E. Drake, Methodist

No	130
Date of Notice	4 February 1921
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Morris Ernest Lines	Vivian Violet Mardell
BDM Match (93%)	Morris ERnest Lines	Lilian Violet Mardell
	💍 1921/988
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Police Constable
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	1 year	10 years
Marriage Place	Trinity Methodist Church, Newtown, Wellington
Folio	569
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1921
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Drake, Methodist

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).