Intentions to Marry, 1922 Rangiriri to Whangamomona

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840506, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1922 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.

1922c contains pages 877-1290, covering districts from Rangiriri to Whangamomona

Page 1273

District of Waimate Plains Quarter ending 31 December 1922 Registrar F. W. Collier

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

2 October 1922

Thomas Howard
Helen Beatrice Howard

Thomas Howard
Helen Beatrice Howard
💍 1922/7732

Widower
Widow

Ex-constable
Domestic Duties

66
50

Manaia
Manaia

2 months
17 years

Roman Catholic Church, Manaia

8720

2 October 1922

Rev. J. J. Kelly, Roman Catholic

No	15
Date of Notice	2 October 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Howard	Helen Beatrice Howard
	💍 1922/7732
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Ex-constable	Domestic Duties
Age	66	50
Dwelling Place	Manaia	Manaia
Length of Residence	2 months	17 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Manaia
Folio	8720
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 October 1922
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Kelly, Roman Catholic

31 October 1922

Benjamin Young Shaw
Edith Alice White

Benjamin Young Shaw
Edith Alice White
💍 1922/7734

Widower
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

42
29

Manaia
Kaponga

16 years
29 years

Church of England, Manaia

8721

31 October 1922

Rev. A. B. Swainson, Church of England

No	16
Date of Notice	31 October 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Benjamin Young Shaw	Edith Alice White
	💍 1922/7734
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	42	29
Dwelling Place	Manaia	Kaponga
Length of Residence	16 years	29 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Manaia
Folio	8721
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 October 1922
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. B. Swainson, Church of England

4 November 1922

Harold Churchill Fendall
Edith Joyce Patterson

Harold Churchill Fendall
Edith Joyce Patterson
💍 1922/7735

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Household Duties

25
22

Manaia
Manaia

3 years
22 years

Church of England, Manaia

8722

4 November 1922

Rev. F. P. Fendall, Church of England

No	17
Date of Notice	4 November 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Churchill Fendall	Edith Joyce Patterson
	💍 1922/7735
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Household Duties
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Manaia	Manaia
Length of Residence	3 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Manaia
Folio	8722
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 November 1922
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. P. Fendall, Church of England

16 November 1922

John Eric Hamilton Scott
Violet Rosetta Whalen

John Eric Hamilton Scott
Violet Rosetta Whalen
💍 1922/7736

Bachelor
Spinster

Cheese assistant
Shop assistant

22
19

Kapuni
Kapuni

1 year
4 years

Presbyterian church, Manaia

8723

Henry William Whalen, father

16 November 1922

Rev. J. D. Smith, Presbyterian church

No	18
Date of Notice	16 November 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Eric Hamilton Scott	Violet Rosetta Whalen
	💍 1922/7736
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cheese assistant	Shop assistant
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Kapuni	Kapuni
Length of Residence	1 year	4 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian church, Manaia
Folio	8723
Consent	Henry William Whalen, father
Date of Certificate	16 November 1922
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. D. Smith, Presbyterian church

27 November 1922

Leonard Arthur Chisnall
Helen Vallance Millar

Leonard Arthur Chisnall
Helen Vallance Millar
💍 1922/7737

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic

28
27

Kaupokonui
Oeo

12 years
10 years

Residence of Mrs. Millar, Oeo

8724

27 November 1922

Rev. J. D. Smith, Presbyterian church

No	19
Date of Notice	27 November 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Arthur Chisnall	Helen Vallance Millar
	💍 1922/7737
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Kaupokonui	Oeo
Length of Residence	12 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Millar, Oeo
Folio	8724
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 November 1922
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. D. Smith, Presbyterian church

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).