Intentions to Marry, 1922 Dannevirke to Palmerston North

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840507, 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.

1922d contains pages 1291-1690, covering districts from Dannevirke to Palmerston North

Page 1299

District of Dannevirke Quarter ending 30 September 1922 Registrar E. Burr

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 1922

John James Mabey
Antonette Berntsen

John James Mabey
Antonette Berntsen
💍 1922/8779

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Home Duties

23
20

Dannevirke
Dannevirke

5 days
Lifetime

House of Bride's Father, Rua Roa

6322

Charles Johan Berntsen, Bride's father

1 July 1922

Rev. E. E. Sage

No	35
Date of Notice	1 July 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John James Mabey	Antonette Berntsen
	💍 1922/8779
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Home Duties
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Dannevirke	Dannevirke
Length of Residence	5 days	Lifetime
Marriage Place	House of Bride's Father, Rua Roa
Folio	6322
Consent	Charles Johan Berntsen, Bride's father
Date of Certificate	1 July 1922
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. E. Sage

7 July 1922

George Percy Dempster
Ivy McIntosh

George Percy Dempster
Ivy McIntosh
💍 1922/8780

Bachelor
Spinster

Cheesemaker
Clerk

23
21

Dannevirke
Dannevirke

3 days
2 years

Knox Presbyterian Church, Dannevirke

6323

7 July 1922

Rev. J. M. Yule

No	36
Date of Notice	7 July 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Percy Dempster	Ivy McIntosh
	💍 1922/8780
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cheesemaker	Clerk
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Dannevirke	Dannevirke
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	Knox Presbyterian Church, Dannevirke
Folio	6323
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 July 1922
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Yule

10 July 1922

James Burkenshaw
Myrtle Winifred Ingram

James Burtenshaw
Myrtle Winifred Ingram
💍 1922/8781

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Home Duties

25
26

Dannevirke
Dannevirke

3 days
15 years

Anglican Church, Dannevirke

6324

10 July 1922

Rev. George B. Stephenson

No	37
Date of Notice	10 July 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Burkenshaw	Myrtle Winifred Ingram
BDM Match (97%)	James Burtenshaw	Myrtle Winifred Ingram
	💍 1922/8781
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Home Duties
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Dannevirke	Dannevirke
Length of Residence	3 days	15 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, Dannevirke
Folio	6324
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 July 1922
Officiating Minister	Rev. George B. Stephenson

10 July 1922

Hugh Phillip Walker
Mary Jane Clifton

Hugh Phillip Walker
Mary Jane Clifton
💍 1922/8782

Bachelor
Divorced (Date of Decree Absolute 18th February 1922)

Blacksmith
Domestic Duties

44
37

Dannevirke
Dannevirke

3 days
35 years

Methodist Church, Dannevirke

6325

10 July 1922

Rev. E. E. Sage

No	38
Date of Notice	10 July 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Phillip Walker	Mary Jane Clifton
	💍 1922/8782
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced (Date of Decree Absolute 18th February 1922)
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic Duties
Age	44	37
Dwelling Place	Dannevirke	Dannevirke
Length of Residence	3 days	35 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Dannevirke
Folio	6325
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 July 1922
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. E. Sage

12 July 1922

John Bayless
Alice Francis

John Bayliss
Alice Francis
💍 1922/6007

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Domestic Duties

29
20

Dannevirke
Dannevirke

3 days
3 days

Anglican Church, Dannevirke

6326

Alice May Francis, Bride's mother

12 July 1922

Rev. Geo. B. Stephenson

No	39
Date of Notice	12 July 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Bayless	Alice Francis
BDM Match (96%)	John Bayliss	Alice Francis
	💍 1922/6007
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Domestic Duties
Age	29	20
Dwelling Place	Dannevirke	Dannevirke
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, Dannevirke
Folio	6326
Consent	Alice May Francis, Bride's mother
Date of Certificate	12 July 1922
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. B. Stephenson

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).