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 1357

District of Napier Quarter ending 30 September 1922 Registrar W. Buchanan

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

8 August 1922

Edgar George Lay
Rena Hollis

Edgar George Lay
Rena Hollis
💍 1922/7747

Bachelor
Spinster

Wood Sawyer
Domestic

22
22

Taradale
Taradale

3 months
5 months

Registrar's Office, Napier

6376

8 August 1922

W. Buchanan, Registrar

No	95
Date of Notice	8 August 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edgar George Lay	Rena Hollis
	💍 1922/7747
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wood Sawyer	Domestic
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Taradale	Taradale
Length of Residence	3 months	5 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Napier
Folio	6376
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 August 1922
Officiating Minister	W. Buchanan, Registrar

9 August 1922

George McNabb
Ruby Edith Sarchett

George McNabb
Ruby Edith Sarchett
💍 1922/7758

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

22
18

Port Ahuriri
Port Ahuriri

6 months
18 months

Residence of H. A. Pearce, Vigor Brown Street, Napier

6377

Walter John Hicks, Guardian

9 August 1922

A. Hodge, Congregational

No	96
Date of Notice	9 August 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George McNabb	Ruby Edith Sarchett
	💍 1922/7758
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	22	18
Dwelling Place	Port Ahuriri	Port Ahuriri
Length of Residence	6 months	18 months
Marriage Place	Residence of H. A. Pearce, Vigor Brown Street, Napier
Folio	6377
Consent	Walter John Hicks, Guardian
Date of Certificate	9 August 1922
Officiating Minister	A. Hodge, Congregational

15 August 1922

Edmond Charles Green
Jane Eleanor Bergstrom

Edmond Charles Green
Jane Eleanor Bergstrom
💍 1922/7765

Widower (1st October 1920)
Widow (18th July 1918)

Telegraph Linesman
Domestic Duties

38
44

Napier
Napier

5 years
20 years

Residence of J. Morrissey, Nelson Crescent, Napier

6378

15 August 1922

M. H. P. Lascelles, Baptist

No	97
Date of Notice	15 August 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edmond Charles Green	Jane Eleanor Bergstrom
	💍 1922/7765
Condition	Widower (1st October 1920)	Widow (18th July 1918)
Profession	Telegraph Linesman	Domestic Duties
Age	38	44
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	5 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of J. Morrissey, Nelson Crescent, Napier
Folio	6378
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 August 1922
Officiating Minister	M. H. P. Lascelles, Baptist

17 August 1922

Albert Williams
Mildred Richardson

Widower (28th November 1920)
Divorced (Decree Absolute 19th August 1918)

Commission Agent
Domestic Duties

57
32

Napier
Napier

1 year
2 years

The Manse, Lincoln Road, Napier

6379

17 August 1922

J. A. Asher, Presbyterian

No	98
Date of Notice	17 August 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Williams	Mildred Richardson
Condition	Widower (28th November 1920)	Divorced (Decree Absolute 19th August 1918)
Profession	Commission Agent	Domestic Duties
Age	57	32
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	1 year	2 years
Marriage Place	The Manse, Lincoln Road, Napier
Folio	6379
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 August 1922
Officiating Minister	J. A. Asher, Presbyterian

22 August 1922

Francis James Punch
Catherine Tohill

Francis James Punch
Catherine Tohill
💍 1922/7767

Bachelor
Spinster

Mill Manager
Domestic

25
27

Rangatana
Napier

3 days
13 years

St. Patricks Church, Napier

6380

22 August 1922

Father Blaney, Roman Catholic

No	99
Date of Notice	22 August 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis James Punch	Catherine Tohill
	💍 1922/7767
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mill Manager	Domestic
Age	25	27
Dwelling Place	Rangatana	Napier
Length of Residence	3 days	13 years
Marriage Place	St. Patricks Church, Napier
Folio	6380
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 August 1922
Officiating Minister	Father Blaney, Roman Catholic

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).