Intentions to Marry, 1922 Pongaroa to Wellington

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840508, 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.

1922e contains pages 1691-2058, covering districts from Pongaroa to Wellington

Page 1745

District of Taihape Quarter ending 30 September 1922 Registrar J. P. [illegible]

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

3 July 1922

Norman Alfred Matthew Bennett
Eva Winifred Jones

Norman Alfred Matthew Bennett
Eva Winifred Jones
💍 1922/7888

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Household Duties

19
16

Mataroa
Wainui, Taihape

15 years
10 years

Church of England, Taihape

6577

Matthew Bennett (father), Edward Sydney Jones (father)

3 July 1922

Rev. W. Stent, Church of England, Taihape

No	16
Date of Notice	3 July 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Alfred Matthew Bennett	Eva Winifred Jones
	💍 1922/7888
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Household Duties
Age	19	16
Dwelling Place	Mataroa	Wainui, Taihape
Length of Residence	15 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Taihape
Folio	6577
Consent	Matthew Bennett (father), Edward Sydney Jones (father)
Date of Certificate	3 July 1922
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Stent, Church of England, Taihape

7 July 1922

Ernest Clarence Penn
Emma Sophie Moore

Ernest Clarence Penn
Emma Sophie Moore
💍 1922/8021

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Driver
Waitress

24
23

Taihape
Mangaweka

2 1/2 months
16 years

B.H. Moore's Residence, Mangaweka

6578

7 July 1922

Rev. J. Heard, Presbyterian, Mangaweka

No	17
Date of Notice	7 July 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Clarence Penn	Emma Sophie Moore
	💍 1922/8021
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Driver	Waitress
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Taihape	Mangaweka
Length of Residence	2 1/2 months	16 years
Marriage Place	B.H. Moore's Residence, Mangaweka
Folio	6578
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 July 1922
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Heard, Presbyterian, Mangaweka

27 July 1922

Harold Douglas Milne
Hena Llewella Shute

Harold Douglas Milne
Lena Llewella Shute
💍 1922/8032

Bachelor
Spinster

Civil Servant
Housekeeper

32
29

Taihape
Taihape

3 days
6 months

Methodist Church, Taihape

6579

26 July 1922

Rev. W. Lea, Methodist, Taihape

No	18
Date of Notice	27 July 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Douglas Milne	Hena Llewella Shute
BDM Match (97%)	Harold Douglas Milne	Lena Llewella Shute
	💍 1922/8032
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Civil Servant	Housekeeper
Age	32	29
Dwelling Place	Taihape	Taihape
Length of Residence	3 days	6 months
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Taihape
Folio	6579
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 July 1922
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Lea, Methodist, Taihape

28 August 1922

Maurice John Williams
Hella Monerieff Hann

Mourice John Williams
Nella Moricrieff Hann
💍 1922/8037

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

28
21

Taihape
Taihape

4 days
4 days

Methodist Church, Taihape

6580

28 August 1922

R. W. Lea, Methodist, Taihape

No	19
Date of Notice	28 August 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Maurice John Williams	Hella Monerieff Hann
BDM Match (88%)	Mourice John Williams	Nella Moricrieff Hann
	💍 1922/8037
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Taihape	Taihape
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Taihape
Folio	6580
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 August 1922
Officiating Minister	R. W. Lea, Methodist, Taihape

16 September 1922

Anthony Moghan
May Helder

Anthony Moghan
May Nelder
💍 1922/8038

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Waitress

55
22

Taihape
Taihape

20 years
3 months

Registrar's Office, Taihape

6581

16 September 1922

A. H. Berry, Registrar, Taihape

No	20
Date of Notice	16 September 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Anthony Moghan	May Helder
BDM Match (95%)	Anthony Moghan	May Nelder
	💍 1922/8038
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Waitress
Age	55	22
Dwelling Place	Taihape	Taihape
Length of Residence	20 years	3 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Taihape
Folio	6581
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 September 1922
Officiating Minister	A. H. Berry, Registrar, Taihape

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).