Intentions to Marry, 1923 Bay of Islands to Raglan

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840513, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1923 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.

1923b contains pages 433-894, covering districts from Bay of Islands to Raglan

Page 471

District of Drury Quarter ending 30 June 1923 Registrar G. Boagey

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

7 April 1923

Andrew Moncur
Dorothea Ellen Katherine Mitford Burgess

Andrew Moncur
Dorothy Ellen Katherine Mitford-Burgess
💍 1923/10091

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

24
23

Ramarama
Ramarama

2 1/2 years
4 months

Church of England, Drury

5298

7 April 1923

Rev. W. C. Wood, Church of England

No	10
Date of Notice	7 April 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Moncur	Dorothea Ellen Katherine Mitford Burgess
BDM Match (96%)	Andrew Moncur	Dorothy Ellen Katherine Mitford-Burgess
	💍 1923/10091
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Ramarama	Ramarama
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	4 months
Marriage Place	Church of England, Drury
Folio	5298
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 April 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. C. Wood, Church of England

17 April 1923

Charles Gordon Edwards
Isabel Mary Eugene Evans

Charles Gordon Edwards
Isabel Mary Eugenie Evans
💍 1923/8530

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Domestic

38
28

Manurewa
Manurewa

9 years
9 years

Methodist Church, Manurewa

8888

17 April 1923

Rev. J. W. Griffin, Methodist

No	11
Date of Notice	17 April 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Gordon Edwards	Isabel Mary Eugene Evans
BDM Match (98%)	Charles Gordon Edwards	Isabel Mary Eugenie Evans
	💍 1923/8530
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Domestic
Age	38	28
Dwelling Place	Manurewa	Manurewa
Length of Residence	9 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Manurewa
Folio	8888
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 April 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Griffin, Methodist

23 April 1923

William Henry Watkinson
Margaret Capstick

William Henry Watkinson
Margaret Capstick
💍 1923/8531

Widower
Widow

Farmer
Domestic

47
48

Papakura
Northcote

Life
12 months

Residence of Bridegroom, Papakura

3889

23 April 1923

Rev. W. C. Wood, Church of England

No	12
Date of Notice	23 April 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Watkinson	Margaret Capstick
	💍 1923/8531
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	47	48
Dwelling Place	Papakura	Northcote
Length of Residence	Life	12 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Bridegroom, Papakura
Folio	3889
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 April 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. C. Wood, Church of England

31 May 1923

Victor Reginald Billman
Catherine Graham Paton

Victor Reginald Billman
Catherine Graham Paton
💍 1923/8532

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

36
31

Clevedon
Clevedon

12 years
31 years

Presbyterian Church, Clevedon

3890

31 May 1923

Rev. J. A. Thomson, Presbyterian

No	13
Date of Notice	31 May 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Victor Reginald Billman	Catherine Graham Paton
	💍 1923/8532
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	36	31
Dwelling Place	Clevedon	Clevedon
Length of Residence	12 years	31 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Clevedon
Folio	3890
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Thomson, Presbyterian

7 May 1923

Archer Ian Batty
Violet Mary Grant

Archer Ian Batty
Violet Mary Grant
💍 1923/10092

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

27
23

Karaka
Karaka

15 years
5 years

Church of England, Papakura

5300

7 May 1923

Rev. W. C. Wood, Church of England

No	14
Date of Notice	7 May 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archer Ian Batty	Violet Mary Grant
	💍 1923/10092
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Karaka	Karaka
Length of Residence	15 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Papakura
Folio	5300
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 May 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. C. Wood, Church of England

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).