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 533

District of Hamilton Quarter ending 31 March 1923 Registrar J. McAttriell

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

22 March 1923

Norman Johnston
Edith Evelyn Sarah Fausett

Norman Johnston
Edith Evelyn Sarah Fausett
💍 1923/1979

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

24
26

Malangi
Walton

3 years
4 years

Methodist Church, London Street, Hamilton

1519

22 March 1923

Rev. E. D. Blamires, Methodist

No	51
Date of Notice	22 March 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Johnston	Edith Evelyn Sarah Fausett
	💍 1923/1979
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	24	26
Dwelling Place	Malangi	Walton
Length of Residence	3 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, London Street, Hamilton
Folio	1519
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 March 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. D. Blamires, Methodist

23 March 1923

John Watson
Vera Gertrude Robinson

John Watson
Vera Gertrude Robinson
💍 1923/2947

Widower (10/12/1919)
Spinster

Mining Superintendent

47
31

Huntly
Hamilton

3 weeks
4 years

St Peters Anglican Church, Hamilton

2668

23 March 1923

Rev. E. B. Bowie, Anglican

No	52
Date of Notice	23 March 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Watson	Vera Gertrude Robinson
	💍 1923/2947
Condition	Widower (10/12/1919)	Spinster
Profession	Mining Superintendent
Age	47	31
Dwelling Place	Huntly	Hamilton
Length of Residence	3 weeks	4 years
Marriage Place	St Peters Anglican Church, Hamilton
Folio	2668
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 March 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. B. Bowie, Anglican

24 March 1923

Richard Arthur Williamson
Elizabeth Mary Riddell

Richard Arthur Williamson
Elizabeth Mary Riddell
💍 1923/1980

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

26
27

Puketaha
Gordonton

10 years
18 years

Residence of Rev. James Riddell, Gordonton

1520

24 March 1923

Rev. R. Mackie, Presbyterian

No	53
Date of Notice	24 March 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Arthur Williamson	Elizabeth Mary Riddell
	💍 1923/1980
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Puketaha	Gordonton
Length of Residence	10 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. James Riddell, Gordonton
Folio	1520
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 March 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Mackie, Presbyterian

24 March 1923

Carl Francis Walker
Winifred Maude Allison

Carl Francis Walker
Winifred Maude Allison
💍 1923/1982

Bachelor
Spinster

Teacher
Dressmaker

38
36

Te Aroha
Hamilton

2 years
2 months

Registrar's Office, Hamilton

1521

24 March 1923

Deputy Registrar

No	54
Date of Notice	24 March 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Carl Francis Walker	Winifred Maude Allison
	💍 1923/1982
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Teacher	Dressmaker
Age	38	36
Dwelling Place	Te Aroha	Hamilton
Length of Residence	2 years	2 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Hamilton
Folio	1521
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 March 1923
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar

24 March 1923

Norman Rouw Goddard
Mary Sophia Johnson

Norman Rouw Goddard
Mary Sophia Johnson
💍 1923/2948

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

28
21

Claudelands
Hamilton

7 months
5 years

St Peters Anglican Church, Hamilton

2669

24 March 1923

Rev. E. M. Cowie, Anglican

No	55
Date of Notice	24 March 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Rouw Goddard	Mary Sophia Johnson
	💍 1923/2948
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Claudelands	Hamilton
Length of Residence	7 months	5 years
Marriage Place	St Peters Anglican Church, Hamilton
Folio	2669
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 March 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. M. Cowie, Anglican

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).