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 541

District of Hamilton Quarter ending 30 June 1923 Registrar G. McIttric

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

26 April 1923

Cyril Arthur King
Esma Eileen Sorenson

Cyril Arthur King
Esma Eileen Sorenson
💍 1923/8581

Bachelor
Spinster

Vulcanizer
Saleswoman

30
22

Frankton
Hamilton

3 1/2 years
3 years

St. Georges Anglican Church, Frankton

3939

26 April 1923

Rev. F. S. Harty, Anglican

No	85
Date of Notice	26 April 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cyril Arthur King	Esma Eileen Sorenson
	💍 1923/8581
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Vulcanizer	Saleswoman
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Frankton	Hamilton
Length of Residence	3 1/2 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Georges Anglican Church, Frankton
Folio	3939
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 April 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. S. Harty, Anglican

28 April 1923

Alfred George Belsham
Dorothea Maude Pizzini

Alfred George Belsham
Dorothea Maude Pizzini
💍 1923/8582

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder & Bricklayer
Domestic Duties

26
23

Hamilton
Hamilton

6 days
17 years

St. Marys Roman Catholic Church, Hamilton

3940

28 April 1923

Rev. M. J. Bleakley, Roman Catholic

No	86
Date of Notice	28 April 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred George Belsham	Dorothea Maude Pizzini
	💍 1923/8582
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder & Bricklayer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Hamilton
Length of Residence	6 days	17 years
Marriage Place	St. Marys Roman Catholic Church, Hamilton
Folio	3940
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 April 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. J. Bleakley, Roman Catholic

1 May 1923

Roy Richard Meyer
Mary Isabella Ryburn

Roy Richard Meyer
Mary Isabella Ryburn
💍 1923/8583

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Home Duties

28
21

Ngahinapouri
Ngahinapouri

10 years
16 years

Residence of Brides Parents, Ngahinapouri

3941

1 May 1923

Rev. D. N. McKenzie, Presbyterian

No	87
Date of Notice	1 May 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Roy Richard Meyer	Mary Isabella Ryburn
	💍 1923/8583
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Home Duties
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Ngahinapouri	Ngahinapouri
Length of Residence	10 years	16 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Brides Parents, Ngahinapouri
Folio	3941
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 May 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. N. McKenzie, Presbyterian

3 May 1923

Albert Fredrick Helleur
Violet Caroline Adams

Albert Fredrick Helleur
Violet Caroline Adams
💍 1923/8584

Bachelor
Spinster

Window-Dresser
Saleswoman

23
23

Hamilton
Feilding

7 months
23 years

St Andrews Presbyterian Church, Hamilton

3942

3 May 1923

Rev. R. Mackie, Presbyterian

No	88
Date of Notice	3 May 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Fredrick Helleur	Violet Caroline Adams
	💍 1923/8584
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Window-Dresser	Saleswoman
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Feilding
Length of Residence	7 months	23 years
Marriage Place	St Andrews Presbyterian Church, Hamilton
Folio	3942
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 May 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Mackie, Presbyterian

3 May 1923

Thomas Anderson Berg
Emma Maud Cooper

Thomas Anderson Berg
Emma Maud Cooper
💍 1923/8585

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic Duties

53
25

Te Kuiti
Hamilton

14 years
1 month

Presbyterian Manse, Piako Street, Hamilton

3943

3 May 1923

Rev. R. Mackie, Presbyterian

No	89
Date of Notice	3 May 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Anderson Berg	Emma Maud Cooper
	💍 1923/8585
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic Duties
Age	53	25
Dwelling Place	Te Kuiti	Hamilton
Length of Residence	14 years	1 month
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Piako Street, Hamilton
Folio	3943
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 May 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Mackie, Presbyterian

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).