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 557

District of Hamilton Quarter ending 30 September 1923 Registrar Ferguson

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

158

10 July 1923

Norman Dowley
Amy Love

Norman Powley Carless
Amy Love
💍 1923/4159

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

33
31

Waihi
Hamilton

3 years
8 days

St George's Anglican Church, Frankton Junction

6335

10 July 1923

Rev. O. J. Harty, Anglican

No	158
Date of Notice	10 July 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Dowley	Amy Love
BDM Match (79%)	Norman Powley Carless	Amy Love
	💍 1923/4159
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	33	31
Dwelling Place	Waihi	Hamilton
Length of Residence	3 years	8 days
Marriage Place	St George's Anglican Church, Frankton Junction
Folio	6335
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 July 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. O. J. Harty, Anglican

159

13 July 1923

Thomas John Styles
Lyda Hayes

Thomas John Styles
Lyda Corenna Hayes
💍 1923/4139

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Mechanic

28
21

Hamilton
Hamilton

5 years
14 years

St George's Anglican Church, Frankton Junction

6336

13 July 1923

Rev. O. J. Harty, Anglican

No	159
Date of Notice	13 July 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas John Styles	Lyda Hayes
BDM Match (78%)	Thomas John Styles	Lyda Corenna Hayes
	💍 1923/4139
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Mechanic
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Hamilton
Length of Residence	5 years	14 years
Marriage Place	St George's Anglican Church, Frankton Junction
Folio	6336
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 July 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. O. J. Harty, Anglican

160

14 July 1923

Alexander Hunter
Barbara Mary Johnston

Alexander Hunter
Barbara Mary Johnston
💍 1923/4140

Alexander John Donn
Margaret Marion Johnston
💍 1923/1908

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Clerk

36
22

Hamilton
Hamilton

2 years
1 day

Registrar's Office, Hamilton

6337

14 July 1923

Registrar

No	160
Date of Notice	14 July 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Hunter	Barbara Mary Johnston
	💍 1923/4140
BDM Match (64%)	Alexander John Donn	Margaret Marion Johnston
	💍 1923/1908
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Clerk
Age	36	22
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Hamilton
Length of Residence	2 years	1 day
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Hamilton
Folio	6337
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1923
Officiating Minister	Registrar

161

18 July 1923

Anton Hurliman
Mabel Isabella Shrimpton

Anton Hurlinman
Mabel Isabella Springton
💍 1923/4141

Bachelor
Divorced (Decree absolute 26/6/1923)

Farmer

33
33

Hamilton
Hamilton

3 days
3 days

Registrar's Office, Hamilton

6338

18 July 1923

Registrar

No	161
Date of Notice	18 July 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Anton Hurliman	Mabel Isabella Shrimpton
BDM Match (90%)	Anton Hurlinman	Mabel Isabella Springton
	💍 1923/4141
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced (Decree absolute 26/6/1923)
Profession	Farmer
Age	33	33
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Hamilton
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Hamilton
Folio	6338
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 July 1923
Officiating Minister	Registrar

162

20 July 1923

Alexander Naismith Todd
Evelyn Hazel Jackson

Alexander Naismith Tod
Evelyn Hazel Jackson
💍 1923/10312

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

29
25

Hamilton
Hamilton

3 days
3 days

House of W. L. Ranstead, Matangi

6339

20 July 1923

Rev. E. M. Cowie, Anglican

No	162
Date of Notice	20 July 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Naismith Todd	Evelyn Hazel Jackson
BDM Match (98%)	Alexander Naismith Tod	Evelyn Hazel Jackson
	💍 1923/10312
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Hamilton
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	House of W. L. Ranstead, Matangi
Folio	6339
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 July 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).