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 575

District of Hamilton Quarter ending 31 December 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

244

24 December 1923

James Joseph Milburn
Kathleen Mangan

James Joseph Milburn
Kathleen Mangan
💍 1924/7874

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper

29
33

Ngaruawahia
Hamilton

7 years
3 days

Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, Hamilton East

24 December 1923

Rev. M. J. Bleakley, Roman Catholic

No	244
Date of Notice	24 December 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Joseph Milburn	Kathleen Mangan
	💍 1924/7874
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	29	33
Dwelling Place	Ngaruawahia	Hamilton
Length of Residence	7 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, Hamilton East
Folio	56
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 December 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. J. Bleakley, Roman Catholic

245

24 December 1923

Patrick David Rowan
Beatrice Biel

Patrick David Rowan
Beatrice Biel
💍 1923/6910

Bachelor
Spinster

Yardman

21
19

Manunui
Hamilton

2 years
5 years

First Presbyterian Church, Frankton Junction

8905

Martha Mary Margaret Cochrane, formerly Biel, Mother

24 December 1923

Rev. A. M. Aspland, Presbyterian

No	245
Date of Notice	24 December 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick David Rowan	Beatrice Biel
	💍 1923/6910
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Yardman
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Manunui	Hamilton
Length of Residence	2 years	5 years
Marriage Place	First Presbyterian Church, Frankton Junction
Folio	8905
Consent	Martha Mary Margaret Cochrane, formerly Biel, Mother
Date of Certificate	24 December 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. M. Aspland, Presbyterian

246

24 December 1923

Henry John Barrio
Amy Elizabeth Exelby

Henry John Barris
Amy Elizabeth Exelby
💍 1923/6911

Bachelor
Spinster

Timber Worker

29
20

Hamilton
Rotokauri

2 years
20 years

Registrars Office, Hamilton

8906

Edward Exelby, Father

24 December 1923

Registrar

No	246
Date of Notice	24 December 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry John Barrio	Amy Elizabeth Exelby
BDM Match (97%)	Henry John Barris	Amy Elizabeth Exelby
	💍 1923/6911
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Timber Worker
Age	29	20
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Rotokauri
Length of Residence	2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Hamilton
Folio	8906
Consent	Edward Exelby, Father
Date of Certificate	24 December 1923
Officiating Minister	Registrar

247

31 December 1923

Edward Coe
Alice Maude Kelly

Edward Coe
Alice Maude Kelly
💍 1924/7875

Bachelor
Spinster

Saddler

38
38

Hamilton
Hamilton

15 years
12 years

Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, Hamilton East

31 December 1923

Rev. M. J. Bleakley, Roman Catholic

No	247
Date of Notice	31 December 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Coe	Alice Maude Kelly
	💍 1924/7875
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler
Age	38	38
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Hamilton
Length of Residence	15 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, Hamilton East
Folio	57
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 December 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. J. Bleakley, Roman Catholic

248

31 December 1923

Charles Williams
Susan Russell

Charles Williams
Susan Russell
💍 1924/7876

Widower (30/3/1918)
Widow (15/11/1913)

Labourer

58
52

Hamilton
Hamilton

1 week
6 months

Presbyterian Manse, Piako Road, Claudelands

31 December 1923

Rev. R. Mackie, Presbyterian

No	248
Date of Notice	31 December 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Williams	Susan Russell
	💍 1924/7876
Condition	Widower (30/3/1918)	Widow (15/11/1913)
Profession	Labourer
Age	58	52
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Hamilton
Length of Residence	1 week	6 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Piako Road, Claudelands
Folio	58
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 December 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).