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 793

District of Ngaruawahia Quarter ending 30 September 1923 Registrar R. B. Nixon

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 July 1923

George Kelsey Godlin
Clara Evelyn Channing

George Kelsey Codlin
Clara Evelyn Channing
💍 1923/4383

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Clerk

35
19

Waingaro
Ngaruawahia

2 years
all life

Church of England, Ngaruawahia

6415

James Channing, father

7 July 1923

Rev. G. F. R. Harrison, Church of England

No	13
Date of Notice	7 July 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Kelsey Godlin	Clara Evelyn Channing
BDM Match (98%)	George Kelsey Codlin	Clara Evelyn Channing
	💍 1923/4383
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Clerk
Age	35	19
Dwelling Place	Waingaro	Ngaruawahia
Length of Residence	2 years	all life
Marriage Place	Church of England, Ngaruawahia
Folio	6415
Consent	James Channing, father
Date of Certificate	7 July 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. F. R. Harrison, Church of England

14 July 1923

Robert Gair
Margaret Mackey

Robert Gair
Margaret Mackey
💍 1923/4384

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic Duties

37
20

Glenmassey
Glenmassey

3 years
3 months

Methodist Church, Ngaruawahia

6416

no person in Dominion having authority to give consent

14 July 1923

Rev. S. Keen, Methodist Church

No	14
Date of Notice	14 July 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Gair	Margaret Mackey
	💍 1923/4384
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic Duties
Age	37	20
Dwelling Place	Glenmassey	Glenmassey
Length of Residence	3 years	3 months
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Ngaruawahia
Folio	6416
Consent	no person in Dominion having authority to give consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Keen, Methodist Church

21 July 1923

Richard William Jessen
Alice Bertha Hall

Richard William Jessen
Alice Bertha Hall
💍 1923/4385

Richard William Hutt
Emily Sara Hall
💍 1923/3365

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine driver
Domestic Duties

29
22

Komakorau
Komakorau

1 day
all life

Residence of A. Hall, Komakorau

6417

24 July 1923

Rev. S. Keen, Methodist Church

No	15
Date of Notice	21 July 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard William Jessen	Alice Bertha Hall
	💍 1923/4385
BDM Match (63%)	Richard William Hutt	Emily Sara Hall
	💍 1923/3365
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine driver	Domestic Duties
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Komakorau	Komakorau
Length of Residence	1 day	all life
Marriage Place	Residence of A. Hall, Komakorau
Folio	6417
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 July 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Keen, Methodist Church

6 August 1923

John Seddon
Alice Mary Evelyn Duffell

John Seddon
Alice Mary Evelyn Duffull
💍 1923/4386

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic Duties

34
22

Pukemiro
Waingaro

7 years
16 years

Presbyterian Church, Ngaruawahia

6418

6 August 1923

Rev. J. C. Mill, Presbyterian

No	16
Date of Notice	6 August 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Seddon	Alice Mary Evelyn Duffell
BDM Match (98%)	John Seddon	Alice Mary Evelyn Duffull
	💍 1923/4386
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic Duties
Age	34	22
Dwelling Place	Pukemiro	Waingaro
Length of Residence	7 years	16 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Ngaruawahia
Folio	6418
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 August 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Mill, Presbyterian

21 August 1923

Robert Thomas Hill
Muriel Mary Waring

Robert Thomas Hill
Muriel Mary Waring
💍 1923/4388

Widower
Spinster

Storekeeper
Domestic Duties

36
19

Taupiri
Taupiri

14 years
19 years

Church of England, Taupiri

6419

Arthur Henry Waring, father

21 August 1923

Rev. G. F. R. Harrison, Church of England

No	17
Date of Notice	21 August 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Thomas Hill	Muriel Mary Waring
	💍 1923/4388
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Domestic Duties
Age	36	19
Dwelling Place	Taupiri	Taupiri
Length of Residence	14 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Taupiri
Folio	6419
Consent	Arthur Henry Waring, father
Date of Certificate	21 August 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. F. R. Harrison, 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).