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 883

District of Pukekohe Quarter ending 31 December 1923 Registrar T. R. Dansey

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

3 October 1923

Edgar Farr
Mabel Frances Hobson

Edgar Farr
Mabel Frances Hobson
💍 1923/6867

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

35
26

Bombay
Auckland

1 1/2 years
2 years

Church of England, Pukekohe

8985

3 October 1923

Rev. J. P. Bowie, Church of England

No	26
Date of Notice	3 October 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edgar Farr	Mabel Frances Hobson
	💍 1923/6867
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	35	26
Dwelling Place	Bombay	Auckland
Length of Residence	1 1/2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Pukekohe
Folio	8985
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 October 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. P. Bowie, Church of England

9 October 1923

Charles Wharton
Elizabeth Bovill

Charles Wharton
Elizabeth Bovill
💍 1923/6868

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

40
46

Tuakau
Tuakau

6 months
40 years

Methodist Church, Pukekohe

8986

9 October 1923

Rev. J. Olphert, Methodist

No	27
Date of Notice	9 October 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Wharton	Elizabeth Bovill
	💍 1923/6868
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	40	46
Dwelling Place	Tuakau	Tuakau
Length of Residence	6 months	40 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Pukekohe
Folio	8986
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 October 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Olphert, Methodist

30 October 1923

Sydney Roland Wellington Powell
Gertrude Pauline Harvey

Sydney Roland Wellington Powell
Gertrude Pauline Harvey
💍 1923/6869

Bachelor
Divorced (decree absolute dated 24th August 1923)

Dentist
Domestic Duties

42
38

Pukekohe
Auckland

3 days
7 months

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Pukekohe

8987

30 October 1923

T. R. Dansey, Registrar of Marriages, Pukekohe

No	28
Date of Notice	30 October 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney Roland Wellington Powell	Gertrude Pauline Harvey
	💍 1923/6869
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced (decree absolute dated 24th August 1923)
Profession	Dentist	Domestic Duties
Age	42	38
Dwelling Place	Pukekohe	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 days	7 months
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Pukekohe
Folio	8987
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 October 1923
Officiating Minister	T. R. Dansey, Registrar of Marriages, Pukekohe

3 November 1923

Ernest Edward Parker
Olive Agnes Jenkins

Ernest Edward Parker
Olive Agnes Jenkins
💍 1923/6870

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

29
25

Pukekohe
Pukekohe

3 years
23 years

Presbyterian Church, Pukekohe

8988

3 November 1923

Rev. S. Nixon, Presbyterian

No	29
Date of Notice	3 November 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Edward Parker	Olive Agnes Jenkins
	💍 1923/6870
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Pukekohe	Pukekohe
Length of Residence	3 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Pukekohe
Folio	8988
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 November 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Nixon, Presbyterian

14 November 1923

John Alexander Stewart
Olive Frances Moor

John Alexander Stewart
Olive Frances Moor
💍 1923/6871

Bachelor
Spinster

Traveller
Book-Keeper

26
24

Auckland
Mauku

14 years
9 months

Presbyterian Church, Pukekohe

8989

14 November 1923

Rev. A. H. Coates, Presbyterian

No	30
Date of Notice	14 November 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Alexander Stewart	Olive Frances Moor
	💍 1923/6871
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Traveller	Book-Keeper
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Mauku
Length of Residence	14 years	9 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Pukekohe
Folio	8989
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 November 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. H. Coates, Presbyterian

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).