Intentions to Marry, 1923 Rangiriri to Whangamomona

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840514, 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.

1923c contains pages 895-1334, covering districts from Rangiriri to Whangamomona

Page 1125

District of Whangarei Quarter ending 30 June 1923 Registrar Bira

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

30 April 1923

Joseph Williams
Jane South

Joseph Williams
Jane South
💍 1923/8747

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic

25
18

Portland
Whangarei

2 years
2 years

Registrar's Office, Whangarei

4183

Annie Maria South, mother

30 April 1923

F. Bird, Registrar

No	43
Date of Notice	30 April 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Williams	Jane South
	💍 1923/8747
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic
Age	25	18
Dwelling Place	Portland	Whangarei
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Whangarei
Folio	4183
Consent	Annie Maria South, mother
Date of Certificate	30 April 1923
Officiating Minister	F. Bird, Registrar

3 May 1923

William Trouch
Bertha Harriett Dinniss

William Troup
Bertha Harriett Dinniss
💍 1923/8748

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer
Domestic

29
23

Whangarei
Whangarei

4 years
23 years

Church of England, Whangarei

4184

3 May 1923

Rev. G. C. Cruickshank, Church of England

No	44
Date of Notice	3 May 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Trouch	Bertha Harriett Dinniss
BDM Match (93%)	William Troup	Bertha Harriett Dinniss
	💍 1923/8748
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer	Domestic
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Whangarei	Whangarei
Length of Residence	4 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Whangarei
Folio	4184
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 May 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. C. Cruickshank, Church of England

5 May 1923

Albert Essington Stuart
Anna Ruth Enson

Albert Essington Stuart
Anna Ruth Emson
💍 1923/8726

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocers assistant
Drapers assistant

21
21

Auckland
Central Avenue, Whangarei

18 months
21 years

Dwelling of Mrs. W. Enson, Central Avenue, Whangarei

4185

5 May 1923

Rev. F. Jamieson, Baptist

No	45
Date of Notice	5 May 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Essington Stuart	Anna Ruth Enson
BDM Match (97%)	Albert Essington Stuart	Anna Ruth Emson
	💍 1923/8726
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocers assistant	Drapers assistant
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Central Avenue, Whangarei
Length of Residence	18 months	21 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mrs. W. Enson, Central Avenue, Whangarei
Folio	4185
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 May 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Jamieson, Baptist

12 May 1923

David Henry Major Acteson
Marguerite Alison Tyles

David Henry Major Acteson
Marguerite Alison Eyles
💍 1923/8732

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman
Clerk

25
29

Whangarei
Whangarei

12 years
12 years

Presbyterian Church, Whangarei

4192

12 May 1923

Rev. G. W. Cochrane, Presbyterian

No	46
Date of Notice	12 May 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Henry Major Acteson	Marguerite Alison Tyles
BDM Match (98%)	David Henry Major Acteson	Marguerite Alison Eyles
	💍 1923/8732
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman	Clerk
Age	25	29
Dwelling Place	Whangarei	Whangarei
Length of Residence	12 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Whangarei
Folio	4192
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 May 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. W. Cochrane, Presbyterian

14 May 1923

Cedric Charles Purchase
Hanna Amelia Robinson (Launa)

Leslie Charles Purchase
Launa Amelia Robinson
💍 1923/8727

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway fireman
Dressmaker

22
18

Whangarei
Whangarei

23 years
18 years

Church of England, Whangarei

4186

Minnie Robinson, mother

14 May 1923

Rev. G. C. Cruickshank, Church of England

No	47
Date of Notice	14 May 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cedric Charles Purchase	Hanna Amelia Robinson (Launa)
BDM Match (74%)	Leslie Charles Purchase	Launa Amelia Robinson
	💍 1923/8727
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway fireman	Dressmaker
Age	22	18
Dwelling Place	Whangarei	Whangarei
Length of Residence	23 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Whangarei
Folio	4186
Consent	Minnie Robinson, mother
Date of Certificate	14 May 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. C. Cruickshank, 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).