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 1315

District of Waimate Plains Quarter ending 30 September 1923 Registrar J. H. Colther

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

23 July 1923

John James Parry
Mabel Murfitt

John James Parry
Mabel Murfitt
💍 1923/4412

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

25
22

Manaia
Manaia

16 years
3 years

St. Cuthbert Church, Manaia

6695

23 July 1923

Rev. A. C. Swainson, Church of England

No	9
Date of Notice	23 July 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John James Parry	Mabel Murfitt
	💍 1923/4412
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Manaia	Manaia
Length of Residence	16 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Cuthbert Church, Manaia
Folio	6695
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 July 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. C. Swainson, Church of England

4 August 1923

Charles William Cook
Eileen Florence Herbert

Charles William Cook
Eileen Florence Herbert
💍 1923/4413

Widower (11 December 1920)
Spinster

Farmer
Housekeeper

33
24

Oeo
Otakeho

4 years
17 years

Church of England, Otakeho

6696

4 August 1923

Rev. A. C. Swainson, Church of England

No	10
Date of Notice	4 August 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles William Cook	Eileen Florence Herbert
	💍 1923/4413
Condition	Widower (11 December 1920)	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Housekeeper
Age	33	24
Dwelling Place	Oeo	Otakeho
Length of Residence	4 years	17 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Otakeho
Folio	6696
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 August 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. C. Swainson, Church of England

6 August 1923

Thomas McIntyre Miller
Isobel Christina Nielson

Thomas McIntyre Miller
Isobel Christina Nielson
💍 1923/4414

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraphist
Shop Assistant

33
26

Manaia
Manaia

4 years
18 years

Methodist Church, Manaia

6697

6 August 1923

Rev. C. Roberts, Methodist

No	11
Date of Notice	6 August 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas McIntyre Miller	Isobel Christina Nielson
	💍 1923/4414
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist	Shop Assistant
Age	33	26
Dwelling Place	Manaia	Manaia
Length of Residence	4 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Manaia
Folio	6697
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 August 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Roberts, Methodist

25 August 1923

Alfred Bettridge
Hilda Florence Bennett

Alfred Bettridge
Hilda Florence Bennett
💍 1923/4415

Divorced (23 August 1923)
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic

26
24

Inaha
Kaupokonui

10 years
8 years

Methodist Church, Manaia

6698

25 August 1923

Rev. C. Roberts, Methodist

No	12
Date of Notice	25 August 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Bettridge	Hilda Florence Bennett
	💍 1923/4415
Condition	Divorced (23 August 1923)	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Inaha	Kaupokonui
Length of Residence	10 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Manaia
Folio	6698
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 August 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Roberts, Methodist

17 September 1923

Charles Cameron
Mary Ann Murfitt

Charles Cameron
Mary Ann Murfitt
💍 1923/4416

Bachelor
Spinster

Cheesemaker
Domestic

25
21

Aurora
Kaupokonui

3 months
4 years

Church of England, Manaia

6699

17 September 1923

Rev. A. C. Swainson, Church of England

No	13
Date of Notice	17 September 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Cameron	Mary Ann Murfitt
	💍 1923/4416
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cheesemaker	Domestic
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Aurora	Kaupokonui
Length of Residence	3 months	4 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Manaia
Folio	6699
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 September 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. C. Swainson, 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).