Intentions to Marry, 1923 Dannevirke to Palmerston North

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840515, 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.

1923d contains pages 1335-1744, covering districts from Dannevirke to Palmerston North

Page 1617

District of Levin Quarter ending 31 March 1923 Registrar A. Hawke

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

9 January 1923

James George Rolston
Gwendoline Leah Hinemoa Saint

James George Rolston
Gwendoline Leah Hinemoa Saint
💍 1923/2364

Bachelor
Spinster

Dairy farmer
Domestic Duties

23
22

Ohau
Foxton

4 months
12 months

Residence Mr Samuel Rolston Junior, Foxton Road, Levin

1959

9 January 1923

Rev. Henry Curran, Rawera

No	1
Date of Notice	9 January 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James George Rolston	Gwendoline Leah Hinemoa Saint
	💍 1923/2364
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dairy farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Ohau	Foxton
Length of Residence	4 months	12 months
Marriage Place	Residence Mr Samuel Rolston Junior, Foxton Road, Levin
Folio	1959
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 January 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry Curran, Rawera

16 January 1923

George Norman Raymond
Dorothea Eileen Mudgway

George Norman Raymond
Dorothea Eileen Mudgway
💍 1923/2342

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Mechanic
Domestic Duties

27
18

Levin
Levin

14 months
18 years

Spiritualist Church, Oxford Street, Levin

1960

William Mudgway, Father

16 January 1923

Mr. W. C. Nation, Spiritualist

No	2
Date of Notice	16 January 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Norman Raymond	Dorothea Eileen Mudgway
	💍 1923/2342
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Mechanic	Domestic Duties
Age	27	18
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	14 months	18 years
Marriage Place	Spiritualist Church, Oxford Street, Levin
Folio	1960
Consent	William Mudgway, Father
Date of Certificate	16 January 1923
Officiating Minister	Mr. W. C. Nation, Spiritualist

24 January 1923

Fitzgerald Kuroki Bell
Pearl Winiata

Fitzgerald Koroki Bell
Pearl Winiata
💍 1923/47

Fitzgerald Koroki Bell
Pearl Winiata
💍 1923/2963

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

20
17

Whareroa
Whirokino, Levin

7 years
Life

Residence Martin Winiata, Whirokino, Levin

2685

Maria Bell, mother; Martin Winiata, Father

24 January 1923

Rev. H. Muera, Otaki

No	3
Date of Notice	24 January 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Fitzgerald Kuroki Bell	Pearl Winiata
BDM Match (98%)	Fitzgerald Koroki Bell	Pearl Winiata
	💍 1923/47
BDM Match (98%)	Fitzgerald Koroki Bell	Pearl Winiata
	💍 1923/2963
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	20	17
Dwelling Place	Whareroa	Whirokino, Levin
Length of Residence	7 years	Life
Marriage Place	Residence Martin Winiata, Whirokino, Levin
Folio	2685
Consent	Maria Bell, mother; Martin Winiata, Father
Date of Certificate	24 January 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Muera, Otaki

5 February 1923

Henry John Kilsby
Clara Eliza May Gatley

Henry John Kilsby
Clara Eliza May Catley
💍 1923/2343

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

29
24

Koputaroa
Ohau

26 years
1 year

Roman Catholic Church, Levin

1961

5 February 1923

Rev. M. J. Fitzgibbon, Roman Catholic

No	4
Date of Notice	5 February 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry John Kilsby	Clara Eliza May Gatley
BDM Match (98%)	Henry John Kilsby	Clara Eliza May Catley
	💍 1923/2343
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Koputaroa	Ohau
Length of Residence	26 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Levin
Folio	1961
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. J. Fitzgibbon, Roman Catholic

7 February 1923

Edward Fortius Juile
Constance Annie Channings

Edward Tertius Yuile
Constance Annie Channings
💍 1923/2344

Bachelor
Spinster

Taxi Driver
Domestic Duties

21
18

Levin
Levin

14 years
18 years

Registrar office, Levin

1962

Henry Channing, Father

7 February 1923

Registrar, Levin

No	5
Date of Notice	7 February 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Fortius Juile	Constance Annie Channings
BDM Match (93%)	Edward Tertius Yuile	Constance Annie Channings
	💍 1923/2344
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Taxi Driver	Domestic Duties
Age	21	18
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	14 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Registrar office, Levin
Folio	1962
Consent	Henry Channing, Father
Date of Certificate	7 February 1923
Officiating Minister	Registrar, Levin

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).