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 1641

District of Masterton Quarter ending 31 March 1923 Registrar A. G. Smith

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

11 January 1923

Edward Seymour-East
Nellie Hinemoa Rutter

Edward Seymour-East
Nellie Hinemoa Rutter Percy
💍 1923/2354

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

26
20

Alfredton
Masterton

St. Matthews Church, Masterton

1971

William John Percy (Father)

11 January 1923

Rev. G. K. Moir, Church of England

No	1
Date of Notice	11 January 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Seymour-East	Nellie Hinemoa Rutter
BDM Match (89%)	Edward Seymour-East	Nellie Hinemoa Rutter Percy
	💍 1923/2354
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Alfredton	Masterton
Length of Residence
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church, Masterton
Folio	1971
Consent	William John Percy (Father)
Date of Certificate	11 January 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. K. Moir, Church of England

12 January 1923

Thomas John Manning
Gladys Stephna Grove

Thomas John Manning
Gladys Stephira Grove
💍 1923/2355

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Domestic Duties

19
22

Masterton
Masterton

Knox Church, Masterton

1972

Margaret Thompson Manning (Mother)

12 January 1923

Rev. John Davie, Presbyterian

No	2
Date of Notice	12 January 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas John Manning	Gladys Stephna Grove
BDM Match (95%)	Thomas John Manning	Gladys Stephira Grove
	💍 1923/2355
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Domestic Duties
Age	19	22
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence
Marriage Place	Knox Church, Masterton
Folio	1972
Consent	Margaret Thompson Manning (Mother)
Date of Certificate	12 January 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Davie, Presbyterian

18 January 1923

Frederick David John Butcher
Annie Myrtle Kjar

Frederick David John Butcher
Annie Myrtle Kjar
💍 1923/2356

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic Duties

23
20

Woodville
Masterton

Presbyterian Church, Masterton

1973

Lars Kjar (Father)

18 January 1923

Rev. John Davie, Presbyterian

No	3
Date of Notice	18 January 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick David John Butcher	Annie Myrtle Kjar
	💍 1923/2356
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic Duties
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Woodville	Masterton
Length of Residence
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Masterton
Folio	1973
Consent	Lars Kjar (Father)
Date of Certificate	18 January 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Davie, Presbyterian

23 January 1923

John Stephen Hourigan
Lizzie Ridley Lockwood

John Stephen Hourigan
Lizzie Ridley Lockwood
💍 1923/2357

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

24
18

Masterton
Masterton

Catholic Church, Masterton

1974

Harold Lockwood (Father)

23 January 1923

Rev. F. Devlin, Roman Catholic

No	4
Date of Notice	23 January 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Stephen Hourigan	Lizzie Ridley Lockwood
	💍 1923/2357
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	24	18
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence
Marriage Place	Catholic Church, Masterton
Folio	1974
Consent	Harold Lockwood (Father)
Date of Certificate	23 January 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Devlin, Roman Catholic

23 January 1923

Max Henry John Wolf
Jessie Brogier

Max Henry John Wolf
Jessie Crozier
💍 1923/2365

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Employee
Domestic Duties

23
20

Masterton
Masterton

Registrar's Office, Masterton

1975

Robert George Brogier (Father)

23 January 1923

Mr. H. G. Smith, Registrar of Marriages

No	5
Date of Notice	23 January 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Max Henry John Wolf	Jessie Brogier
BDM Match (93%)	Max Henry John Wolf	Jessie Crozier
	💍 1923/2365
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employee	Domestic Duties
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Masterton
Folio	1975
Consent	Robert George Brogier (Father)
Date of Certificate	23 January 1923
Officiating Minister	Mr. H. G. Smith, Registrar of Marriages

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).