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 1685

District of Pahiatua Quarter ending 31 March 1923 Registrar D. J. Founthe

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

4 January 1923

Ewart Hard Cowey
Grace Beatrice Ashby

Ewart Ward Cowey
Grace Beatrice Ashby
💍 1923/2412

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Officer
Nurse

32
24

Christchurch
Mangatainoka

19 years
15 days

Methodist Church, Mangatainoka

2006

4 January 1923

Rev. P. J. Cossum, Methodist

No	1
Date of Notice	4 January 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ewart Hard Cowey	Grace Beatrice Ashby
BDM Match (97%)	Ewart Ward Cowey	Grace Beatrice Ashby
	💍 1923/2412
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Officer	Nurse
Age	32	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Mangatainoka
Length of Residence	19 years	15 days
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Mangatainoka
Folio	2006
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 January 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cossum, Methodist

5 January 1923

George Edgar Graham
Elizabeth Amelia Boyden

George Edgar Graham
Elizabeth Amelia Boyden
💍 1923/2413

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmiller
Domestic Duties

42
31

Dannevirke
Pahiatua

42 years
31 years

Methodist Church, Pahiatua

2007

5 January 1923

Rev. A. Harding, Methodist

No	2
Date of Notice	5 January 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Edgar Graham	Elizabeth Amelia Boyden
	💍 1923/2413
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmiller	Domestic Duties
Age	42	31
Dwelling Place	Dannevirke	Pahiatua
Length of Residence	42 years	31 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Pahiatua
Folio	2007
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 January 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Harding, Methodist

29 January 1923

Augustus Henry Ross
Eileen Pilkington

Augustus Henry Ross
Eileen Pilkinton
💍 1923/2414

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

25
26

Pahiatua
Mangatainoka

2 days
26 years

St. Marks Church, Mangatainoka

2008

29 January 1923

Rev. F. E. Fleury, Church of England

No	3
Date of Notice	29 January 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Augustus Henry Ross	Eileen Pilkington
BDM Match (97%)	Augustus Henry Ross	Eileen Pilkinton
	💍 1923/2414
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Pahiatua	Mangatainoka
Length of Residence	2 days	26 years
Marriage Place	St. Marks Church, Mangatainoka
Folio	2008
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. E. Fleury, Church of England

13 February 1923

Victor James Scott
Elizabeth Maud Dempsey

Victor James Scott
Elizabeth Maud Dempsey
💍 1923/2391

Bachelor
Spinster

Exchange Clerk
Domestic Duties

27
18

Pahiatua
Pahiatua

16 months
12 years

Anglican Church, Pahiatua

2009

William Henry Dempsey, father

13 February 1923

Rev. H. W. Monaghan, Church of England

No	4
Date of Notice	13 February 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Victor James Scott	Elizabeth Maud Dempsey
	💍 1923/2391
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Exchange Clerk	Domestic Duties
Age	27	18
Dwelling Place	Pahiatua	Pahiatua
Length of Residence	16 months	12 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, Pahiatua
Folio	2009
Consent	William Henry Dempsey, father
Date of Certificate	13 February 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. W. Monaghan, Church of England

23 February 1923

Harold Richard Bolstad
Bertha Florence Polglase

Harold Richard Bolstad
Bertha Florence Polglase
💍 1923/2392

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

24
23

Mangatainoka
Pahiatua

4 1/2 years
23 years

Methodist Church, Pahiatua

23/2010

23 February 1923

Rev. A. Harding, Methodist

No	5
Date of Notice	23 February 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Richard Bolstad	Bertha Florence Polglase
	💍 1923/2392
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Mangatainoka	Pahiatua
Length of Residence	4 1/2 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Pahiatua
Folio	23/2010
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Harding, Methodist

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).