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 1654

District of Masterton Quarter ending 30 September 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

4 August 1923

James Walter Milne
Alice Myrtle Remington

James Walter Milne
Alice Myrtle Remington
💍 1923/4578

Bachelor
Spinster

Slaughterman
Domestic Duties

25
22

Masterton
Masterton

Knox Church, Masterton

6851

4 August 1923

Rev. John Davie, Presbyterian

No	54
Date of Notice	4 August 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Walter Milne	Alice Myrtle Remington
	💍 1923/4578
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Slaughterman	Domestic Duties
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence
Marriage Place	Knox Church, Masterton
Folio	6851
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 August 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Davie, Presbyterian

10 August 1923

Leicester George Harris
Grace Marion Hibberd

Leicester George Harris
Grace Marion Hibberd
💍 1923/4579

Bachelor
Spinster

Wood & Coal Merchant
Clerk

25
22

Masterton
Martinborough

St. Matthew's Church, Masterton

6852

10 August 1923

Rev. Wm. Bullock, Church of England

No	55
Date of Notice	10 August 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leicester George Harris	Grace Marion Hibberd
	💍 1923/4579
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wood & Coal Merchant	Clerk
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Martinborough
Length of Residence
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church, Masterton
Folio	6852
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 August 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm. Bullock, Church of England

20 August 1923

Harold Anthony Orman
Ellen May Henry

Harold Anthony Orman
Ellen May Henry
💍 1923/4580

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Employee
Domestic Duties

27
19

Masterton
Masterton

Congregational Church, Masterton

6853

Francis Robert Henry (Father)

20 August 1923

Rev. J. H. Datson, Congregational

No	56
Date of Notice	20 August 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Anthony Orman	Ellen May Henry
	💍 1923/4580
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employee	Domestic Duties
Age	27	19
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence
Marriage Place	Congregational Church, Masterton
Folio	6853
Consent	Francis Robert Henry (Father)
Date of Certificate	20 August 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. Datson, Congregational

25 August 1923

Herbert Alexander William McIvor
Hanorah Bourke

Herbert Alexander William McIvor
Hanorah Bourke
💍 1923/4581

Widower (12/8/1913)
Spinster

Barter
Tailoress

42
37

Masterton
Masterton

Registrar's Office, Masterton

6854

25 August 1923

Mr. H. G. Smith, Registrar of Marriages

No	57
Date of Notice	25 August 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Alexander William McIvor	Hanorah Bourke
	💍 1923/4581
Condition	Widower (12/8/1913)	Spinster
Profession	Barter	Tailoress
Age	42	37
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Masterton
Folio	6854
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 August 1923
Officiating Minister	Mr. H. G. Smith, Registrar of Marriages

1 September 1923

Ernest John Berkahn
Hilda Mary Olsen

Ernest John Berkahn
Hilda Mary Olsen
💍 1923/4582

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Domestic Duties

36
34

Masterton
Masterton

Methodist Church, Masterton

6855

1 September 1923

Rev. B. F. Rothwell, Methodist

No	58
Date of Notice	1 September 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest John Berkahn	Hilda Mary Olsen
	💍 1923/4582
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Domestic Duties
Age	36	34
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Masterton
Folio	6855
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 September 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. F. Rothwell, 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).