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 1370

District of Hastings Quarter ending 31 December 1923 Registrar Robert Brathwaite

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

8 October 1923

Norman Palairet Branson
Maude Elizabeth Sheild

Norman Palairet Branson
Maude Elizabeth Sheild
💍 1923/10296

Bachelor
Widow, since 14 January 1915

Sheepfarmer
Sheepfarming

27
38

Napier
Havelock North

32 years
7 years

St Luke's Church, Havelock North

9207

8 October 1923

Rev. K. E. Maclean, Anglican

No	78
Date of Notice	8 October 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Palairet Branson	Maude Elizabeth Sheild
	💍 1923/10296
Condition	Bachelor	Widow, since 14 January 1915
Profession	Sheepfarmer	Sheepfarming
Age	27	38
Dwelling Place	Napier	Havelock North
Length of Residence	32 years	7 years
Marriage Place	St Luke's Church, Havelock North
Folio	9207
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 October 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. K. E. Maclean, Anglican

10 October 1923

Alfred George Graham
Leonie Louisa Halstead

Alfred George Graham
Leonie Louisa Halstead
💍 1923/7085

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

26
24

Hastings
Hastings

4 years
4 years

The Baptist Church, Hastings

9208

10 October 1923

Rev. Keith Ewen, Baptist

No	79
Date of Notice	10 October 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred George Graham	Leonie Louisa Halstead
	💍 1923/7085
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	The Baptist Church, Hastings
Folio	9208
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 October 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. Keith Ewen, Baptist

10 October 1923

Charles John Cook
Esther Heaney

Charles John Crook
Esther Heaney
💍 1923/7086

Bachelor
Spinster

Market Gardener
Domestic

36
23

Whakatu
Hastings

3 years
1 year

Presbyterian Church, Hastings

9209

10 October 1923

Rev. P. Ramsay, Presbyterian

No	80
Date of Notice	10 October 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles John Cook	Esther Heaney
BDM Match (97%)	Charles John Crook	Esther Heaney
	💍 1923/7086
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Market Gardener	Domestic
Age	36	23
Dwelling Place	Whakatu	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Hastings
Folio	9209
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 October 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay, Presbyterian

15 October 1923

Walter Arnold John Halstead
Lillian Mabel Chappell

Walter Arnold John Halstead
Lillian Mabel Chappell
💍 1923/7087

Bachelor
Spinster

Woolworker
Accountant

27
23

Hastings
Hastings

25 years
12 years

Baptist Church, Hastings

9210

15 October 1923

Rev. Keith Ewen, Baptist

No	81
Date of Notice	15 October 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Arnold John Halstead	Lillian Mabel Chappell
	💍 1923/7087
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Woolworker	Accountant
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	25 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church, Hastings
Folio	9210
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 October 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. Keith Ewen, Baptist

17 October 1923

Richard Stephen Chilton
Rebecca Campbell

Richard Stephen Chilton
Rebecca Campbell
💍 1923/7066

Widower, since 22 May 1921
Spinster

Farmer
Housekeeper

43
45

Hastings
Hastings

5 years
5 years

Registrar's Office, Hastings

9211

17 October 1923

Robert Brathwaite, Registrar

No	82
Date of Notice	17 October 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Stephen Chilton	Rebecca Campbell
	💍 1923/7066
Condition	Widower, since 22 May 1921	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Housekeeper
Age	43	45
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	5 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Hastings
Folio	9211
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 October 1923
Officiating Minister	Robert Brathwaite, Registrar

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).