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 1360

District of Hastings Quarter ending 30 June 1923 Registrar D. 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

10 April 1923

John Alfred Frewen Swinburn
Helen Nancy Chambers

John Alfred Frewen Swinburn
Helen Nancy Chambers
💍 1923/8952

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

24
21

Hatuma
Havelock North

8 months
21 years

St. Luke's Church, Havelock North

4387

10 April 1923

Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst, Anglican

No	31
Date of Notice	10 April 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Alfred Frewen Swinburn	Helen Nancy Chambers
	💍 1923/8952
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Hatuma	Havelock North
Length of Residence	8 months	21 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church, Havelock North
Folio	4387
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 April 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst, Anglican

13 April 1923

John Williamson Mactay
Leanore Margaret Mulholland

John Williamson Mackay
Leanore Margaret Mulholland
💍 1923/8953

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Nurse

30
24

Wairoa
Hastings

30 years
24 years

Presbyterian Church, Hastings

4388

13 April 1923

Rev. P. Ramsay, Presbyterian

No	32
Date of Notice	13 April 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Williamson Mactay	Leanore Margaret Mulholland
BDM Match (98%)	John Williamson Mackay	Leanore Margaret Mulholland
	💍 1923/8953
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Nurse
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Wairoa	Hastings
Length of Residence	30 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Hastings
Folio	4388
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 April 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay, Presbyterian

23 April 1923

Clarence James La Broome
May McRae

Clarence James La Broome
May McRae
💍 1923/8954

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic Duties

26
28

Napier
Hastings

26 years
1 year

Catholic Church, Hastings

4389

23 April 1923

Rev. Father McDonald, Catholic

No	33
Date of Notice	23 April 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Clarence James La Broome	May McRae
	💍 1923/8954
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic Duties
Age	26	28
Dwelling Place	Napier	Hastings
Length of Residence	26 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Catholic Church, Hastings
Folio	4389
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 April 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father McDonald, Catholic

23 April 1923

Ernest Cyril Horton
Lily Isobel Luff

Ernest Cyril Horton
Lily Isobel Luff
💍 1923/8955

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Dressmaker

24
25

Hastings
Hastings

3 days
3 days

Methodist Church, Hastings

4390

23 April 1923

Rev. Angus McBean, Methodist

No	34
Date of Notice	23 April 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Cyril Horton	Lily Isobel Luff
	💍 1923/8955
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Dressmaker
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Hastings
Folio	4390
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 April 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. Angus McBean, Methodist

1 May 1923

Harold Haddyn Smith
Valerie Maurice Mason

Harold Haddyn Smith
Valerie Maurice Mason
💍 1923/8956

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer
Domestic Duties

28
23

Akito
Hastings

8 months
14 years

St. Matthew's Church, Hastings

4391

1 May 1923

Rev. R. J. Hall, Anglican

No	35
Date of Notice	1 May 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Haddyn Smith	Valerie Maurice Mason
	💍 1923/8956
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer	Domestic Duties
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Akito	Hastings
Length of Residence	8 months	14 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church, Hastings
Folio	4391
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 May 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Hall, Anglican

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).