Intentions to Marry, 1924 Dannevirke to Palmerston North

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840523, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1924 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.

1924d contains pages 1335-1758, covering districts from Dannevirke to Palmerston North

Page 1369

District of Hastings Quarter ending 30 June 1924 Registrar R. 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

1 May 1924

Frank Pipe
Elizabeth Davidson

Frank Pipe
Elizabeth Davidson
💍 1924/2291

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Employee
Domestic

31
26

Hastings
Hastings

2 years
2 years

St. Matthews Church, Hastings

4480

1 May 1924

Rev. J. E. Draper, Anglican

No	63
Date of Notice	1 May 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Pipe	Elizabeth Davidson
	💍 1924/2291
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employee	Domestic
Age	31	26
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church, Hastings
Folio	4480
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 May 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. E. Draper, Anglican

5 May 1924

William Henry Plummer
Eleanor Susanah Smith

William Henry Plummer
Eleanor Susanah Smith
💍 1924/2292

Divorced (decree absolute 22 June 1920)
Widow (16 April 1912)

Barber
Domestic Duties

55
45

Hastings
Hastings

43 years
4 weeks

Registrars Office, Hastings

4481

7 May 1924

Robert Brathwaite, Registrar

No	64
Date of Notice	5 May 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Plummer	Eleanor Susanah Smith
	💍 1924/2292
Condition	Divorced (decree absolute 22 June 1920)	Widow (16 April 1912)
Profession	Barber	Domestic Duties
Age	55	45
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	43 years	4 weeks
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Hastings
Folio	4481
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 May 1924
Officiating Minister	Robert Brathwaite, Registrar

7 May 1924

Willie Hepworth
Agnes Gray

Willie Hepworth
Agnes Gray
💍 1924/2269

Bachelor
Widow (1 January 1918)

Salesman
Saleswoman

34
42

Hastings
Napier

3 days
10 years

Registrars Office, Hastings

4482

7 May 1924

R. Brathwaite, Registrar

No	65
Date of Notice	7 May 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Willie Hepworth	Agnes Gray
	💍 1924/2269
Condition	Bachelor	Widow (1 January 1918)
Profession	Salesman	Saleswoman
Age	34	42
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Napier
Length of Residence	3 days	10 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Hastings
Folio	4482
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 May 1924
Officiating Minister	R. Brathwaite, Registrar

8 May 1924

Ernest John Stanley French
Maria Arnold

Ernest John Stanley French
Maria Arnold
💍 1924/2270

Bachelor
Spinster

Orchardist
Domestic Duties

22
19

Hastings
Hastings

13 years
8 years

English Church, Hastings

4483

Edward Arnold, Father

8 May 1924

Rev. J. E. Draper, Anglican

No	66
Date of Notice	8 May 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest John Stanley French	Maria Arnold
	💍 1924/2270
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Orchardist	Domestic Duties
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	13 years	8 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Hastings
Folio	4483
Consent	Edward Arnold, Father
Date of Certificate	8 May 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. E. Draper, Anglican

9 May 1924

Stuart Baird
Harriett Constance King

Stuart Baird
Harriett Constance King
💍 1924/2271

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant
Music Teacher

36
32

Hastings
Auckland

14 years
2 years

St. Matthews Church, Hastings

4484

9 May 1924

Rev. J. E. Draper, Anglican

No	67
Date of Notice	9 May 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stuart Baird	Harriett Constance King
	💍 1924/2271
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	Music Teacher
Age	36	32
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Auckland
Length of Residence	14 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church, Hastings
Folio	4484
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 May 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. E. Draper, 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).