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 1375

District of Hastings Quarter ending 30 September 1924 Registrar R. B. Roathwarth

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

2 August 1924

Sidney Vesty
Ethel Lillian Brenton

Sidney Vesty
Ethel Lillian Breyton
💍 1924/5297

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Manager
Dress Maker

36
32

Hastings
Hastings

5 days
32 years

Roman Catholic Church Hastings

6988

2 August 1924

Rev. Father McDonald, Roman Catholic

No	89
Date of Notice	2 August 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sidney Vesty	Ethel Lillian Brenton
BDM Match (98%)	Sidney Vesty	Ethel Lillian Breyton
	💍 1924/5297
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Manager	Dress Maker
Age	36	32
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	5 days	32 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Hastings
Folio	6988
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 August 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father McDonald, Roman Catholic

5 August 1924

Gerald Darbyshire Wolfe
Doris Evelyn Carver

Gerald Darbyshire Wolfe
Doris Evelyn Carver
💍 1924/5904

Bachelor
Spinster

Bar salesman
Clerk

25
22

Havelock North
Napier

3 days
22 years

Presbyterian Church Havelock North

7735

5 August 1924

Rev. R. Waugh, Presbyterian

No	90
Date of Notice	5 August 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gerald Darbyshire Wolfe	Doris Evelyn Carver
	💍 1924/5904
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bar salesman	Clerk
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Havelock North	Napier
Length of Residence	3 days	22 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Havelock North
Folio	7735
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 August 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Waugh, Presbyterian

6 August 1924

Austin Miller
Evelyn Maud Trask

Austin Miller
Evelyn Maud Trask
💍 1924/5298

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dress Maker

28
25

Palmerston North
Hastings

7 years
11 days

St Matthews Church Hastings

6989

6 August 1924

Rev. R. J. Hall, Anglican

No	91
Date of Notice	6 August 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Austin Miller	Evelyn Maud Trask
	💍 1924/5298
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dress Maker
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Hastings
Length of Residence	7 years	11 days
Marriage Place	St Matthews Church Hastings
Folio	6989
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 August 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Hall, Anglican

11 August 1924

James Douglas Fraser
Kathleen Ruby Stanley

James Douglas Fraser
Kathleen Ruby Stanley
💍 1924/5299

Bachelor
Divorced (decree absolute 14 June 1924)

Mercery Assistant
Domestic Duties

28
20

Hastings
Hastings

1 year
8 years

Residence of Mrs Stanley, 300 Bollinge Road Hastings

6990

11 August 1924

Rev. P. Ramsay, Presbyterian

No	92
Date of Notice	11 August 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Douglas Fraser	Kathleen Ruby Stanley
	💍 1924/5299
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced (decree absolute 14 June 1924)
Profession	Mercery Assistant	Domestic Duties
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	1 year	8 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Stanley, 300 Bollinge Road Hastings
Folio	6990
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 August 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay, Presbyterian

12 August 1924

Bingley Meyers
Margaret Hannah Sands

Bingley Myers
Margaret Hannah Sands
💍 1924/5300

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Domestic

29
22

Haumoana
Hastings

6 years
5 years

Methodist Church Hastings

6991

12 August 1924

Rev. Copeland, Methodist

No	93
Date of Notice	12 August 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bingley Meyers	Margaret Hannah Sands
BDM Match (96%)	Bingley Myers	Margaret Hannah Sands
	💍 1924/5300
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Haumoana	Hastings
Length of Residence	6 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Hastings
Folio	6991
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 August 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. Copeland, 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).