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 1659

District of Masterton Quarter ending 31 March 1924 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

13 February 1924

Eric Leslie Rayner
Edna Catherine Layforth

Eric Leslie Rayner
Edna Catherine Taylforth
💍 1924/693

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

19
21

Carterton
Masterton

Knox Church, Masterton

1883

Benjamin Richard Rayner (Father)

13 February 1924

Rev. John Davie, Presbyterian

No	11
Date of Notice	13 February 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Eric Leslie Rayner	Edna Catherine Layforth
BDM Match (96%)	Eric Leslie Rayner	Edna Catherine Taylforth
	💍 1924/693
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	19	21
Dwelling Place	Carterton	Masterton
Length of Residence
Marriage Place	Knox Church, Masterton
Folio	1883
Consent	Benjamin Richard Rayner (Father)
Date of Certificate	13 February 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Davie, Presbyterian

15 February 1924

John Henry Stovell Cole
Julia Alice Bubb

John Henry Stovell Cole
Julia Alice Bubb
💍 1924/694

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

25
23

Masterton
Masterton

Knox Church, Masterton

1884

15 February 1924

Rev. John Davie, Presbyterian

No	12
Date of Notice	15 February 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Stovell Cole	Julia Alice Bubb
	💍 1924/694
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence
Marriage Place	Knox Church, Masterton
Folio	1884
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Davie, Presbyterian

19 February 1924

Joseph Condon
Dorothy Blanchard Boielle

Joseph Condon
Dorothy Blanchard Boielle
💍 1924/671

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Waitress

25
22

Masterton
Masterton

St. Matthew's Church, Masterton

1885

19 February 1924

Rev. Wm. Bullock, Church of England

No	13
Date of Notice	19 February 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Condon	Dorothy Blanchard Boielle
	💍 1924/671
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Waitress
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church, Masterton
Folio	1885
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm. Bullock, Church of England

29 February 1924

William Frederick Henry Gibbs
Myrtle Maud Stowe

William Frederick Henry Gibbs
Myrtle Maud Stowe
💍 1924/672

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

28
23

Masterton
Masterton

Church of England, Masterton

1886

29 February 1924

Rev. O. Gibson, Church of England

No	14
Date of Notice	29 February 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Frederick Henry Gibbs	Myrtle Maud Stowe
	💍 1924/672
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence
Marriage Place	Church of England, Masterton
Folio	1886
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 February 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. O. Gibson, Church of England

5 March 1924

Harper Philip Hugo
Gertrude Maud Arnold

Harper Philip Hugo
Gertrude Maud Arnold
💍 1924/673

Widower (2/10/1920)
Spinster

Draper
Clerk

45
30

Masterton
Masterton

Knox Church, Masterton

1887

5 March 1924

Rev. John Davie, Presbyterian

No	15
Date of Notice	5 March 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harper Philip Hugo	Gertrude Maud Arnold
	💍 1924/673
Condition	Widower (2/10/1920)	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Clerk
Age	45	30
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence
Marriage Place	Knox Church, Masterton
Folio	1887
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Davie, Presbyterian

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).