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 1731

District of Palmerston North Quarter ending 30 June 1924 Registrar J. H. P. [illegible]

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

21 June 1924

Eugene Robert Rudyard McCarthy
Linda Olive Thompson

Eugene Robert Rudyard McCarthy
Linda Olive Thompson
💍 1924/3448

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
School Teacher

32
33

Palmerston North
Castlecliff

3 months
2 years

Registrar's office

4726

21 June 1924

Registrar

No	96
Date of Notice	21 June 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Eugene Robert Rudyard McCarthy	Linda Olive Thompson
	💍 1924/3448
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	School Teacher
Age	32	33
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Castlecliff
Length of Residence	3 months	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's office
Folio	4726
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 June 1924
Officiating Minister	Registrar

23 June 1924

Murdoch James Martin
Doris McMullan

Murdoch James Martin
Doris McMullan
💍 1924/3459

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

26
23

Palmerston North
Linton

17 days
21 days

Cuba Street Methodist Church, Palmerston North

4727

23 June 1924

Rev. H. J. Peat, Methodist

No	97
Date of Notice	23 June 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Murdoch James Martin	Doris McMullan
	💍 1924/3459
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Linton
Length of Residence	17 days	21 days
Marriage Place	Cuba Street Methodist Church, Palmerston North
Folio	4727
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 June 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. J. Peat, Methodist

24 June 1924

Alfred Ernest Williams
Bella Barrett

Alfred Ernest Williams
Bella Barrett
💍 1924/3466

Bachelor
Spinster

Roadman

28
31

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

4 days
4 days

Residence of Mrs. J. G. Barrett, 38 Weston Avenue, Palmerston North

4728

24 June 1924

Pastor W. M. R. Scragg, Seventh Day Adventist

No	98
Date of Notice	24 June 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Ernest Williams	Bella Barrett
	💍 1924/3466
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Roadman
Age	28	31
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. J. G. Barrett, 38 Weston Avenue, Palmerston North
Folio	4728
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 June 1924
Officiating Minister	Pastor W. M. R. Scragg, Seventh Day Adventist

25 June 1924

Fred Smith
Ann Isabella Kelly

Fred Smith
Ann Isabella Kelly
💍 1924/3468

Widower (May 1920)
Spinster

Farmer

46
35

Awapuni
Awapuni

4 years
3 years

St. Patricks Church, Palmerston North

4730

25 June 1924

Rev. J. F. McManus, Roman Catholic

No	99
Date of Notice	25 June 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Fred Smith	Ann Isabella Kelly
	💍 1924/3468
Condition	Widower (May 1920)	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	46	35
Dwelling Place	Awapuni	Awapuni
Length of Residence	4 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Patricks Church, Palmerston North
Folio	4730
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 June 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. McManus, Roman Catholic

100

26 June 1924

Frederick Oakley McEwen
Matilda Mabel Parker

Frederick Oakley McEwan
Matilda Mabel Parker
💍 1924/3995

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

40
34

Karere
Karere

Life
8 years

All Saints Church, Palmerston North

5474

26 June 1924

Rev. G. W. Dent, Anglican

No	100
Date of Notice	26 June 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Oakley McEwen	Matilda Mabel Parker
BDM Match (98%)	Frederick Oakley McEwan	Matilda Mabel Parker
	💍 1924/3995
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	40	34
Dwelling Place	Karere	Karere
Length of Residence	Life	8 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Palmerston North
Folio	5474
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 June 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. W. Dent, 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).