Intentions to Marry, 1924 Dunstan to Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840527, 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.

1924h contains pages 3075-3498, covering districts from Dunstan to Chatham Islands

Page 3481

District of Winton Quarter ending 31 December 1924 Registrar G. H. Davis

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 October 1924

Michael Arthur Redmond Murphy
Margaret Catherine Payne

Michael Arthur Redmond Murphy
Margaret Catherine Payne
💍 1924/7635

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm labourer
Domestic

20
19

Centre Bush
South Hillend

4 years
19 years

Residence of Mr. G. J. A. Payne, South Hillend

10210

Adelaide Hamilton Murphy, Mother

13 October 1924

Rev. F. V. Fisher, Anglican

No	17
Date of Notice	13 October 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Arthur Redmond Murphy	Margaret Catherine Payne
	💍 1924/7635
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm labourer	Domestic
Age	20	19
Dwelling Place	Centre Bush	South Hillend
Length of Residence	4 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. G. J. A. Payne, South Hillend
Folio	10210
Consent	Adelaide Hamilton Murphy, Mother
Date of Certificate	13 October 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. V. Fisher, Anglican

13 October 1924

Adam Martinas Wilson
Bessie Gilmour

Adam Martimas Wilson
Bessie Gilmour
💍 1924/7612

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraphist
Domestic duties

26
24

Oamaru
Winton

3 months
24 years

Presbyterian Church, Winton

10211

13 October 1924

Rev. A. McNeur, Presbyterian

No	18
Date of Notice	13 October 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Adam Martinas Wilson	Bessie Gilmour
BDM Match (98%)	Adam Martimas Wilson	Bessie Gilmour
	💍 1924/7612
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist	Domestic duties
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Winton
Length of Residence	3 months	24 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Winton
Folio	10211
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. McNeur, Presbyterian

27 October 1924

Bartholomew Tangney
Freda Eveline Mary Culling

Bartholemew Tangney
Freda Eveline Culling
💍 1924/7754

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Clerk
Nurse

33
32

Invercargill
Browns

1 year
3 days

Roman Catholic Church, Winton

10309

27 October 1924

Rev. G. M. Hunt, Roman Catholic

No	19
Date of Notice	27 October 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bartholomew Tangney	Freda Eveline Mary Culling
BDM Match (88%)	Bartholemew Tangney	Freda Eveline Culling
	💍 1924/7754
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Clerk	Nurse
Age	33	32
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Browns
Length of Residence	1 year	3 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Winton
Folio	10309
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 October 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. M. Hunt, Roman Catholic

29 October 1924

George Henry Morgan
Charlotte Euphemia Porteous

George Henry Morgan
Charlotte Euphemia Porteous
💍 1924/7613

Widower
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

44
45

Winton
Winton

5 months
45 years

Residence of Mr. J. B. Porteous, The Crescent, Winton

10212

29 October 1924

Rev. A. McNeur, Presbyterian

No	20
Date of Notice	29 October 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Morgan	Charlotte Euphemia Porteous
	💍 1924/7613
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	44	45
Dwelling Place	Winton	Winton
Length of Residence	5 months	45 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. J. B. Porteous, The Crescent, Winton
Folio	10212
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 October 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. McNeur, Presbyterian

5 November 1924

Leonard Gibson Matheson
Ethel Emily Waghorn

Leonard Gibson Matheson
Ethel Emily Waghorn
💍 1924/7614

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Clerk
Domestic

26
23

Limehills
Limehills

3 days
2 months

Anglican Church, Winton

10213

5 November 1924

Rev. F. V. Fisher, Anglican

No	21
Date of Notice	5 November 1924
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Gibson Matheson	Ethel Emily Waghorn
	💍 1924/7614
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Clerk	Domestic
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Limehills	Limehills
Length of Residence	3 days	2 months
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, Winton
Folio	10213
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 November 1924
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. V. Fisher, 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).