Intentions to Marry, 1925 Bay of Islands to Raglan

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840529, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1925 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.

1925b contains pages 461-924, covering districts from Bay of Islands to Raglan

Page 491

District of Dargaville Quarter ending 30 June 1925 Registrar W. [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

3 April 1925

Charles George Stanaway
Janet May Hume

Charles George Stanaway
Janet May Hume
💍 1925/3027

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

23
19

Hoanga, Dargaville
Kaihu

23 years
19 years

Methodist Church, Kaihu

3856

Charles Joseph Hume, Father

3 April 1925

Rev. W. A. Watson, Methodist

No	14
Date of Notice	3 April 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles George Stanaway	Janet May Hume
	💍 1925/3027
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Hoanga, Dargaville	Kaihu
Length of Residence	23 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Kaihu
Folio	3856
Consent	Charles Joseph Hume, Father
Date of Certificate	3 April 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Watson, Methodist

9 April 1925

Henry John Mitchell, Junior
Catherine Harriet Ella Spragg

Henry John Mitchell
Catherine Harriet Ella Spragg
💍 1925/3028

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Typiste

28
21

Dargaville
Dargaville

2 days
21 years

Private Residence of Charlotte Matilda Spragg, Islington Street, Dargaville

3857

9 April 1925

Rev. W. A. Watson, Methodist

No	15
Date of Notice	9 April 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry John Mitchell, Junior	Catherine Harriet Ella Spragg
BDM Match (85%)	Henry John Mitchell	Catherine Harriet Ella Spragg
	💍 1925/3028
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Typiste
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Dargaville	Dargaville
Length of Residence	2 days	21 years
Marriage Place	Private Residence of Charlotte Matilda Spragg, Islington Street, Dargaville
Folio	3857
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Watson, Methodist

11 April 1925

Edward Patrick Pearce
Mary Lavinia Cyprian

Edward Patrick Pearce
Mary Lavinia Cyprian
💍 1925/3029

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

26
21

Tangowahine
Onetea

5 years
Life

Roman Catholic Church, Mangawhare

3858

11 April 1925

Rev. John Spierings, Roman Catholic

No	16
Date of Notice	11 April 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Patrick Pearce	Mary Lavinia Cyprian
	💍 1925/3029
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Tangowahine	Onetea
Length of Residence	5 years	Life
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Mangawhare
Folio	3858
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 April 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Spierings, Roman Catholic

17 April 1925

Charles Hedley Harvey
Nancy Lilian Harding

Charles Hedley Harvey
Pancy Lilian Harding
💍 1925/3030

Bachelor
Spinster

Apiarist
Domestic Duties

31
20

Dargaville
Dargaville

4 days
Life

Church of England, Dargaville

3859

Alfred Ernest Harding, Father

17 April 1925

Rev. F. D. Hart, Church of England

No	17
Date of Notice	17 April 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Hedley Harvey	Nancy Lilian Harding
BDM Match (98%)	Charles Hedley Harvey	Pancy Lilian Harding
	💍 1925/3030
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Apiarist	Domestic Duties
Age	31	20
Dwelling Place	Dargaville	Dargaville
Length of Residence	4 days	Life
Marriage Place	Church of England, Dargaville
Folio	3859
Consent	Alfred Ernest Harding, Father
Date of Certificate	17 April 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. D. Hart, Church of England

21 April 1925

Thomas Ratcliffe
Amy Sanderson

Thomas Ratcliffe
Amy Sanderson
💍 1925/3007

Widower (3 Oct 1911)
Widow (20 August 1909)

Timber-worker
Domestic Housekeeper

47
48

Dargaville
Dargaville

14 years
11 years

Residence of Mrs. Amy Sanderson, Gordon Street, Dargaville

3860

21 April 1925

Rev. Joseph Devolder, Roman Catholic

No	18
Date of Notice	21 April 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Ratcliffe	Amy Sanderson
	💍 1925/3007
Condition	Widower (3 Oct 1911)	Widow (20 August 1909)
Profession	Timber-worker	Domestic Housekeeper
Age	47	48
Dwelling Place	Dargaville	Dargaville
Length of Residence	14 years	11 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Amy Sanderson, Gordon Street, Dargaville
Folio	3860
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 April 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. Joseph Devolder, Roman Catholic

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).

Primary digitisation of registers between 1855 and 1925 is now complete. Our digitisation volunteers are now working on verifying the currently digitised pages against printed district/page indexes, to identify pages which may have been missed or out of focus. These pages can be re-imaged as required.

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.

How can I help?

You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

You can also support this project by ☕ Buying us a coffee 🌳

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).