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 828

District of Ohinemuri Quarter ending 30 June 1925 Registrar W. E. Ward

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

30 May 1925

Frank William Pitts
Margaret Mary Ellis

Frank William Pitts
Margaret Mary Ellis
💍 1925/4320

Bachelor
Spinster

Cream grader
Domestic duties

26
24

Paeroa
Paeroa

3 years
24 years

St Pauls Anglican Church Paeroa

4046

30 May 1925

Rev. F. B. Dobson, Anglican

No	12
Date of Notice	30 May 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank William Pitts	Margaret Mary Ellis
	💍 1925/4320
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cream grader	Domestic duties
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Paeroa	Paeroa
Length of Residence	3 years	24 years
Marriage Place	St Pauls Anglican Church Paeroa
Folio	4046
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. B. Dobson, Anglican

5 June 1925

Charles Moorhouse
Clara Maria Adams

Charles Moorhouse
Clara Maria Adams
💍 1925/4321

Widower
Spinster

Labourer
Shopkeeper

50
50

Paeroa
Paeroa

10 years
2 years

St Pauls Anglican Church Paeroa

4047

5 June 1925

Rev. F. B. Dobson, Anglican

No	13
Date of Notice	5 June 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Moorhouse	Clara Maria Adams
	💍 1925/4321
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Shopkeeper
Age	50	50
Dwelling Place	Paeroa	Paeroa
Length of Residence	10 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St Pauls Anglican Church Paeroa
Folio	4047
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 June 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. B. Dobson, Anglican

5 June 1925

Thomas Bailey Williams
Lillie Sarjant

Thomas Bailey Williams
Lillie Sarjant
💍 1925/4322

Bachelor
Spinster

Cheesemaker
Domestic duties

32
23

Paeroa
Netherton

8 months
15 years

Registrars Office Paeroa

4048

5 June 1925

W. E. Ward, Registrar

No	14
Date of Notice	5 June 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Bailey Williams	Lillie Sarjant
	💍 1925/4322
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cheesemaker	Domestic duties
Age	32	23
Dwelling Place	Paeroa	Netherton
Length of Residence	8 months	15 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office Paeroa
Folio	4048
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 June 1925
Officiating Minister	W. E. Ward, Registrar

27 June 1925

Walter McDermott
Rachel Charlotte Jane Shaw

Walter McDermott
Rachel Charlotte Jane Shaw
💍 1925/4323

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine driver
Dressmaker

27
27

Paeroa
Station Road Paeroa

2 days
27 years

Residence of Annie Elizabeth Shaw, Station Road Paeroa

4049

27 June 1925

Rev. A. M. Costain, Methodist

No	15
Date of Notice	27 June 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter McDermott	Rachel Charlotte Jane Shaw
	💍 1925/4323
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine driver	Dressmaker
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Paeroa	Station Road Paeroa
Length of Residence	2 days	27 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Annie Elizabeth Shaw, Station Road Paeroa
Folio	4049
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 June 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. M. Costain, Methodist

29 June 1925

Frederick Hatley
Violet Dorothea Martha Ann Vincent

Frederick Hatley
Violet Dorothea Marthar Ann Vincent
💍 1925/4324

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Domestic duties

38
24

Paeroa
Marototo

3 days
1 month

Registrars Office Paeroa

4050

29 June 1925

W. E. Ward, Registrar

No	16
Date of Notice	29 June 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Hatley	Violet Dorothea Martha Ann Vincent
BDM Match (99%)	Frederick Hatley	Violet Dorothea Marthar Ann Vincent
	💍 1925/4324
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Domestic duties
Age	38	24
Dwelling Place	Paeroa	Marototo
Length of Residence	3 days	1 month
Marriage Place	Registrars Office Paeroa
Folio	4050
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 June 1925
Officiating Minister	W. E. Ward, Registrar

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).