Intentions to Marry, 1925 Rangiriri to Whangamomona

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840530, 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.

1925c contains pages 925-1356, covering districts from Rangiriri to Whangamomona

Page 1313

District of Patea Quarter ending 31 December 1925 Registrar H. A. Green

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

1 October 1925

Otto Jacob Meuli
Vera Elice Locken

Otto Jacob Meuli
Vera Alice Locker
💍 1925/9480

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Saleswoman

47
32

Kakaramea
Patea

4 years
30 years

Methodist Church, Patea

9618

1 October 1925

Rev. J. W. Bayliss, Methodist

No	12
Date of Notice	1 October 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Otto Jacob Meuli	Vera Elice Locken
BDM Match (94%)	Otto Jacob Meuli	Vera Alice Locker
	💍 1925/9480
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Saleswoman
Age	47	32
Dwelling Place	Kakaramea	Patea
Length of Residence	4 years	30 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Patea
Folio	9618
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 October 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Bayliss, Methodist

20 November 1925

William James Hotter
Ethel Bowridge

William James Hotter
Ethel Horridge
💍 1925/9481

Widower
Widow

Dairy Farmer
Housekeeper

50
37

Matukuroa, Patea
Matukuroa, Patea

49 years
7 months

Residence of William James Hotter, Matukuroa, Patea

9619

20 November 1925

Rev. J. W. Bayliss, Methodist

No	13
Date of Notice	20 November 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Hotter	Ethel Bowridge
BDM Match (93%)	William James Hotter	Ethel Horridge
	💍 1925/9481
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Dairy Farmer	Housekeeper
Age	50	37
Dwelling Place	Matukuroa, Patea	Matukuroa, Patea
Length of Residence	49 years	7 months
Marriage Place	Residence of William James Hotter, Matukuroa, Patea
Folio	9619
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 November 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Bayliss, Methodist

28 November 1925

Joseph Nathaniel Gordon
Nellie Adams

Joseph Nathaniel Gordon
Nellie Adams
💍 1925/9482

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

27
17

Patea
Patea

4 years
16 years

Residence of Charles Adams, Portland Quay, Patea

9620

Charles Adams, father

28 November 1925

Rev. J. W. Bayliss, Methodist

No	14
Date of Notice	28 November 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Nathaniel Gordon	Nellie Adams
	💍 1925/9482
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	27	17
Dwelling Place	Patea	Patea
Length of Residence	4 years	16 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Charles Adams, Portland Quay, Patea
Folio	9620
Consent	Charles Adams, father
Date of Certificate	28 November 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Bayliss, Methodist

5 December 1925

Herbert Thomas Pedley
Irene Gladys Agnes Leathem

Herbert Thomas Pedley
Irene Gladys Agnes Leathem
💍 1925/9484

Bachelor
Spinster

Wool classer
Domestic duties

22
17

Patea
Patea

6 days
4 years

Residence of Mr. Stacey, Patea

9621

Charles Francis Leathem, father

5 December 1925

Rev. J. A. Brown, Presbyterian

No	15
Date of Notice	5 December 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Thomas Pedley	Irene Gladys Agnes Leathem
	💍 1925/9484
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wool classer	Domestic duties
Age	22	17
Dwelling Place	Patea	Patea
Length of Residence	6 days	4 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Stacey, Patea
Folio	9621
Consent	Charles Francis Leathem, father
Date of Certificate	5 December 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Brown, Presbyterian

28 December 1925

Fred Arthur Breisler
Alice Waterland

Fred Arthur Brietler
Alice Waterland
💍 1925/9485

Bachelor
Spinster

Turner
Housekeeper

26
31

Patea
Patea

4 days
4 days

Residence of Mr. Albert Partridge, Meredith Street, Patea

9622

28 December 1925

Rev. J. A. Brown, Presbyterian

No	16
Date of Notice	28 December 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Fred Arthur Breisler	Alice Waterland
BDM Match (93%)	Fred Arthur Brietler	Alice Waterland
	💍 1925/9485
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Turner	Housekeeper
Age	26	31
Dwelling Place	Patea	Patea
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Albert Partridge, Meredith Street, Patea
Folio	9622
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 December 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Brown, 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).

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).