Intentions to Marry, 1925 Dannevirke to Palmerston North

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840531, 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.

1925d contains pages 1357-1784, covering districts from Dannevirke to Palmerston North

Page 1381

District of Hastings Quarter ending 31 March 1925 Registrar Robert Brathwaite

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

19 February 1925

William James Hunt
Elizabeth Hunt

William James Hunt
Elizabeth Hunt
💍 1925/1277

Divorced, decree absolute 23 January 1925
Widow

Labourer
Domestic duties

49
48

Hastings
Hastings

13 years
13 years

Baptist Manse, Hastings

1850

19 February 1925

Rev. Keith Ewen, Baptist

No	21
Date of Notice	19 February 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Hunt	Elizabeth Hunt
	💍 1925/1277
Condition	Divorced, decree absolute 23 January 1925	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	49	48
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	13 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Manse, Hastings
Folio	1850
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. Keith Ewen, Baptist

20 February 1925

Athol Miller Menzies
Ivy Amelia Davis

Athol Miller Menzies
Ivy Amelia Davis
💍 1925/1923

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller
Pianoforte Teacher

30
24

Masterton
Havelock North

2 years
24 years

St. Columba's Church, Havelock North

2622

20 February 1925

Rev. K. Waugh, Presbyterian

No	22
Date of Notice	20 February 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Athol Miller Menzies	Ivy Amelia Davis
	💍 1925/1923
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller	Pianoforte Teacher
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Havelock North
Length of Residence	2 years	24 years
Marriage Place	St. Columba's Church, Havelock North
Folio	2622
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. K. Waugh, Presbyterian

2 March 1925

Eric John Jones
Hilda Mary Olsen

Eric John Jones
Hilda Mary Olsen
💍 1925/1235

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter, Paperhanger
Domestic

22
24

Hastings
Hastings

30 days
2 months

Dwelling of M. O. Olsen, 1009 Frederick Street, Hastings

1851

2 March 1925

Rev. D. Ramsay, Presbyterian

No	23
Date of Notice	2 March 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Eric John Jones	Hilda Mary Olsen
	💍 1925/1235
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter, Paperhanger	Domestic
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	30 days	2 months
Marriage Place	Dwelling of M. O. Olsen, 1009 Frederick Street, Hastings
Folio	1851
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 March 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Ramsay, Presbyterian

2 March 1925

Cyril Thomas Waite
Sybil Rita Spence Horne

Cyril Thomas Waite
Sybil Rita Spence Horne
💍 1925/1246

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer
Domestic duties

28
21

Hastings
Napier

8 months
9 months

Presbyterian Church, Hastings

1852

2 March 1925

Rev. D. Ramsay, Presbyterian

No	24
Date of Notice	2 March 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cyril Thomas Waite	Sybil Rita Spence Horne
	💍 1925/1246
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer	Domestic duties
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Napier
Length of Residence	8 months	9 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Hastings
Folio	1852
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 March 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Ramsay, Presbyterian

5 March 1925

George Arthur King
Ida Dalton

George Arthur King
Ida Dalton
💍 1925/1253

Bachelor
Spinster

Barman
Domestic duties

23
24

Hastings
Hastings

3 years
1 month

Registrar's Office, Hastings

1853

6 March 1925

Robert Brathwaite, Registrar

No	25
Date of Notice	5 March 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Arthur King	Ida Dalton
	💍 1925/1253
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barman	Domestic duties
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 years	1 month
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Hastings
Folio	1853
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1925
Officiating Minister	Robert Brathwaite, 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).