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 1766

District of Palmerston North Quarter ending 30 September 1925 Registrar E. A. [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

139

13 August 1925

Arthur Main
Joyce Lorraine Arrow

Arthur Main
Joyce Lorraine Arrow
💍 1925/7099

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Driver

26
20

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

26 years
20 years

Residence of G. H. Arrow, 200 Ferguson Street, Palmerston North

7098

G. Harrow, Father

13 August 1925

Staff Capt. A. H. Charker, Salvation Army

No	139
Date of Notice	13 August 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Main	Joyce Lorraine Arrow
	💍 1925/7099
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Driver
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	26 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of G. H. Arrow, 200 Ferguson Street, Palmerston North
Folio	7098
Consent	G. Harrow, Father
Date of Certificate	13 August 1925
Officiating Minister	Staff Capt. A. H. Charker, Salvation Army

140

14 August 1925

John Samuel Barnes
Kathleen Mikkelsen

John Samuel Barnes
Kathleen Mikkelsen
💍 1925/7100

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

23
20

Kairanga
Awahuri

Life
8 years

St. Patricks Church, Palmerston North

7099

Mary Jane Bennett, formerly Mikkelsen, mother

14 August 1925

Rev. M. B. Boolaghty, Roman Catholic

No	140
Date of Notice	14 August 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Samuel Barnes	Kathleen Mikkelsen
	💍 1925/7100
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Kairanga	Awahuri
Length of Residence	Life	8 years
Marriage Place	St. Patricks Church, Palmerston North
Folio	7099
Consent	Mary Jane Bennett, formerly Mikkelsen, mother
Date of Certificate	14 August 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. B. Boolaghty, Roman Catholic

141

17 August 1925

Eric Charles Miller
Dorothy McLeod Holder

Eric Charles Miller
Dorothy McLeod Holder
💍 1925/11005

Bachelor
Spinster

Teacher

23
22

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 days
3 days

Residence of Mrs. E. Melles, 41 Linton Street, Palmerston North

7100

17 August 1925

Rev. G. J. Brown, Presbyterian

No	141
Date of Notice	17 August 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Eric Charles Miller	Dorothy McLeod Holder
	💍 1925/11005
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Teacher
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. E. Melles, 41 Linton Street, Palmerston North
Folio	7100
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 August 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. J. Brown, Presbyterian

142

17 August 1925

Arthur Edward Dennis
Amelia Lockwood

Arthur Edward Dennis
Amelia Lockwood
💍 1925/7671

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer

25
25

Wellington
Palmerston North

17 years
3 days

All Saints Church, Palmerston North

7699

17 August 1925

Canon W. Fancourt, Anglican

No	142
Date of Notice	17 August 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Edward Dennis	Amelia Lockwood
	💍 1925/7671
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	17 years	3 days
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Palmerston North
Folio	7699
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 August 1925
Officiating Minister	Canon W. Fancourt, Anglican

143

18 August 1925

James Busby Williams
Muriel Cecile Keiller

James Busby Williams
Muriel Cecile Keiller
💍 1925/7672

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer

25
22

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

4 days
16 years

All Saints Church, Palmerston North

7700

18 August 1925

Canon W. Fancourt, Anglican

No	143
Date of Notice	18 August 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Busby Williams	Muriel Cecile Keiller
	💍 1925/7672
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	4 days	16 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Palmerston North
Folio	7700
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 August 1925
Officiating Minister	Canon W. Fancourt, 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).

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).