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 1442

District of Napier Quarter ending 31 December 1925 Registrar W. Buchanan

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

137

12 October 1925

Frederick Rich Smale
Clarice Mary Williamson

Frederick Rich Smale
Clarice Mary Williamson
💍 1925/9536

Bachelor
Spinster

Medical Practitioner
School Teacher

32
24

Taradale
Taradale

3 days
18 years

Presbyterian Church, Taradale

9698

12 October 1925

R. T. Fish, Presbyterian

No	137
Date of Notice	12 October 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Rich Smale	Clarice Mary Williamson
	💍 1925/9536
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Medical Practitioner	School Teacher
Age	32	24
Dwelling Place	Taradale	Taradale
Length of Residence	3 days	18 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Taradale
Folio	9698
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 October 1925
Officiating Minister	R. T. Fish, Presbyterian

138

12 October 1925

Augustus John Crawford
Martha Ann Clara Whiston

Augustus John Crawford
Martha Ann Clara Whiston
💍 1925/9537

Widower
Widow

Sawmill Manager
Domestic Duties

63
34

Napier
Napier

24 years
11 years

Trinity Methodist Church, Napier

9699

12 October 1925

B. Metson, Methodist

No	138
Date of Notice	12 October 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Augustus John Crawford	Martha Ann Clara Whiston
	💍 1925/9537
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Sawmill Manager	Domestic Duties
Age	63	34
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	24 years	11 years
Marriage Place	Trinity Methodist Church, Napier
Folio	9699
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 October 1925
Officiating Minister	B. Metson, Methodist

139

14 October 1925

Charles Henry Whatton
Erin Amy Elizabeth Bassey

Charles Henry Whatton
Erin Amy Elizabeth Cassey
💍 1925/9538

Bachelor
Widow

Railway Employee
Domestic Duties

26
28

Napier
Napier

2 years
2 years

Registrar's Office, Napier

9700

14 October 1925

W. Buchanan, Registrar

No	139
Date of Notice	14 October 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Whatton	Erin Amy Elizabeth Bassey
BDM Match (98%)	Charles Henry Whatton	Erin Amy Elizabeth Cassey
	💍 1925/9538
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Railway Employee	Domestic Duties
Age	26	28
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Napier
Folio	9700
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 October 1925
Officiating Minister	W. Buchanan, Registrar

140

14 October 1925

Maurice Ronald Martin
Alice Lavery

Maurice Ronald Martin
Alice Lavery
💍 1925/9539

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinetmaker
Clerk

20
22

Westshore
Westshore

20 years
3 years

The Manse, 23 Goldsmith Terrace, Napier

9701

Edith Martin, mother

14 October 1925

B. Matear, Presbyterian

No	140
Date of Notice	14 October 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Maurice Ronald Martin	Alice Lavery
	💍 1925/9539
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinetmaker	Clerk
Age	20	22
Dwelling Place	Westshore	Westshore
Length of Residence	20 years	3 years
Marriage Place	The Manse, 23 Goldsmith Terrace, Napier
Folio	9701
Consent	Edith Martin, mother
Date of Certificate	14 October 1925
Officiating Minister	B. Matear, Presbyterian

141

14 October 1925

Ian Neville Smith
Ivy Muriel Kirk

Ian Melville Smith
Ivy Muriel Kirk
💍 1925/10077

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Milliner

24
19

Napier
Napier

3 years
19 years

St. Augustine's Church, Napier

9702

Arthur Halter Kirk, father

14 October 1925

H. W. Klingender, Church of England

No	141
Date of Notice	14 October 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ian Neville Smith	Ivy Muriel Kirk
BDM Match (94%)	Ian Melville Smith	Ivy Muriel Kirk
	💍 1925/10077
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Milliner
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 years	19 years
Marriage Place	St. Augustine's Church, Napier
Folio	9702
Consent	Arthur Halter Kirk, father
Date of Certificate	14 October 1925
Officiating Minister	H. W. Klingender, Church of England

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).