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 1436

District of Napier Quarter ending 30 September 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

107

14 August 1925

George Herbert Harding
Ada Ormerod

George Herbert Harding
Ada Ormerod
💍 1925/6939

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Domestic Duties

50
47

Hastings
Napier

6 months
5 days

St. Pauls Church, Napier

6339

14 August 1925

J. A. Asher, Presbyterian

No	107
Date of Notice	14 August 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Herbert Harding	Ada Ormerod
	💍 1925/6939
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Domestic Duties
Age	50	47
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Napier
Length of Residence	6 months	5 days
Marriage Place	St. Pauls Church, Napier
Folio	6339
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 August 1925
Officiating Minister	J. A. Asher, Presbyterian

108

19 August 1925

Thomas Henry John Zagg
Eva Seragg

Thomas Henry John Dagg
Eva Scragg
💍 1925/6940

Widower (10 September 1923)
Spinster

Labourer
HouseKeeper

27
31

Napier
Napier

13 years
1 year

Trinity Methodist Church, Napier

6940

19 August 1925

B. Metson, Methodist

No	108
Date of Notice	19 August 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Henry John Zagg	Eva Seragg
BDM Match (93%)	Thomas Henry John Dagg	Eva Scragg
	💍 1925/6940
Condition	Widower (10 September 1923)	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	HouseKeeper
Age	27	31
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	13 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Trinity Methodist Church, Napier
Folio	6940
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 August 1925
Officiating Minister	B. Metson, Methodist

109

21 August 1925

Frank Alma Withers
Elizabeth Charlotte Gertrude Stokes

Frank Alma Withers
Elizabeth Charlotte Gertrude Stokes
💍 1925/6941

Divorced (Decree Absolute 14 June 1923)
Spinster

Lorry Driver
Domestic Duties

39
27

Waipunga
Residence of E. G. Stokes, Gauntier Street, Napier

18 years
7 years

Residence of E. G. Stokes, Gauntier Street, Napier

6941

21 August 1925

J. A. Asher, Presbyterian

No	109
Date of Notice	21 August 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Alma Withers	Elizabeth Charlotte Gertrude Stokes
	💍 1925/6941
Condition	Divorced (Decree Absolute 14 June 1923)	Spinster
Profession	Lorry Driver	Domestic Duties
Age	39	27
Dwelling Place	Waipunga	Residence of E. G. Stokes, Gauntier Street, Napier
Length of Residence	18 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Residence of E. G. Stokes, Gauntier Street, Napier
Folio	6941
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 August 1925
Officiating Minister	J. A. Asher, Presbyterian

110

21 August 1925

Richard William Hannaford
Joy Agnes Boyes

Richard William Hannaford
Ivy Agnes Boyes
💍 1925/6942

Bachelor
Widow (5 March 1921)

Clerk
Domestic Duties

31
28

Napier
Napier

6 years
8 months

St. Augustine's Church, Napier

6942

21 August 1925

H. W. Klingender, Church of England

No	110
Date of Notice	21 August 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard William Hannaford	Joy Agnes Boyes
BDM Match (93%)	Richard William Hannaford	Ivy Agnes Boyes
	💍 1925/6942
Condition	Bachelor	Widow (5 March 1921)
Profession	Clerk	Domestic Duties
Age	31	28
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	6 years	8 months
Marriage Place	St. Augustine's Church, Napier
Folio	6942
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 August 1925
Officiating Minister	H. W. Klingender, Church of England

111

24 August 1925

Edward Jocelyn Denys
Gwendoline Nellie Holt

Edward Jocelyn Denys
Gwendoline Nellie Holt
💍 1925/6943

Widower (1923)
Spinster

Sales Manager
Domestic Duties

41
26

Hawera
Napier

14 months
26 years

St. John's Cathedral, Napier

6943

24 August 1925

Dean Mayne, Church of England

No	111
Date of Notice	24 August 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Jocelyn Denys	Gwendoline Nellie Holt
	💍 1925/6943
Condition	Widower (1923)	Spinster
Profession	Sales Manager	Domestic Duties
Age	41	26
Dwelling Place	Hawera	Napier
Length of Residence	14 months	26 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Cathedral, Napier
Folio	6943
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 August 1925
Officiating Minister	Dean Mayne, 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).