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 1408

District of Hastings Quarter ending 31 December 1925 Registrar B. 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

139

23 November 1925

George Haymes
Alice Zele Symonds

George Haymes
Alice Merle Symond
💍 1925/580

Bachelor
Spinster

Car Salesman
Domestic duties

23
21

Hastings
Hastings

11 months
21 years

Methodist Church, Hastings

9673

23 November 1925

Rev. F. Copeland, Methodist

No	139
Date of Notice	23 November 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Haymes	Alice Zele Symonds
BDM Match (92%)	George Haymes	Alice Merle Symond
	💍 1925/580
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Car Salesman	Domestic duties
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	11 months	21 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Hastings
Folio	9673
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 November 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Copeland, Methodist

140

24 November 1925

William John Birt
Bridget Birt

William John Hasler
Bridget Birt
💍 1925/581

Bachelor
Spinster

Lorry Driver
Nurse

22
20

Hastings
Hastings

8 years
10 years

Roman Catholic Church, Hastings

9674

Charles Birt, Father

24 November 1925

Rev. Father Goggan, Roman Catholic

No	140
Date of Notice	24 November 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Birt	Bridget Birt
BDM Match (84%)	William John Hasler	Bridget Birt
	💍 1925/581
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Lorry Driver	Nurse
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	8 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Hastings
Folio	9674
Consent	Charles Birt, Father
Date of Certificate	24 November 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Goggan, Roman Catholic

141

24 November 1925

George M'Lellan
Jessie Smith

George McMillan
Jessie Smith
💍 1925/582

Widower (25 July 1923)
Spinster

Merchant
Nurse

54
28

Hastings
Hastings

3 days
3 days

St. Andrews Church, Hastings

9675

27 November 1925

Rev. P. Ramsay, Presbyterian

No	141
Date of Notice	24 November 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George M'Lellan	Jessie Smith
BDM Match (90%)	George McMillan	Jessie Smith
	💍 1925/582
Condition	Widower (25 July 1923)	Spinster
Profession	Merchant	Nurse
Age	54	28
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church, Hastings
Folio	9675
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 November 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay, Presbyterian

142

1 December 1925

Arthur John Clapperton
Hilda Annie Epplett

Arthur John Clapperton
Hilda Annie Epplett
💍 1925/583

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

23
18

Clive
Hastings

13 years
16 years

St. Andrews Manse, Hastings

9676

Archibald John Epplett, Father

1 December 1925

Rev. P. Ramsay, Presbyterian

No	142
Date of Notice	1 December 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur John Clapperton	Hilda Annie Epplett
	💍 1925/583
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	23	18
Dwelling Place	Clive	Hastings
Length of Residence	13 years	16 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Manse, Hastings
Folio	9676
Consent	Archibald John Epplett, Father
Date of Certificate	1 December 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay, Presbyterian

143

1 December 1925

Vincent Royden Norman
Leah M'Lellan

Vincent Royden Norman
Leah McMillan
💍 1925/9522

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Cook

30
27

Hastings
Hastings

3 days
3 days

Registrar's Office, Hastings

9677

2 December 1925

Lionel Eric Brathwaite, Deputy Registrar

No	143
Date of Notice	1 December 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Vincent Royden Norman	Leah M'Lellan
BDM Match (88%)	Vincent Royden Norman	Leah McMillan
	💍 1925/9522
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Cook
Age	30	27
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Hastings
Folio	9677
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 December 1925
Officiating Minister	Lionel Eric Brathwaite, Deputy Registrar

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).