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 1398

District of Hastings Quarter ending 30 September 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

6 August 1925

William George Agar
Mary Ann Sullivan

William George Agar
Mary Ann Sullivan
💍 1925/6920

Bachelor
Spinster

Shipping Clerk
Domestic duties

22
23

Hastings
Hastings

3 days
14 years

Roman Catholic Church, Hastings

6902

6 August 1925

Rev. Father McDonald, Roman Catholic

No	98
Date of Notice	6 August 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William George Agar	Mary Ann Sullivan
	💍 1925/6920
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shipping Clerk	Domestic duties
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 days	14 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Hastings
Folio	6902
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 August 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father McDonald, Roman Catholic

8 August 1925

Ronald John Ross
Rill Williams

Ronald John Ross
Rice Williams
💍 1925/6927

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinetmaker
Domestic duties

23
22

Dwelling of R. Williams, 804 Willow Park Road, Hastings
Dwelling of R. Williams, 804 Willow Park Road, Hastings

4 days
18 months

Dwelling of R. Williams, 804 Willow Park Road, Hastings

6903

8 August 1925

Rev. P. Ramsay, Presbyterian

No	99
Date of Notice	8 August 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ronald John Ross	Rill Williams
BDM Match (92%)	Ronald John Ross	Rice Williams
	💍 1925/6927
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinetmaker	Domestic duties
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Dwelling of R. Williams, 804 Willow Park Road, Hastings	Dwelling of R. Williams, 804 Willow Park Road, Hastings
Length of Residence	4 days	18 months
Marriage Place	Dwelling of R. Williams, 804 Willow Park Road, Hastings
Folio	6903
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 August 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay, Presbyterian

100

8 August 1925

Thomas William Harper
Mabel Doreen Johnston

Thomas William Harper
Mabel Doreen Johnston
💍 1925/6928

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

24
21

Hastings
Hastings

26 years
21 years

Presbyterian Church, Hastings

6904

8 August 1925

Rev. P. Ramsay, Presbyterian

No	100
Date of Notice	8 August 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas William Harper	Mabel Doreen Johnston
	💍 1925/6928
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	26 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Hastings
Folio	6904
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 August 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay, Presbyterian

101

10 August 1925

James William Taylor
Alice Mary Gwendoline Bellors

[See note in folio column]

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic duties

25
23

Hastings
Hastings

3 years
1 year

St. Matthews Church, Hastings

Mar. not solemnized. Am. de died. see R.G. 12/60 & 123/1925 Napier

10 August 1925

Rev. J. E. Draper, Anglican

No	101
Date of Notice	10 August 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James William Taylor	Alice Mary Gwendoline Bellors
	💍 [See note in folio column]
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic duties
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 years	1 year
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church, Hastings
Folio	Mar. not solemnized. Am. de died. see R.G. 12/60 & 123/1925 Napier
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 August 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. E. Draper, Anglican

102

11 August 1925

John Sampson
Mary Jane Boar

John Sampson
Mary Jane Boa
💍 1925/6929

Bachelor
Spinster

Barman
Domestic duties

37
34

Hastings
Hastings

16 years
12 years

St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Hastings

6905

11 August 1925

Rev. P. Ramsay, Presbyterian

No	102
Date of Notice	11 August 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Sampson	Mary Jane Boar
BDM Match (96%)	John Sampson	Mary Jane Boa
	💍 1925/6929
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barman	Domestic duties
Age	37	34
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	16 years	12 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Hastings
Folio	6905
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 August 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay, Presbyterian

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).