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 1390

District of Hastings Quarter ending 30 June 1925 Registrar R. 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

18 May 1925

William Lindsay Robertson
Amelia Ruth Pyne

William Lindsay Robertson
Amelia Ruth Pyne
💍 1925/4705

Bachelor
Spinster

Yardman
Domestic duties

28
17

Waikaremoana
Hastings

3 months
5 years

Presbyterian Church, Hastings

4435

Charles Robert Stuart Pyne, father

18 May 1925

Rev. P. Ramsay, Presbyterian

No	62
Date of Notice	18 May 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Lindsay Robertson	Amelia Ruth Pyne
	💍 1925/4705
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Yardman	Domestic duties
Age	28	17
Dwelling Place	Waikaremoana	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 months	5 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Hastings
Folio	4435
Consent	Charles Robert Stuart Pyne, father
Date of Certificate	18 May 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay, Presbyterian

18 May 1925

John Havin
Isobel Coffin

John Davin
Isobel Coffin
💍 1925/4706

Bachelor
Divorced (Decree Absolute 13 March 1924)

Labourer
Domestic duties

32
39

Hastings
Hastings

3 days
3 days

Registrars Office, Hastings

4436

18 May 1925

Robert Brathwaite, Registrar

No	63
Date of Notice	18 May 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Havin	Isobel Coffin
BDM Match (95%)	John Davin	Isobel Coffin
	💍 1925/4706
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced (Decree Absolute 13 March 1924)
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	32	39
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Hastings
Folio	4436
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 May 1925
Officiating Minister	Robert Brathwaite, Registrar

19 May 1925

Albert Alfred Bersenar
Annie Jane Ingleby Loveday

Albert Alfred Bensemann
Annie Jane Ingleby Loveday
💍 1925/4707

Bachelor
Spinster

Dairy Factory Employee
Domestic duties

36
25

Takaka, Nelson
Twyford, Hastings

22 years
6 years

St. Matthews Church, Hastings

4437

19 May 1925

Rev. J. E. Draper, Anglican

No	64
Date of Notice	19 May 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Alfred Bersenar	Annie Jane Ingleby Loveday
BDM Match (91%)	Albert Alfred Bensemann	Annie Jane Ingleby Loveday
	💍 1925/4707
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dairy Factory Employee	Domestic duties
Age	36	25
Dwelling Place	Takaka, Nelson	Twyford, Hastings
Length of Residence	22 years	6 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church, Hastings
Folio	4437
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 May 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. E. Draper, Anglican

26 May 1925

Kenneth Alexander Cameron
Ethel Frances Anderson

Kenneth Alexander Cameron
Ethel Frances Anderson
💍 1925/4708

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

25
24

Koputaroa, Wellington
Twyford, Hastings

2 years
10 years

St. Andrews Church, Hastings

4438

26 May 1925

Rev. P. Ramsay, Presbyterian

No	65
Date of Notice	26 May 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Kenneth Alexander Cameron	Ethel Frances Anderson
	💍 1925/4708
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Koputaroa, Wellington	Twyford, Hastings
Length of Residence	2 years	10 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church, Hastings
Folio	4438
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 May 1925
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay, Presbyterian

24 May 1925

Arthur Edward Ellis
Bessie Crombie McGuire

Arthur Edward Ellis
Bessie Crombie McQuire
💍 1925/4709

Widower (8 December 1915)
Spinster

Driver
Domestic duties

36
25

Hastings
Hastings

5 years
14 years

Presbyterian Manse, Hastings

4439

27 May 1925

Rev. P. Ramsay, Presbyterian

No	66
Date of Notice	24 May 1925
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Edward Ellis	Bessie Crombie McGuire
BDM Match (98%)	Arthur Edward Ellis	Bessie Crombie McQuire
	💍 1925/4709
Condition	Widower (8 December 1915)	Spinster
Profession	Driver	Domestic duties
Age	36	25
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	5 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Hastings
Folio	4439
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 May 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).