Intentions to Marry, 1926 Dannevirke to Palmerston North

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840539, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1926 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.

1926d contains pages 1389-1806, covering districts from Dannevirke to Palmerston North

Page 1403

District of Hastings Quarter ending 31 March 1926 Registrar Robert Braithwaite

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

4 January 1926

Stanley Livingstone
Louisa Emily Schroder

Stanley Livingstone Muir
Louisa Emily Schroder
💍 1926/1164

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic

27
23

Hastings
Hastings

2 years
18 years

St. Andrews Church, Hastings

2072

4 January 1926

Rev. P. Ramsay, Presbyterian

No	1
Date of Notice	4 January 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stanley Livingstone	Louisa Emily Schroder
BDM Match (90%)	Stanley Livingstone Muir	Louisa Emily Schroder
	💍 1926/1164
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	2 years	18 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church, Hastings
Folio	2072
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 January 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay, Presbyterian

5 January 1926

Walter Chattaway
Edith Grace Ogden

Walter Chattaway
Edith Grace Ogden
💍 1926/1165

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Domestic

26
20

Hastings
Hastings

10 years
5 years

St. Matthews Church, Hastings

2073

Bertha Grace Bartlett, mother

5 January 1926

Rev. R. J. Hall, Anglican

No	2
Date of Notice	5 January 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Chattaway	Edith Grace Ogden
	💍 1926/1165
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Domestic
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	10 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church, Hastings
Folio	2073
Consent	Bertha Grace Bartlett, mother
Date of Certificate	5 January 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Hall, Anglican

9 January 1926

Thomas John Sickland
Helen Muriel Bunnard

Thomas John Hickland
Helen Muriel Cunnard
💍 1926/1166

Bachelor
Divorced (decree absolute 22 December 1924)

Carpenter
Domestic duties

33
27

Taihape, Hawkes Bay
Hastings

2 years
3 months

Registrars Office, Hastings

2074

9 January 1926

Robert Braithwaite, Registrar

No	3
Date of Notice	9 January 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas John Sickland	Helen Muriel Bunnard
BDM Match (95%)	Thomas John Hickland	Helen Muriel Cunnard
	💍 1926/1166
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced (decree absolute 22 December 1924)
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic duties
Age	33	27
Dwelling Place	Taihape, Hawkes Bay	Hastings
Length of Residence	2 years	3 months
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Hastings
Folio	2074
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 January 1926
Officiating Minister	Robert Braithwaite, Registrar

9 January 1926

Douglas Francis Gaig
Florence Muriel Gray

Douglas Francis Haig
Florence Muriel Gray
💍 1926/3147

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller
Domestic duties

26
21

Hastings
Napier

1 week
5 months

Registrars Office, Hastings

2075

9 January 1926

Robert Braithwaite, Registrar

No	4
Date of Notice	9 January 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Douglas Francis Gaig	Florence Muriel Gray
BDM Match (98%)	Douglas Francis Haig	Florence Muriel Gray
	💍 1926/3147
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller	Domestic duties
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Napier
Length of Residence	1 week	5 months
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Hastings
Folio	2075
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 January 1926
Officiating Minister	Robert Braithwaite, Registrar

11 January 1926

John Patrick Kenny
Frances Ida Semmens

John Patrick Kenny
Frances Ida Semmens
💍 1926/3158

Bachelor
Spinster

Fruit Packer
Domestic duties

23
19

Hastings
Pakowhai

4 years
2 years

Registrars Office, Hastings

2076

Francis Robert Semmens, father

11 January 1926

Robert Braithwaite, Registrar

No	5
Date of Notice	11 January 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Patrick Kenny	Frances Ida Semmens
	💍 1926/3158
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fruit Packer	Domestic duties
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Pakowhai
Length of Residence	4 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Hastings
Folio	2076
Consent	Francis Robert Semmens, father
Date of Certificate	11 January 1926
Officiating Minister	Robert Braithwaite, 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).