Intentions to Marry, 1926 Pongaroa to Wellington

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840540, 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.

1926e contains pages 1807-2222, covering districts from Pongaroa to Wellington

Page 1859

District of Taihape Quarter ending 31 March 1926 Registrar M. Vernon

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

John Huff
Dorothy Mary Platt

John Ruff
Dorothy Mary Platt
💍 1926/3259

Widower
Spinster

Mill Manager
School Teacher

43
24

Pukeokahu
Pukeokahu

3 days
2 weeks

Church of England, Taihape

2371

4 January 1926

Rev. E. J. Rich, Anglican

No	1
Date of Notice	4 January 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Huff	Dorothy Mary Platt
BDM Match (94%)	John Ruff	Dorothy Mary Platt
	💍 1926/3259
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Mill Manager	School Teacher
Age	43	24
Dwelling Place	Pukeokahu	Pukeokahu
Length of Residence	3 days	2 weeks
Marriage Place	Church of England, Taihape
Folio	2371
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 January 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. J. Rich, Anglican

6 February 1926

Richard William Sullivan
Myrtle Eileen Thompson

Richard William Sullivan
Myrtle Eileen Thompson
💍 1926/3260

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

30
17

Ohutu
Turangarere

20 years
1 year

Roman Catholic Presbytery, Taihape

2372

Joseph Thompson (Father)

6 February 1926

Father Carmine, Roman Catholic

No	2
Date of Notice	6 February 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard William Sullivan	Myrtle Eileen Thompson
	💍 1926/3260
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	30	17
Dwelling Place	Ohutu	Turangarere
Length of Residence	20 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Presbytery, Taihape
Folio	2372
Consent	Joseph Thompson (Father)
Date of Certificate	6 February 1926
Officiating Minister	Father Carmine, Roman Catholic

15 February 1926

John Griffen
Marjorie May Louie Mora

John Griffen
Marjorie May Louie Mora
💍 1926/3261

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman N.Z. Railway
Domestic Duties

27
24

Taihape
Taihape

4 years
3 years

10 Barrowman Residence, Mataroa Road, Taihape

2373

15 February 1926

Rev. Bandy, Presbyterian

No	3
Date of Notice	15 February 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Griffen	Marjorie May Louie Mora
	💍 1926/3261
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman N.Z. Railway	Domestic Duties
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Taihape	Taihape
Length of Residence	4 years	3 years
Marriage Place	10 Barrowman Residence, Mataroa Road, Taihape
Folio	2373
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. Bandy, Presbyterian

8 March 1926

Alexander Thomas Horton
Eva Mona Esler

Alexander Thomas Norton
Eva Mona Esler
💍 1926/3565

Bachelor
Spinster

Taxi Driver
Waitress

20
18

Taihape
Taihape

3 years
18 years

Presbyterian Church, Taihape

2933

Thomas Horton (Father), Elvina Heeffe (Mother)

8 March 1926

Rev. E. Bandy, Presbyterian

No	4
Date of Notice	8 March 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Thomas Horton	Eva Mona Esler
BDM Match (98%)	Alexander Thomas Norton	Eva Mona Esler
	💍 1926/3565
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Taxi Driver	Waitress
Age	20	18
Dwelling Place	Taihape	Taihape
Length of Residence	3 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Taihape
Folio	2933
Consent	Thomas Horton (Father), Elvina Heeffe (Mother)
Date of Certificate	8 March 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Bandy, Presbyterian

22 March 1926

Leo John Matthew Greene
Uva Winifred McManus

Leo John Matthew Greene
Elva Winifred McManus
💍 1926/3262

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman
Domestic Duties

22
21

Taihape
Otahuhu

5 years
21 years

Roman Catholic Church, Taihape

2374

22 March 1926

Rev. Father Doolaghty, Roman Catholic

No	5
Date of Notice	22 March 1926
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leo John Matthew Greene	Uva Winifred McManus
BDM Match (95%)	Leo John Matthew Greene	Elva Winifred McManus
	💍 1926/3262
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman	Domestic Duties
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Taihape	Otahuhu
Length of Residence	5 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Taihape
Folio	2374
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 March 1926
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Doolaghty, Roman Catholic

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).