Intentions to Marry, 1901 North Island

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840419, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, September 22 2025

1901 is bound in two volumes, North Island districts and South Island districts.

Page 957

District of Masterton Quarter ending 30 September 1901 Registrar W. H. Nicholls

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

2 August 1901

Barry Lewis
Catherine Grownkishi

Harry Lewis
Catherine Grownkiski
💍 1901/3029

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic duties

31
19

Masterton
Masterton

3 days
5 years

Roman Catholic Church, Masterton

01/3429

Catherine Grownkishi, mother

2 August 1901

Rev. J. McKenna

No	30
Date of Notice	2 August 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Barry Lewis	Catherine Grownkishi
BDM Match (93%)	Harry Lewis	Catherine Grownkiski
	💍 1901/3029
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic duties
Age	31	19
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	3 days	5 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Masterton
Folio	01/3429
Consent	Catherine Grownkishi, mother
Date of Certificate	2 August 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McKenna

5 August 1901

George Reginald Searbe
Rose Margaret Apperley

George Reginald Scarfe
Rose Margaret Apperley
💍 1901/3386

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman
Dressmaker

31
24

Masterton
Masterton

3 years
7 years

St. Matthew's Church, Masterton

01/3727

5 August 1901

Rev. P. C. W. Zaree

No	31
Date of Notice	5 August 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Reginald Searbe	Rose Margaret Apperley
BDM Match (95%)	George Reginald Scarfe	Rose Margaret Apperley
	💍 1901/3386
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman	Dressmaker
Age	31	24
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	3 years	7 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church, Masterton
Folio	01/3727
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 August 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. C. W. Zaree

6 August 1901

Francis James Shute
Amy Eliza Billington

Francis James Shute
Amy Eliza Billington
💍 1901/3028

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Domestic Duties

25
23

Masterton
Masterton

20 years
23 years

Wesleyan Church, Kuripuni

01/3428

6 August 1901

Rev. S. F. Prior

No	32
Date of Notice	6 August 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis James Shute	Amy Eliza Billington
	💍 1901/3028
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Domestic Duties
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	20 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Kuripuni
Folio	01/3428
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 August 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. F. Prior

3 September 1901

Reginald De Jersey Vautier
Ada Wallis

Reginald De Jersey Vautier
Ada Wallis
💍 1901/3027

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

22
24

Masterton
Masterton

3 days
15 years

Registrar's Office, Masterton

01/3427

3 September 1901

The Registrar, Masterton

No	33
Date of Notice	3 September 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reginald De Jersey Vautier	Ada Wallis
	💍 1901/3027
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	3 days	15 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Masterton
Folio	01/3427
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 September 1901
Officiating Minister	The Registrar, Masterton

5 September 1901

John Morton Buchanan
Elizabeth Heggie Sutherland

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Domestic duties

24
21

Eketahuna
Masterton

6 months
21 years

St. Matthew's Church, Eketahuna

01/3728

5 September 1901

Rev. P. C. W. Zaree

No	34
Date of Notice	5 September 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Morton Buchanan	Elizabeth Heggie Sutherland
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Domestic duties
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Eketahuna	Masterton
Length of Residence	6 months	21 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church, Eketahuna
Folio	01/3728
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 September 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. C. W. Zaree

11 September 1901

Lumett Garratt
Annie May Hudson

Linnett Garratt
Annie May Hudson
💍 1901/4464

Bachelor
Spinster

Fencing Contractor
Domestic Duties

26
22

Eketahuna
Pahiatua

26 years
6 years

Residence of Mr George Garratt, Pahiatua

01/4965

11 September 1901

Rev. Robert Wood

No	35
Date of Notice	11 September 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lumett Garratt	Annie May Hudson
BDM Match (90%)	Linnett Garratt	Annie May Hudson
	💍 1901/4464
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fencing Contractor	Domestic Duties
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Eketahuna	Pahiatua
Length of Residence	26 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr George Garratt, Pahiatua
Folio	01/4965
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 September 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert Wood

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).

Currently we have almost all records between 1855 and 1903. More registers are being added almost every week.

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.

Can I volunteer to help?

Yes, you can! You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

I am also looking for Wellington-based volunteers to help me digitise more years of the registers. I can provide lighting equipment and a 'clicker' (to trigger your phone's camera).

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).