Intentions to Marry, 1911 Hawke's Bay, Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840446, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1911 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, (1911a), Hawke's Bay, Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1911b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1911c).

Page 284

District of Masterton Quarter ending 30 June 1911 Registrar William Miller Easthope

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

10 June 1911

William Charles Boulter
Olivia Mary Richardson

William Charles Coulter
Olivia Mary Richardson
💍 1911/2801

Bachelor
Spinster

Stock buyer
Domestic duties

36
19

Masterton
Masterton

18 years
20 years

The house of Mrs Richardson, Bannister Street Masterton

11/2500

10 June 1911

Rev A. J. Thompson, Presbyterian

No	43
Date of Notice	10 June 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Charles Boulter	Olivia Mary Richardson
BDM Match (98%)	William Charles Coulter	Olivia Mary Richardson
	💍 1911/2801
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stock buyer	Domestic duties
Age	36	19
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	18 years	20 years
Marriage Place	The house of Mrs Richardson, Bannister Street Masterton
Folio	11/2500
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 June 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev A. J. Thompson, Presbyterian

10 June 1911

Charles Henry Moltzen
Edith Millicent Perry Gordon

Charles Henry Moltzen
Edith Millicent Perry Gordon
💍 1911/3496

Bachelor
Spinster

Postal Clerk
Domestic duties

22
20

Masterton
Masterton

7 years
20 years

The house of J. W. Gordon, Lansdowne

11/3068

John William Gordon, Father

10 June 1911

Rev. C. J. Serpell, Wesleyan

No	44
Date of Notice	10 June 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Moltzen	Edith Millicent Perry Gordon
	💍 1911/3496
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Postal Clerk	Domestic duties
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	7 years	20 years
Marriage Place	The house of J. W. Gordon, Lansdowne
Folio	11/3068
Consent	John William Gordon, Father
Date of Certificate	10 June 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. J. Serpell, Wesleyan

10 June 1911

August Victor Swanson
Laura Ellen Ralph

August Victor Swanson
Laura Ellen Ralph
💍 1911/6086

Bachelor
Spinster

Joiner
Domestic servant

21
22

Masterton
Masterton

21 years
5 years

Wesleyan Church, Kuripuni

11/6000

10 June 1911

Rev. A. Parsons, Wesleyan

No	45
Date of Notice	10 June 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	August Victor Swanson	Laura Ellen Ralph
	💍 1911/6086
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Joiner	Domestic servant
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	21 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Kuripuni
Folio	11/6000
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 June 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Parsons, Wesleyan

13 June 1911

Albert John Parton
Selina Matilda Welch

Albert John Parton
Selina Matilda Welch
💍 1911/3300

Widower
Widow

Master Plumber
Domestic duties

30
33

Masterton
Masterton

3 days
21 years

Congregational Church, Masterton

11/2942

13 June 1911

Rev. A. Hodge, Congregational

No	46
Date of Notice	13 June 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert John Parton	Selina Matilda Welch
	💍 1911/3300
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Master Plumber	Domestic duties
Age	30	33
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	3 days	21 years
Marriage Place	Congregational Church, Masterton
Folio	11/2942
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 June 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Hodge, Congregational

20 June 1911

Stanley Hall
Elsie May Rees Robins

Stanley Hall
Elsie May Rees Robins
💍 1911/3080

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

21
19

Clareville
Masterton

9 years
13 years

St. Matthews Church, Carterton

11/2769

20 June 1911

Rev. H. Watson, Anglican

No	47
Date of Notice	20 June 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stanley Hall	Elsie May Rees Robins
	💍 1911/3080
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Clareville	Masterton
Length of Residence	9 years	13 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church, Carterton
Folio	11/2769
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 June 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Watson, Anglican

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 1908. 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).