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 287

District of Masterton Quarter ending 30 September 1911 Registrar W. M. 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

29 August 1911

Joseph Horton
Annie Kamara Ihaka

Joseph Horton
Annie Kamara Ihaka
💍 1911/5621

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Housemaid

26
18

Taueru, Masterton
Taueru, Masterton

3 days
18 years

Knox Church, Masterton

11/5459

Piripi Ihaka, Father

29 August 1911

Rev. A. T. Thompson, Presbyterian

No	58
Date of Notice	29 August 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Horton	Annie Kamara Ihaka
	💍 1911/5621
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Housemaid
Age	26	18
Dwelling Place	Taueru, Masterton	Taueru, Masterton
Length of Residence	3 days	18 years
Marriage Place	Knox Church, Masterton
Folio	11/5459
Consent	Piripi Ihaka, Father
Date of Certificate	29 August 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. T. Thompson, Presbyterian

31 August 1911

Donald Kenneth McKenzie
Florence May Monk

Donald Kenneth McKenzie
Florence Mary Monk
💍 1911/5622

Bachelor
Spinster

Drover
Domestic duties

30
28

Masterton
Masterton

3 years
15 years

The Presbyterian Manse Masterton

11/5460

31 August 1911

Rev. A. J. Thompson, Presbyterian

No	59
Date of Notice	31 August 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald Kenneth McKenzie	Florence May Monk
BDM Match (97%)	Donald Kenneth McKenzie	Florence Mary Monk
	💍 1911/5622
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Drover	Domestic duties
Age	30	28
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	3 years	15 years
Marriage Place	The Presbyterian Manse Masterton
Folio	11/5460
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 August 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. J. Thompson, Presbyterian

4 September 1911

John McLachlan
Isabella Fletcher

John McLachlan
Isabella Fletcher
💍 1911/5619

Bachelor
Spinster

Produce Merchant
Domestic duties

31
30

Masterton
Masterton

31 years
11 months

Knox Church Masterton

11/5458

4 September 1911

Rev. A. J. Thompson, Presbyterian

No	60
Date of Notice	4 September 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McLachlan	Isabella Fletcher
	💍 1911/5619
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Produce Merchant	Domestic duties
Age	31	30
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	31 years	11 months
Marriage Place	Knox Church Masterton
Folio	11/5458
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 September 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. J. Thompson, Presbyterian

13 September 1911

Bertram Vivian Skeet
Doris Gawith

Bertram Vivian Skeet
Doris Gawith
💍 1911/5615

Bachelor
Spinster

Stock Agent
Domestic duties

35
22

Masterton
Masterton

3 days
12 years

St. Matthews Church Masterton

11/5454

13 September 1911

Rev. H. Watson, Anglican

No	61
Date of Notice	13 September 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bertram Vivian Skeet	Doris Gawith
	💍 1911/5615
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stock Agent	Domestic duties
Age	35	22
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	3 days	12 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church Masterton
Folio	11/5454
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 September 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Watson, Anglican

15 September 1911

James Shearer
Ethel May Smith

James Shearer
Ethel May Smith
💍 1911/5618

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
Domestic duties

30
21

Masterton
Masterton

3 years
4 years

Knox Church Masterton

11/5457

15 September 1911

Rev. A. J. Thompson, Presbyterian

No	62
Date of Notice	15 September 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Shearer	Ethel May Smith
	💍 1911/5618
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Domestic duties
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	3 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Knox Church Masterton
Folio	11/5457
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 September 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. J. Thompson, Presbyterian

20 September 1911

Charles Edward Bowman
Rosina Isabel Wilton

Charles Edward Sowman
Rosina Isabel Wilton
💍 1911/5623

Widower
Divorced

Road Foreman
Waitress

42
32

Masterton
Masterton

3 days
14 years

The house of J. Harding, Walton Avenue Masterton

11/5461

20 September 1911

Rev. S. J. Serpell, Wesleyan

No	63
Date of Notice	20 September 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Edward Bowman	Rosina Isabel Wilton
BDM Match (98%)	Charles Edward Sowman	Rosina Isabel Wilton
	💍 1911/5623
Condition	Widower	Divorced
Profession	Road Foreman	Waitress
Age	42	32
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	3 days	14 years
Marriage Place	The house of J. Harding, Walton Avenue Masterton
Folio	11/5461
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 September 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. J. Serpell, Wesleyan

24 September 1911

John Baillie
Mary Rosina Bye

John Baillie
Mary Rosina Bye
💍 1911/5978

Bachelor
Spinster

Pastrycook
Domestic Servant

38
26

Masterton
Masterton

3 days
6 months

The house of S. J. List, Nursery Road Masterton

11/5858

24 September 1911

Rev. A. J. Thompson, Presbyterian

No	64
Date of Notice	24 September 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Baillie	Mary Rosina Bye
	💍 1911/5978
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Pastrycook	Domestic Servant
Age	38	26
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	3 days	6 months
Marriage Place	The house of S. J. List, Nursery Road Masterton
Folio	11/5858
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 September 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. J. Thompson, 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).

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).