Intentions to Marry, 1914 Wellington, Hawkes Bay, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840455, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1914 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki (1914a), Wellington, Hawke's Bay, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1914b), and Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Chatham Islands (1914c).

Page 1343

District of Masterton Quarter ending 31 December 1914 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

3 October 1914

Arthur Oliver
Mary Annie Margaret Pelling

Arthur Oliver
Mary Annie Margaret Polling
💍 1914/3806

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

43
23

Masterton
Masterton

2 years
2 years

St. Matthews Church Masterton

14/7709

3 October 1914

Rev. H. Watson Anglican

No	56
Date of Notice	3 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Oliver	Mary Annie Margaret Pelling
BDM Match (98%)	Arthur Oliver	Mary Annie Margaret Polling
	💍 1914/3806
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	43	23
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church Masterton
Folio	14/7709
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Watson Anglican

9 October 1914

James Henry Payton
Lucy Stewart Roberts

James Henry Payton
Lucy Stewart Roberts
💍 1914/3876

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

31
25

Masterton
Masterton

31 years
5 years

Knox Church Masterton

14/7730

9 October 1914

Rev A. J. Thompson Presbyterian

No	57
Date of Notice	9 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Henry Payton	Lucy Stewart Roberts
	💍 1914/3876
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	31	25
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	31 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Knox Church Masterton
Folio	14/7730
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev A. J. Thompson Presbyterian

20 October 1914

John Mills Cairns
Marian Allsworth

John Mills Cairns
Marian Allsworth
💍 1914/3867

Bachelor
Spinster

Packer
Saleswoman

31
24

Masterton
Masterton

3 years
24 years

St. Patricks Church Masterton

14/7722

20 October 1914

Rev Dean McKenna Roman Catholic

No	58
Date of Notice	20 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Mills Cairns	Marian Allsworth
	💍 1914/3867
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Packer	Saleswoman
Age	31	24
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	3 years	24 years
Marriage Place	St. Patricks Church Masterton
Folio	14/7722
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev Dean McKenna Roman Catholic

23 October 1914

Robert McKenzie
Elfie Sara Dalrymple

Robert McKenzie
Elfie Sara Dalrymple
💍 1914/3807

Bachelor
Spinster

Law Clerk
Domestic duties

26
24

Masterton
Masterton

26 years
4 years

St. Matthews Church Masterton

14/7710

23 October 1914

Rev E. J. Wynne Bond Anglican

No	59
Date of Notice	23 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert McKenzie	Elfie Sara Dalrymple
	💍 1914/3807
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Law Clerk	Domestic duties
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	26 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church Masterton
Folio	14/7710
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev E. J. Wynne Bond Anglican

24 October 1914

George McClymont
Amy Shaw

George McClymont
Amy Shaw
💍 1914/3866

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

22
24

Masterton
Masterton

1 year
24 years

Knox Church Masterton

14/7721

24 October 1914

Rev A. J. Thompson Presbyterian

No	60
Date of Notice	24 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George McClymont	Amy Shaw
	💍 1914/3866
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	1 year	24 years
Marriage Place	Knox Church Masterton
Folio	14/7721
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev A. J. Thompson Presbyterian

27 October 1914

Charles O'Sullivan
Catherine Elizabeth Siemonek

Charles O'Sullivan
Catherine Elizabeth Simonell
💍 1914/3868

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Guard
Domestic duties

30
19

Masterton
Masterton

5 days
19 years

St. Patricks Church Masterton

14/7723

Francis Siemonek Father

27 October 1914

Rev Dean McKenna Roman Catholic

No	61
Date of Notice	27 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles O'Sullivan	Catherine Elizabeth Siemonek
BDM Match (95%)	Charles O'Sullivan	Catherine Elizabeth Simonell
	💍 1914/3868
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Guard	Domestic duties
Age	30	19
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	5 days	19 years
Marriage Place	St. Patricks Church Masterton
Folio	14/7723
Consent	Francis Siemonek Father
Date of Certificate	27 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev Dean McKenna Roman Catholic

30 October 1914

James Arthur Spackman
Ruby Jamieson

James Arthur Spackman
Ruby Jamieson
💍 1914/3888

Bachelor
Spinster

Pastry-cook
Domestic duties

25
21

Masterton
Masterton

25 years
1 year

The house of Martha Spackman Bentley Street Masterton

14/7719

30 October 1914

Rev A. J. Thompson Presbyterian

No	62
Date of Notice	30 October 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Arthur Spackman	Ruby Jamieson
	💍 1914/3888
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Pastry-cook	Domestic duties
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	25 years	1 year
Marriage Place	The house of Martha Spackman Bentley Street Masterton
Folio	14/7719
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 October 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev A. J. Thompson Presbyterian

2 November 1914

James Vesty
Henrietta Mary Simonson

James Vesty
Henrietta May Simonson
💍 1914/3886

Bachelor
Spinster

Ironmonger
Shop assistant

23
19

Masterton
Masterton

4 years
15 years

The house of Mrs Simonson 33 Pine Street Masterton

14/7717

Minnie Frederike Simonson Mother

2 November 1914

Rev A. J. Thompson Presbyterian

No	63
Date of Notice	2 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Vesty	Henrietta Mary Simonson
BDM Match (98%)	James Vesty	Henrietta May Simonson
	💍 1914/3886
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ironmonger	Shop assistant
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	4 years	15 years
Marriage Place	The house of Mrs Simonson 33 Pine Street Masterton
Folio	14/7717
Consent	Minnie Frederike Simonson Mother
Date of Certificate	2 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev A. J. Thompson Presbyterian

4 November 1914

Leo Gaynor
Catherine Annie Stempa

Leo Gaynor
Catherine Annie Stempa
💍 1914/3869

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Accountant

34
33

Masterton
Masterton

3 days
2 months

St. Patricks Church Masterton

14/7724

4 November 1914

Rev Dean McKenna Roman Catholic

No	64
Date of Notice	4 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leo Gaynor	Catherine Annie Stempa
	💍 1914/3869
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Accountant
Age	34	33
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	3 days	2 months
Marriage Place	St. Patricks Church Masterton
Folio	14/7724
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev Dean McKenna Roman Catholic

7 November 1914

Robert Burns
Annie Henderson Mason McClymont

Robert Burns
Annie Henderson Mason McClymont
💍 1914/3885

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Domestic servant

23
34

Masterton
Masterton

12 months
18 months

The house of George McClymont West Bush Road Masterton

14/7716

7 November 1914

Rev A. J. Thompson Presbyterian

No	65
Date of Notice	7 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Burns	Annie Henderson Mason McClymont
	💍 1914/3885
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Domestic servant
Age	23	34
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	12 months	18 months
Marriage Place	The house of George McClymont West Bush Road Masterton
Folio	14/7716
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 November 1914
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).