Intentions to Marry, 1915 Albertland to Hamilton

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840457, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1915 is bound in six volumes (a to f) with continuous page numbers. Each volume contains a different set of districts, going from north to south.

1915a contains pages 1-518, covering districts from Albertland to Hamilton

Page 038

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 March 1915 Registrar E Owen wmorys

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

146

4 February 1915

Harold James Natts
Margaret Ellen Chisman

Harold James Watts
Margaret Ellen Chisman
💍 1915/7681

Bachelor
Spinster

Dairyman

24
22

Auckland
Auckland

8 months
3 years

St Sepulchre's Church

15/527

4 February 1915

Rev. A Richards Anglican

No	146
Date of Notice	4 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold James Natts	Margaret Ellen Chisman
BDM Match (97%)	Harold James Watts	Margaret Ellen Chisman
	💍 1915/7681
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dairyman
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	8 months	3 years
Marriage Place	St Sepulchre's Church
Folio	15/527
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. A Richards Anglican

147

4 February 1915

James Meagher
Hilda Ella Jane Broomfield

James Meagher
Hilda Ella Jane Broomfield
💍 1915/7692

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

37
28

Auckland
Auckland

31 years
20 yrs

Residence of Brides Stepmother

15/532

4 February 1915

Rev. N. D. Boyes. Anglican

No	147
Date of Notice	4 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Meagher	Hilda Ella Jane Broomfield
	💍 1915/7692
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	37	28
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	31 years	20 yrs
Marriage Place	Residence of Brides Stepmother
Folio	15/532
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. N. D. Boyes. Anglican

148

4 February 1915

George Wright Lochore
Muriel Rushbrook

George Wright Lochore
Muriel Rushbrook
💍 1915/8398

Bachelor
Spinster

Clergyman

32
34

Auckland
Auckland

3 weeks
4 yrs

Baptist Church Zakarapuna

15/472

4 February 1915

Rev. W. MacLean Presbyterian

No	148
Date of Notice	4 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Wright Lochore	Muriel Rushbrook
	💍 1915/8398
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clergyman
Age	32	34
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 weeks	4 yrs
Marriage Place	Baptist Church Zakarapuna
Folio	15/472
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. MacLean Presbyterian

149

4 February 1915

George Edmund Surner
Ellen Frances Molan

George Edmund Turner
Ellen Frances Molan
💍 1915/2468

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Blacksmith

43
36

Auckland
Auckland

2 yrs
7 yrs

St. Benedick Church

15/4375

4 February 1915

Rt. Rev. G.H. Gillan Roman Catholic

No	149
Date of Notice	4 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Edmund Surner	Ellen Frances Molan
BDM Match (98%)	George Edmund Turner	Ellen Frances Molan
	💍 1915/2468
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Blacksmith
Age	43	36
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	2 yrs	7 yrs
Marriage Place	St. Benedick Church
Folio	15/4375
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rt. Rev. G.H. Gillan Roman Catholic

150

4 February 1915

Hugh Kelly
Annie McDarlane Stephenson

Hugh Kelly
Annie McFarlane Stephenson
💍 1915/7687

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

30
21

Auckland
Auckland

1 month
3 days

House of Rev W. E. Williams Surrey Crescent Grey Lynn

15/550

4 February 1915

Rev. W. E. Williams Unitarian.

No	150
Date of Notice	4 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Kelly	Annie McDarlane Stephenson
BDM Match (98%)	Hugh Kelly	Annie McFarlane Stephenson
	💍 1915/7687
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	1 month	3 days
Marriage Place	House of Rev W. E. Williams Surrey Crescent Grey Lynn
Folio	15/550
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. E. Williams Unitarian.

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).