Intentions to Marry, 1915 Aria to Masterton

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840459, 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.

1915c contains pages 1021-1500, covering districts from Aria to Masterton

Page 1115

District of Opunake Quarter ending 31 December 1915 Registrar W. S. Thomson

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

26 October 1915

John Joseph Butler
Evelyn Brofokey

John Joseph Butler
Evelyn Crofskey
💍 1915/6481

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

24
20

Pihama
Pihama

4 days
2 months

Roman Catholic Church, Pihama

8910

John Brofokey, Father

26 October 1915

Rev. C. Harnett

No	18
Date of Notice	26 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Joseph Butler	Evelyn Brofokey
BDM Match (93%)	John Joseph Butler	Evelyn Crofskey
	💍 1915/6481
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Pihama	Pihama
Length of Residence	4 days	2 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Pihama
Folio	8910
Consent	John Brofokey, Father
Date of Certificate	26 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Harnett

9 November 1915

Thomas Mitchell
Edith Harrison

Thomas Mitchell
Edith Harrison
💍 1915/5382

Bachelor
Spinster

Teamster
Domestic duties

22
20

Te Kiri
Te Kiri

3 weeks
10 days

Registrar's Office, Opunake

7651

9 November 1915

W. S. Thomson, Registrar

No	19
Date of Notice	9 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Mitchell	Edith Harrison
	💍 1915/5382
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Teamster	Domestic duties
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Te Kiri	Te Kiri
Length of Residence	3 weeks	10 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Opunake
Folio	7651
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 November 1915
Officiating Minister	W. S. Thomson, Registrar

29 November 1915

Arthur Fleming
Constance Newman Prosser

Arthur Fleming
Constance Newman Elizabeth Caroline Eva Prosser
💍 1915/6508

Bachelor
Spinster

Factory Manager
Domestic duties

29
23

Oaonui
Oaonui

2 years
Life

Church of England, Rahotu

8939

29 November 1915

Rev. C. Addenbrooke

No	20
Date of Notice	29 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Fleming	Constance Newman Prosser
BDM Match (76%)	Arthur Fleming	Constance Newman Elizabeth Caroline Eva Prosser
	💍 1915/6508
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Factory Manager	Domestic duties
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Oaonui	Oaonui
Length of Residence	2 years	Life
Marriage Place	Church of England, Rahotu
Folio	8939
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Addenbrooke

13 December 1915

Riki Kahui
Nyri Capps

Riki Kahui
Nui Capps
💍 1915/6479

Bachelor
Spinster

Settler
Domestic duties

22
21

Rahotu
Rahotu

Life
3 weeks

At the house of George Mori, Rahotu

8909

13 December 1915

Rev. S. W. Featherstone

No	21
Date of Notice	13 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Riki Kahui	Nyri Capps
BDM Match (90%)	Riki Kahui	Nui Capps
	💍 1915/6479
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Settler	Domestic duties
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Rahotu	Rahotu
Length of Residence	Life	3 weeks
Marriage Place	At the house of George Mori, Rahotu
Folio	8909
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. W. Featherstone

28 December 1915

Thomas Leonard Billing
Clara Eleanor Boardman

Thomas Edward Billing
Clara Eleanor Boardmar
💍 1915/5383

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

34
20

Rahotu
Oaonui

28 years

Registrar's Office, Opunake

7652

Frederick Hobdell Boardman, Father

28 December 1915

W. S. Thomson, Registrar

No	22
Date of Notice	28 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Leonard Billing	Clara Eleanor Boardman
BDM Match (89%)	Thomas Edward Billing	Clara Eleanor Boardmar
	💍 1915/5383
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	34	20
Dwelling Place	Rahotu	Oaonui
Length of Residence	28 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Opunake
Folio	7652
Consent	Frederick Hobdell Boardman, Father
Date of Certificate	28 December 1915
Officiating Minister	W. S. Thomson, Registrar

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).