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 1219

District of Napier Quarter ending 31 March 1915 Registrar W. Buchanan

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 February 1915

George Leslie Howell
Ellen Jane Lory

George Leslie Howell
Ellen Jane Lory
💍 1915/7754

Bachelor
Spinster

Ships cook
Domestic Duties

24
23

Napier
Napier

2 years
3 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages Napier

975

26 February 1915

W. Buchanan Registrar

No	43
Date of Notice	26 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Leslie Howell	Ellen Jane Lory
	💍 1915/7754
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ships cook	Domestic Duties
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	2 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages Napier
Folio	975
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1915
Officiating Minister	W. Buchanan Registrar

2 March 1915

Alfred Seastrand
Emily Gertrude Gill

Alfred Seastrand
Emily Gertrude Gill
💍 1915/7728

Widower 21st June 1907
Spinster

Mariner
Servant

36
19

Napier
Napier

7 years
19 years

St. Augustines Church Napier

999

Caroline May formerly Gill Mother

2 March 1915

Rev. Canon Luke Church of England

No	44
Date of Notice	2 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Seastrand	Emily Gertrude Gill
	💍 1915/7728
Condition	Widower 21st June 1907	Spinster
Profession	Mariner	Servant
Age	36	19
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	7 years	19 years
Marriage Place	St. Augustines Church Napier
Folio	999
Consent	Caroline May formerly Gill Mother
Date of Certificate	2 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Canon Luke Church of England

2 March 1915

Lambert Daniel Smith
Esther Nelson

Lambert Daniel Smith
Esther Nelson
💍 1915/7719

Bachelor
Divorced 16th September 1914

Carrier
Domestic Duties

33
34

Napier
Napier

5 years
9 years

Residence of Mrs. Nelson 5 Bower Street Napier

991

2 March 1915

Rev. Thos. Tait Presbyterian

No	45
Date of Notice	2 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lambert Daniel Smith	Esther Nelson
	💍 1915/7719
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced 16th September 1914
Profession	Carrier	Domestic Duties
Age	33	34
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	5 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Nelson 5 Bower Street Napier
Folio	991
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thos. Tait Presbyterian

2 March 1915

Lawrence Crowley
Maude Mabel Coleman

Lawrence Crowley
Maude Mabel Coleman
💍 1915/7727

Bachelor
Spinster

Wool classer
Dressmaker

24
20

West Clive
Napier

24 years
20 years

St. Augustines Church Napier

998

William Coleman Father

2 March 1915

Rev. Canon Luke Church of England

No	46
Date of Notice	2 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lawrence Crowley	Maude Mabel Coleman
	💍 1915/7727
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wool classer	Dressmaker
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	West Clive	Napier
Length of Residence	24 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Augustines Church Napier
Folio	998
Consent	William Coleman Father
Date of Certificate	2 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Canon Luke Church of England

3 March 1915

Albert Waugh
May Bower

Albert Waugh
May Bower
💍 1915/7721

Bachelor
Spinster

Gasfitter
Typist

30
26

Napier
Napier

2 years
26 years

Residence of John Bower Lucknow Terrace Napier

993

3 March 1915

Rev. Alfred Hodge Congregational

No	47
Date of Notice	3 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Waugh	May Bower
	💍 1915/7721
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gasfitter	Typist
Age	30	26
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	2 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Residence of John Bower Lucknow Terrace Napier
Folio	993
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alfred Hodge Congregational

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).