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 1201

District of Hastings Quarter ending 30 September 1915 Registrar Robert Brathwaite

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

01 July 1915

Archibald Francis Wiggins
Mary Frances Watts

Archibald Francis Wiggins
Mary Frances Watts
💍 1915/3277

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
domestic duties

24
33

Hastings
Hastings

1 year
1 year

Catholic Church Hastings

5416

01 July 1915

Rev Father Mc Donell

No	65
Date of Notice	01 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald Francis Wiggins	Mary Frances Watts
	💍 1915/3277
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	domestic duties
Age	24	33
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	1 year	1 year
Marriage Place	Catholic Church Hastings
Folio	5416
Consent
Date of Certificate	01 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev Father Mc Donell

03 July 1915

Clarence Sheridan
Eliza Lucy Banks

Clarence Sheridan
Eliza May Banks
💍 1915/3243

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser
Dressmaker

23
18

Hastings
Hastings

15 months
18 years

at the house of A. J. Banks, Hastings

5432

A. J. Banks Father

03 July 1915

Rev. A. Rugby Pratt

No	66
Date of Notice	03 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Clarence Sheridan	Eliza Lucy Banks
BDM Match (91%)	Clarence Sheridan	Eliza May Banks
	💍 1915/3243
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser	Dressmaker
Age	23	18
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	15 months	18 years
Marriage Place	at the house of A. J. Banks, Hastings
Folio	5432
Consent	A. J. Banks Father
Date of Certificate	03 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Rugby Pratt

05 July 1915

Albert James Dry
Dorothy Eva Lay

Albert James Dry
Dorothy Eva Lay
💍 1915/3286

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer
domestic duties

23
20

Hastings
Hastings

4 days
18 months

St. Matthews Hastings

5424

George Laban Lay (Father)

05 July 1915

Rev J. B. Brocklehurst

No	67
Date of Notice	05 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert James Dry	Dorothy Eva Lay
	💍 1915/3286
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer	domestic duties
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	4 days	18 months
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Hastings
Folio	5424
Consent	George Laban Lay (Father)
Date of Certificate	05 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev J. B. Brocklehurst

06 July 1915

Walter James Melhuish
Mary Totty

Walter James Melhuish
Mary Tothy
💍 1915/5632

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

34
39

Hastings
Hastings

2 years
2 years

at the residence of Mrs. Forbes, Victoria Street, Hastings

7925

06 July 1915

Rev. P. Ramsay

No	68
Date of Notice	06 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter James Melhuish	Mary Totty
BDM Match (95%)	Walter James Melhuish	Mary Tothy
	💍 1915/5632
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	34	39
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	at the residence of Mrs. Forbes, Victoria Street, Hastings
Folio	7925
Consent
Date of Certificate	06 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay

07 July 1915

John Samuel Patterson
Irene Alice Smart

John Samuel Patterson
Irene Alice Smart
💍 1915/3245

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Household duties

39
28

Havelock
Havelock

3 days
15 years

St. Luke's Havelock

5434

07 July 1915

Rev. J. A. Lush

No	69
Date of Notice	07 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Samuel Patterson	Irene Alice Smart
	💍 1915/3245
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Household duties
Age	39	28
Dwelling Place	Havelock	Havelock
Length of Residence	3 days	15 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Havelock
Folio	5434
Consent
Date of Certificate	07 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Lush

11 July 1915

Thomas Williams
Margaret Winifred Jones

Thomas Williams
Margaret Winifred Jones
💍 1915/3241

Bachelor
Spinster

Ironmonger
Household duties

22
27

Hastings
Hastings

3 days
11 years

St. Matthews Hastings

5430

11 July 1915

Rev J. B. Brocklehurst

No	70
Date of Notice	11 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Williams	Margaret Winifred Jones
	💍 1915/3241
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ironmonger	Household duties
Age	22	27
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 days	11 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Hastings
Folio	5430
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev J. B. Brocklehurst

14 July 1915

Charles William Milne
Elinor Florence Fishbourne

Charles William Milne
Elinor Florence Fishbourne
💍 1915/3242

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

25
26

Hastings
Hastings

3 days
3 days

St. Matthews Hastings

5431

14 July 1915

Rev J. B. Brocklehurst

No	71
Date of Notice	14 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles William Milne	Elinor Florence Fishbourne
	💍 1915/3242
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Hastings
Folio	5431
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev J. B. Brocklehurst

15 July 1915

John Hanley
Nellie Helen Rodgers

John Hanley
Nellie Helen Rodgers
💍 1915/3278

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Housemaid

29
22

Whakatu
Hastings

7 months
3 months

Catholic Church Hastings

5417

15 July 1915

Rev Father Mc Donell

No	72
Date of Notice	15 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Hanley	Nellie Helen Rodgers
	💍 1915/3278
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Housemaid
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Whakatu	Hastings
Length of Residence	7 months	3 months
Marriage Place	Catholic Church Hastings
Folio	5417
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev Father Mc Donell

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).