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 1243

District of Napier Quarter ending 30 September 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

155

9 September 1915

Cecil Richard Eric Wood
Katherine Fraser Ross

Cecil Richard Eric Wood
Katherine Fraser Ross
💍 1915/3335

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

34
18

Napier
Wairoa

3 days
4 years

Anglican Church, Wairoa

5497

John Ross, Father

9 September 1915

Rev. W. J. Simkin, Church of England

No	155
Date of Notice	9 September 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cecil Richard Eric Wood	Katherine Fraser Ross
	💍 1915/3335
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	34	18
Dwelling Place	Napier	Wairoa
Length of Residence	3 days	4 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, Wairoa
Folio	5497
Consent	John Ross, Father
Date of Certificate	9 September 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Simkin, Church of England

156

10 September 1915

Austin Charles Morgan Gannaway
Annie Bartlam

Austin Charles Morgan Gannaway
Annie Bartlam
💍 1915/3317

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier Employee Gas Company
Dressmaker

28
28

Napier
Napier

24 years
18 months

Residence of W. Ridge, 24 Enfield Road, Napier

5456

10 September 1915

Rev. Alfred Hodge, Methodist Congregational

No	156
Date of Notice	10 September 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Austin Charles Morgan Gannaway	Annie Bartlam
	💍 1915/3317
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier Employee Gas Company	Dressmaker
Age	28	28
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	24 years	18 months
Marriage Place	Residence of W. Ridge, 24 Enfield Road, Napier
Folio	5456
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 September 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alfred Hodge, Methodist Congregational

157

14 September 1915

James Collins
Maude Ellen Woodhouse

James Collins
Maude Ellen Woodhouse
💍 1915/3316

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer
School teacher

24
25

Napier
Napier

3 days
25 years

St Pauls Church, Napier

5455

14 September 1915

Rev. J. A. Asher, Presbyterian

No	157
Date of Notice	14 September 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Collins	Maude Ellen Woodhouse
	💍 1915/3316
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer	School teacher
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 days	25 years
Marriage Place	St Pauls Church, Napier
Folio	5455
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 September 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Asher, Presbyterian

158

16 September 1915

George Sterndale Bates
Marjorie Young Cowper

George Stundale Bates
Marjorie Young Cowper
💍 1915/5720

Bachelor
Spinster

Professor of Music
Domestic Duties

32
27

Napier
Dannevirke

2 years
25 years

St Johns Cathedral, Napier

7990

16 September 1915

Rev. Canon Mayne, Church of England

No	158
Date of Notice	16 September 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Sterndale Bates	Marjorie Young Cowper
BDM Match (95%)	George Stundale Bates	Marjorie Young Cowper
	💍 1915/5720
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Professor of Music	Domestic Duties
Age	32	27
Dwelling Place	Napier	Dannevirke
Length of Residence	2 years	25 years
Marriage Place	St Johns Cathedral, Napier
Folio	7990
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 September 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Canon Mayne, Church of England

159

18 September 1915

Rowley Rohde Davies Lascelles
Ada Margaret Bennett

Rowley Rohde Davies Lascelles
Ada Margaret Bennett
💍 1915/3307

Bachelor
Spinster

Fellmonger
Dressmaker

31
32

Greenmeadows
Taradale

24 years
32 years

St Marys Church, Meeanee

5452

18 September 1915

Rev. Father Goggan, Roman Catholic

No	159
Date of Notice	18 September 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Rowley Rohde Davies Lascelles	Ada Margaret Bennett
	💍 1915/3307
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fellmonger	Dressmaker
Age	31	32
Dwelling Place	Greenmeadows	Taradale
Length of Residence	24 years	32 years
Marriage Place	St Marys Church, Meeanee
Folio	5452
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 September 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Goggan, Roman Catholic

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).