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 1337

District of Woodville Quarter ending 30 September 1915 Registrar George Levy

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

3 August 1915

William Henry Taylor
Mabel Leah Bly Downard

William Henry Taylor
Mabel Leah Bly Downard
💍 1915/3432

Bachelor
Spinster

Cheesemaker
Domestic

24
20

Woodville
Woodville

3 days
3 months

Church of England, Woodville

5502

Chas Downard Father

3 August 1915

Rev. Canon Eccles

No	7
Date of Notice	3 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Taylor	Mabel Leah Bly Downard
	💍 1915/3432
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cheesemaker	Domestic
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Woodville	Woodville
Length of Residence	3 days	3 months
Marriage Place	Church of England, Woodville
Folio	5502
Consent	Chas Downard Father
Date of Certificate	3 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Canon Eccles

10 August 1915

Henry Mace Hearfield
Elsie Florence McLeod

Henry MacE Hearfield
Elsie Florence McLeod
💍 1915/3441

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

23
23

Kumeroa
Kumeroa

3 days
5 years

In the House of Mr A. G. K. McLeod, Kumeroa

5506

10 August 1915

No	8
Date of Notice	10 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Mace Hearfield	Elsie Florence McLeod
BDM Match (98%)	Henry MacE Hearfield	Elsie Florence McLeod
	💍 1915/3441
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Kumeroa	Kumeroa
Length of Residence	3 days	5 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Mr A. G. K. McLeod, Kumeroa
Folio	5506
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 August 1915
Officiating Minister

21 August 1915

Egbert Percy Hall
Irene McIntosh

Egbert Percy Hall
Irene McIntosh
💍 1915/3440

Bachelor
Spinster

Cycle dealer
Domestic

32
23

Woodville
Woodville

1 year
12 years

Presbyterian Church, Woodville

5505

21 August 1915

Rev. Robt Gardner

No	9
Date of Notice	21 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Egbert Percy Hall	Irene McIntosh
	💍 1915/3440
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cycle dealer	Domestic
Age	32	23
Dwelling Place	Woodville	Woodville
Length of Residence	1 year	12 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Woodville
Folio	5505
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robt Gardner

23 August 1915

Herbert Ernest Cornforth
Williamina Annie Burrows

Herbert Ernest Cornforth
Williamina Annie Burrows
💍 1915/3439

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

26
19

Woodville
Woodville

5 days
16 days

Residence of Mr G. O'Meara, Woodville

5504

W. F. Burrows Father

23 August 1915

Rev. Robt Gardner

No	10
Date of Notice	23 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Ernest Cornforth	Williamina Annie Burrows
	💍 1915/3439
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Woodville	Woodville
Length of Residence	5 days	16 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr G. O'Meara, Woodville
Folio	5504
Consent	W. F. Burrows Father
Date of Certificate	23 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robt Gardner

29 September 1915

William Alfred Augustus Cave
Esther Louisa Lyons

William Alfred Augustus Cave
Esther Louisa Lyons
💍 1915/3438

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm manager
Nurse

33
32

Woodville
Woodville

4 days
3 days

Residence of Mr J. A. Lyons, Maharahara West

5503

29 September 1915

Rev. Robt Gardner

No	11
Date of Notice	29 September 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Alfred Augustus Cave	Esther Louisa Lyons
	💍 1915/3438
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm manager	Nurse
Age	33	32
Dwelling Place	Woodville	Woodville
Length of Residence	4 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr J. A. Lyons, Maharahara West
Folio	5503
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 September 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robt Gardner

29 September 1915

Lawrence Williams
Janet Isolone Wright

Lawrence Williams
Janet Isoline Wright
💍 1915/3421

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

36
22

Woodville
Woodville

6 years
6 years

Residence of Mr W. J. Wright, Woodville

5501

29 September 1915

Rev. Robt Gardner

No	12
Date of Notice	29 September 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lawrence Williams	Janet Isolone Wright
BDM Match (98%)	Lawrence Williams	Janet Isoline Wright
	💍 1915/3421
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	36	22
Dwelling Place	Woodville	Woodville
Length of Residence	6 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr W. J. Wright, Woodville
Folio	5501
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 September 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robt Gardner

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).