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 1417

District of Feilding Quarter ending 31 March 1915 Registrar Thos Halliday

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

6 January 1915

John William Bishop
Clara Hodgson

John William Bishop
Clara Hodgson
💍 1915/7902

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

24
20

Colyton
Feilding

2 and 1/2 years
17 years

Roman Catholic Church Feilding

1623

Frederick Hodgson Father

6 January 1915

Rev. Father M. O'Dwyer

No	1
Date of Notice	6 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Bishop	Clara Hodgson
	💍 1915/7902
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Colyton	Feilding
Length of Residence	2 and 1/2 years	17 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Feilding
Folio	1623
Consent	Frederick Hodgson Father
Date of Certificate	6 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father M. O'Dwyer

14 January 1915

Ernest James Chapman
Myrtle Sopp

Ernest James Chapman
Myrtle Sopp
💍 1915/460

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Clerk

26
25

Marton Junction
Feilding

-
2 years

Registrar's Office Feilding

1068

14 January 1915

The Registrar Feilding

No	2
Date of Notice	14 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest James Chapman	Myrtle Sopp
	💍 1915/460
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Clerk
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Marton Junction	Feilding
Length of Residence	-	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Feilding
Folio	1068
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 January 1915
Officiating Minister	The Registrar Feilding

18 January 1915

John McDonald
Ada Gertrude Salisbury

John McDonald
Ada Gertrude Salisbury
💍 1915/454

Bachelor
Spinster

Managing Draper
Costumier

33
37

Feilding
Feilding

5 years
4 years

Wesley Church Grey St. Feilding

1062

18 January 1915

Rev. P. W. Jones

No	3
Date of Notice	18 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McDonald	Ada Gertrude Salisbury
	💍 1915/454
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Managing Draper	Costumier
Age	33	37
Dwelling Place	Feilding	Feilding
Length of Residence	5 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Wesley Church Grey St. Feilding
Folio	1062
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. W. Jones

29 January 1915

Norman William Hastings
Emma Woolven

Norman William Hastings
Emma Woolven
💍 1915/475

Bachelor
Spinster

Machinist
Household duties

28
23

Feilding
Feilding

4 months
23 years

Presbyterian Church Feilding

1059

29 January 1915

Rev. Geo Budd

No	4
Date of Notice	29 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman William Hastings	Emma Woolven
	💍 1915/475
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Machinist	Household duties
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Feilding	Feilding
Length of Residence	4 months	23 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Feilding
Folio	1059
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo Budd

1 February 1915

Anthony Alderson
Annie Philps

Anthony Alderson
Annie Philps
💍 1915/12931

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic Servant

27
24

Rewa
Feilding

3 days
4 years

Presbyterian Church Feilding

1060

1 February 1915

Rev. Geo Budd

No	5
Date of Notice	1 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Anthony Alderson	Annie Philps
	💍 1915/12931
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Rewa	Feilding
Length of Residence	3 days	4 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Feilding
Folio	1060
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo Budd

2 February 1915

Stanley Aslin Wright
Emily Grace Alderman

Stanley Aslin Wright
Emily Grace Alderman
💍 1915/474

Bachelor
Spinster

Basket Maker Post and Telegraph Stores

22
23

Wellington
Feilding

3 days
8 years

Presbyterian Church Feilding

1058

2 February 1915

Rev. Geo Budd

No	6
Date of Notice	2 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stanley Aslin Wright	Emily Grace Alderman
	💍 1915/474
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Basket Maker Post and Telegraph Stores
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Feilding
Length of Residence	3 days	8 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Feilding
Folio	1058
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo Budd

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).