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 1435

District of Foxton Quarter ending 30 September 1915 Registrar A. Hawke

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

4 August 1915

Archibald Forbes
Dinah Gwen Summers

Archibald Forbes
Dinah Gwen Summers
💍 1915/3352

Bachelor
Spinster

Ironmonger
Milliner

28
27

Foxton
Foxton

4 days
4 days

Presbyterian Church Foxton

5565

4 August 1915

Rev. J. M. Thomson

No	11
Date of Notice	4 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald Forbes	Dinah Gwen Summers
	💍 1915/3352
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ironmonger	Milliner
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Foxton	Foxton
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Foxton
Folio	5565
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Thomson

11 August 1915

George Arthur Edward Smith
Mildred Smith

George Arthur Edward Smith
Mildred Smith
💍 1915/3507

Bachelor
Spinster

Rifleman Trentham Regiment
Typist

26
22

Rangiotu
Palmerston North

3 weeks
2 weeks

Presbyterian Church Palmerston North

5524

11 August 1915

Rev. A. Doull

No	12
Date of Notice	11 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Arthur Edward Smith	Mildred Smith
	💍 1915/3507
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Rifleman Trentham Regiment	Typist
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Rangiotu	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 weeks	2 weeks
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Palmerston North
Folio	5524
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Doull

20 August 1915

Archibald Clifford Bridges
Rebecca Edith Sorenson

Archibald Clifford Bridges
Rebecca Edith Sorerson
💍 1915/3359

Bachelor
Spinster

Iron Moulder
Domestic duties

27
22

Himatangi
Himatangi

3 days
3 days

Methodist Church Foxton

5571

20 August 1915

Rev. W. Rowe

No	13
Date of Notice	20 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald Clifford Bridges	Rebecca Edith Sorenson
BDM Match (98%)	Archibald Clifford Bridges	Rebecca Edith Sorerson
	💍 1915/3359
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Iron Moulder	Domestic duties
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Himatangi	Himatangi
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Foxton
Folio	5571
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Rowe

25 August 1915

William Rowe
Florence Mabel Rebecca Carthew

William Rowe
Florence Mabel Rebecca Carthew
💍 1915/3387

Bachelor
Spinster

Clergyman
Domestic

30
33

Foxton
Feilding

4 months
33 years

Methodist Church Feilding

5549

25 August 1915

Rev. J. J. Murray

No	14
Date of Notice	25 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Rowe	Florence Mabel Rebecca Carthew
	💍 1915/3387
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clergyman	Domestic
Age	30	33
Dwelling Place	Foxton	Feilding
Length of Residence	4 months	33 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Feilding
Folio	5549
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Murray

11 September 1915

Edward John Colson
Margaret May Hatharly

Edward John Colson
Margaret May Satherley
💍 1915/3358

Bachelor
Spinster

Infantyman Otago Regiment
Domestic

22
18

Foxton
Foxton

4 years
18 years

Office of Registrar of marriages Foxton

5570

Caroline Hatharly, mother

11 September 1915

Registrar Foxton

No	15
Date of Notice	11 September 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward John Colson	Margaret May Hatharly
BDM Match (93%)	Edward John Colson	Margaret May Satherley
	💍 1915/3358
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Infantyman Otago Regiment	Domestic
Age	22	18
Dwelling Place	Foxton	Foxton
Length of Residence	4 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of marriages Foxton
Folio	5570
Consent	Caroline Hatharly, mother
Date of Certificate	11 September 1915
Officiating Minister	Registrar Foxton

24 September 1915

Arthur Howard Spratt
Ellen Letitia Sutherland

Arthur Howard Spratt
Ellen Letitia Sutherland
💍 1915/3486

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Engineer
Milliner

25
27

Rangiotu
Palmerston North

2 months
3 days

Residence Rev. J. H. Haslam Palmerston North

5639

24 September 1915

Rev. J. H. Haslam

No	16
Date of Notice	24 September 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Howard Spratt	Ellen Letitia Sutherland
	💍 1915/3486
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Engineer	Milliner
Age	25	27
Dwelling Place	Rangiotu	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	2 months	3 days
Marriage Place	Residence Rev. J. H. Haslam Palmerston North
Folio	5639
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 September 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. Haslam

25 September 1915

Alfred James Powley
Jane Morgan

Alfred James Powley
Jane Morgan
💍 1915/3356

Alfred Stanley Powley
Katharine Morgan
💍 1916/5338

Bachelor
Spinster

2nd Battalion Rifle Brigade
Domestic Duties

29
21

Rangiotu
Foxton

2 months
3 days

All Saints Anglican Church Foxton

5569

29 September 1915

Rev. W. Raine

No	17
Date of Notice	25 September 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred James Powley	Jane Morgan
	💍 1915/3356
BDM Match (69%)	Alfred Stanley Powley	Katharine Morgan
	💍 1916/5338
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	2nd Battalion Rifle Brigade	Domestic Duties
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Rangiotu	Foxton
Length of Residence	2 months	3 days
Marriage Place	All Saints Anglican Church Foxton
Folio	5569
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 September 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Raine

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).