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 1443

District of Greytown Quarter ending 30 September 1915 Registrar M. McKenzie

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

15 July 1915

Albert Richmond
Grace Helen Hayes

Albert Richmond
Grace Helen Hayes
💍 1915/3414

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Mechanic
Tailoress

26
21

Greytown
Greytown

4 days
4 days

Residence of Mr F. S. Hayes Greytown

5577

19 July 1915

G. K. Stowell, Presbyterian

No	6
Date of Notice	15 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Richmond	Grace Helen Hayes
	💍 1915/3414
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Mechanic	Tailoress
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Greytown	Greytown
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr F. S. Hayes Greytown
Folio	5577
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 July 1915
Officiating Minister	G. K. Stowell, Presbyterian

21 July 1915

Hugh Edward Peter Keltie
Harriet Ann Christophelo

Hugh Edward Peter Keltie
Harriett Ann Christophers
💍 1915/3407

Widower
Spinster

Watchmaker
Domestic duties

43
29

Greytown
Greytown

20 years
4 years

Residence of Mr H. W. Duff Greytown

5576

21 July 1915

L. B. Neale, Methodist

No	7
Date of Notice	21 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Edward Peter Keltie	Harriet Ann Christophelo
BDM Match (94%)	Hugh Edward Peter Keltie	Harriett Ann Christophers
	💍 1915/3407
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Watchmaker	Domestic duties
Age	43	29
Dwelling Place	Greytown	Greytown
Length of Residence	20 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr H. W. Duff Greytown
Folio	5576
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 July 1915
Officiating Minister	L. B. Neale, Methodist

4 August 1915

Alfred John Whatley Hobbs
Frances Mary Benge

Alfred John Whatley Hobbs
Frances Mary Benge
💍 1915/3396

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman Railway Department
Domestic duties

25
22

Greytown
Greytown

2 years
since birth

St Luke's Anglican Church Greytown

5575

4 August 1915

A. W. H. Compton, Anglican

No	8
Date of Notice	4 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred John Whatley Hobbs	Frances Mary Benge
	💍 1915/3396
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman Railway Department	Domestic duties
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Greytown	Greytown
Length of Residence	2 years	since birth
Marriage Place	St Luke's Anglican Church Greytown
Folio	5575
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 August 1915
Officiating Minister	A. W. H. Compton, Anglican

27 August 1915

William Joseph Tilyard
Clara Elizabeth Knapp

William Joseph Tilyard
Clara Elizabeth Knaff
💍 1915/3362

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

25
19

Morrisons Bush
Morrisons Bush

since birth
18 years

Residence of Mr Henry Knapp Morrisons Bush

5574

Henry Knapp Father

27 August 1915

G. K. Stowell, Presbyterian

No	9
Date of Notice	27 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Joseph Tilyard	Clara Elizabeth Knapp
BDM Match (95%)	William Joseph Tilyard	Clara Elizabeth Knaff
	💍 1915/3362
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Morrisons Bush	Morrisons Bush
Length of Residence	since birth	18 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr Henry Knapp Morrisons Bush
Folio	5574
Consent	Henry Knapp Father
Date of Certificate	27 August 1915
Officiating Minister	G. K. Stowell, Presbyterian

8 September 1915

Henry Stewart Pauling
Myrtle Viney Williams

Henry Stewart Pauling
Myrtle Viney Williams
💍 1915/3361

Bachelor
Spinster

Mechanical Engineer
Domestic duties

27
20

Greytown
Greytown

9 months
10 years

Presbyterian Church Greytown

5573

Charles George Williams Step father

8 September 1915

G. K. Stowell, Presbyterian

No	10
Date of Notice	8 September 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Stewart Pauling	Myrtle Viney Williams
	💍 1915/3361
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mechanical Engineer	Domestic duties
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Greytown	Greytown
Length of Residence	9 months	10 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Greytown
Folio	5573
Consent	Charles George Williams Step father
Date of Certificate	8 September 1915
Officiating Minister	G. K. Stowell, Presbyterian

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).