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 1467

District of Levin Quarter ending 30 September 1915 Registrar H. H. Cork

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

7 July 1915

Daniel Francis Cole
Elizabeth Alice Chambers

Daniel Francis Cole
Elizabeth Alice Chambers
💍 1915/3401

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Home Duties

26
27

Levin
Weraroa

9 months
19 years

St Marys Church, Levin

5588

7 July 1915

Rev. Henry Thomas Stealey

No	13
Date of Notice	7 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel Francis Cole	Elizabeth Alice Chambers
	💍 1915/3401
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Home Duties
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Levin	Weraroa
Length of Residence	9 months	19 years
Marriage Place	St Marys Church, Levin
Folio	5588
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry Thomas Stealey

13 July 1915

Harold Ernest Mudgway
Mary Ellen Widshipp

Harold Ernest Mudgway
May Ellen Winship
💍 1915/3403

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Tailoress

20
21

Levin
Levin

6 months
6 months

Residence of Mr William Mudgway, Cambridge Street, Levin

5590

William Mudgway, Father

13 July 1915

Rev. W. H. E. Abbey

No	14
Date of Notice	13 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Ernest Mudgway	Mary Ellen Widshipp
BDM Match (92%)	Harold Ernest Mudgway	May Ellen Winship
	💍 1915/3403
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Tailoress
Age	20	21
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	6 months	6 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr William Mudgway, Cambridge Street, Levin
Folio	5590
Consent	William Mudgway, Father
Date of Certificate	13 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. E. Abbey

28 July 1915

Otto John Walsh
Jessie Florence Beatrice Coleman

Otto John Wapp
Jessie Florence Beatrice Coleman
💍 1915/3402

Widower
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

29
22

Levin
Levin

2 weeks
5 days

Residence of Mr H. W. Mudgway, York Street, Levin

5589

28 July 1915

Rev. W. H. E. Abbey

No	15
Date of Notice	28 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Otto John Walsh	Jessie Florence Beatrice Coleman
BDM Match (90%)	Otto John Wapp	Jessie Florence Beatrice Coleman
	💍 1915/3402
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	2 weeks	5 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr H. W. Mudgway, York Street, Levin
Folio	5589
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. E. Abbey

17 August 1915

Barton John Herbert
Grace Myrtle Harwood

Barton John Herbert
Grace Myrtle Harwood
💍 1915/3400

Bachelor
Spinster

Creamery Manager
Domestic Duties

31
22

Levin
Levin

3 days
3 days

St Marys Church, Levin

5587

17 August 1915

Rev. Henry Thomas Stealey

No	16
Date of Notice	17 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Barton John Herbert	Grace Myrtle Harwood
	💍 1915/3400
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Creamery Manager	Domestic Duties
Age	31	22
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St Marys Church, Levin
Folio	5587
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry Thomas Stealey

25 August 1915

Vincent Lewis
Isabella Marie Campbell

Vincent Lewis
Isabella Marie Campbell
💍 1915/3399

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Home Duties

22
25

Levin
Levin

3 days
11 years

Presbyterian Church, Levin

5586

25 August 1915

Rev. Arthur Cyril Randerson

No	17
Date of Notice	25 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Vincent Lewis	Isabella Marie Campbell
	💍 1915/3399
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Home Duties
Age	22	25
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	3 days	11 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Levin
Folio	5586
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Arthur Cyril Randerson

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).