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 1479

District of Martinborough Quarter ending 31 March 1915 Registrar Frederick M. Cullun

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

122

15 January 1915

Robert Herries Nelson
Clara Lower

Robert Herries Nelson
Clara Lower
💍 1915/8943

Bachelor
Spinster

Ships Officer
Home duties

46
41

Martinborough
Martinborough

10 years
12 years

at the residence of Mrs. T. Wakelin, Martinborough

1093

15 January 1915

Rev'd E. Swinerd

No	122
Date of Notice	15 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Herries Nelson	Clara Lower
	💍 1915/8943
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ships Officer	Home duties
Age	46	41
Dwelling Place	Martinborough	Martinborough
Length of Residence	10 years	12 years
Marriage Place	at the residence of Mrs. T. Wakelin, Martinborough
Folio	1093
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev'd E. Swinerd

123

1 February 1915

John McHugh
Dolena Jessie McRae

John McHugh
Dolina Jessie McMaster
💍 1915/8947

Bachelor
Spinster

Saddler
Home duties

30
29

Martinborough
Martinborough

4 months
24 years

at the Presbyterian Manse, Martinborough

1096

1 February 1915

Rev'd A. J. Thompson

No	123
Date of Notice	1 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McHugh	Dolena Jessie McRae
BDM Match (89%)	John McHugh	Dolina Jessie McMaster
	💍 1915/8947
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler	Home duties
Age	30	29
Dwelling Place	Martinborough	Martinborough
Length of Residence	4 months	24 years
Marriage Place	at the Presbyterian Manse, Martinborough
Folio	1096
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev'd A. J. Thompson

124

8 February 1915

Frederick John Walker
Henga Carrington

Fredrick John Walker
Hinga Carrington
💍 1915/13017

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer
School teacher

23
22

Martinborough
Martinborough

1 year
2 months

at the residence of Mr. W. G. Walker, Martinborough

1095

8 February 1915

Rev'd E. Swinerd

No	124
Date of Notice	8 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick John Walker	Henga Carrington
BDM Match (95%)	Fredrick John Walker	Hinga Carrington
	💍 1915/13017
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer	School teacher
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Martinborough	Martinborough
Length of Residence	1 year	2 months
Marriage Place	at the residence of Mr. W. G. Walker, Martinborough
Folio	1095
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev'd E. Swinerd

125

11 March 1915

Richard John Dillon
Alice Richards

Richard John Wilton
Alice Richards
💍 1915/326

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardner
Home duties

51
29

Martinborough
Auckland

8 years
3 days

at the Registrar's Office, Auckland

176

11 March 1915

Registrar of Marriages, Auckland

No	125
Date of Notice	11 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard John Dillon	Alice Richards
BDM Match (95%)	Richard John Wilton	Alice Richards
	💍 1915/326
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardner	Home duties
Age	51	29
Dwelling Place	Martinborough	Auckland
Length of Residence	8 years	3 days
Marriage Place	at the Registrar's Office, Auckland
Folio	176
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Auckland

126

15 March 1915

Arapata Tamararo
Ingarongoa Ropina Maioi

Arapeta Tamararo
Ngarongoa Ropiha
💍 1915/2579

Widower
Widow

Farmer
Home duties

60
60

Martinborough
Martinborough

4 months
6 years

Morman Church, Kohinui, Martinborough

4391

15 March 1915

Elder William Gardner

No	126
Date of Notice	15 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arapata Tamararo	Ingarongoa Ropina Maioi
BDM Match (77%)	Arapeta Tamararo	Ngarongoa Ropiha
	💍 1915/2579
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Home duties
Age	60	60
Dwelling Place	Martinborough	Martinborough
Length of Residence	4 months	6 years
Marriage Place	Morman Church, Kohinui, Martinborough
Folio	4391
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Elder William Gardner

127

30 March 1915

William Smith
Jane Munro

William Smith
Jane Munro
💍 1915/472

Ivan Robert Keith
Jane Munro
💍 1915/4432

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Home duties

41
41

Martinborough
Featherston

10 years
3 years

at the residence of Mrs. A. A. Pearce, Featherston

1056

30 March 1915

Rev'd C. K. Stowell

No	127
Date of Notice	30 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Smith	Jane Munro
	💍 1915/472
BDM Match (62%)	Ivan Robert Keith	Jane Munro
	💍 1915/4432
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Home duties
Age	41	41
Dwelling Place	Martinborough	Featherston
Length of Residence	10 years	3 years
Marriage Place	at the residence of Mrs. A. A. Pearce, Featherston
Folio	1056
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev'd C. K. Stowell

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).