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 1491

District of Masterton Quarter ending 30 June 1915 Registrar Wm. M. Easthope

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

8 April 1915

John Harry Lavin
Hazel Fanny Bishop

John Harry Lavin
Hazel Fanny Bishop
💍 1915/1766

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraph Linesman
Domestic duties

32
21

Masterton
Masterton

4 days
4 days

St. Matthews church, Masterton

3638

8 April 1915

Rev. H. Watson, Anglican

No	23
Date of Notice	8 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Harry Lavin	Hazel Fanny Bishop
	💍 1915/1766
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraph Linesman	Domestic duties
Age	32	21
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	St. Matthews church, Masterton
Folio	3638
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Watson, Anglican

12 April 1915

Frank Edward Wells
Edith Grace Wellington

Frank Edward Wells
Edith Grace Wellington
💍 1915/1776

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant
Dressmaker

28
28

Masterton
Masterton

2 years
28 years

The Wesleyan church, Masterton

3647

12 April 1915

Rev. B. J. James, Wesleyan

No	24
Date of Notice	12 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Edward Wells	Edith Grace Wellington
	💍 1915/1776
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	Dressmaker
Age	28	28
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	2 years	28 years
Marriage Place	The Wesleyan church, Masterton
Folio	3647
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. J. James, Wesleyan

17 April 1915

Monte Brett Goulden
Elfleda Hood

Monte Brett Iggulden
Elfleda Hood
💍 1915/1805

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic duties

27
27

Masterton
Masterton

27 years
27 years

Knox church, Masterton

3653

17 April 1915

Rev. L. Thompson, Presbyterian

No	25
Date of Notice	17 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Monte Brett Goulden	Elfleda Hood
BDM Match (93%)	Monte Brett Iggulden	Elfleda Hood
	💍 1915/1805
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic duties
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	27 years	27 years
Marriage Place	Knox church, Masterton
Folio	3653
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. Thompson, Presbyterian

21 April 1915

Samuel Leonard King
Ella Lydia Dew

Samuel Leonard King
Ella Lydia Dew
💍 1915/1798

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Domestic duties

24
25

Masterton
Masterton

3 days
22 years

Knox church, Masterton

3652

21 April 1915

Rev. L. Thompson, Presbyterian

No	26
Date of Notice	21 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Leonard King	Ella Lydia Dew
	💍 1915/1798
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Domestic duties
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	3 days	22 years
Marriage Place	Knox church, Masterton
Folio	3652
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. Thompson, Presbyterian

24 April 1915

Alexander George Wyeth
Charlotte Phoebe Foreman

Alexander George Wyeth
Charlotte Phoebe Foreman
💍 1915/1778

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

25
26

Mikimiki Masterton
Mikimiki Masterton

25 years
8 years

Knox church, Masterton

3649

24 April 1915

Rev. J. Halliday, Presbyterian

No	27
Date of Notice	24 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander George Wyeth	Charlotte Phoebe Foreman
	💍 1915/1778
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Mikimiki Masterton	Mikimiki Masterton
Length of Residence	25 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Knox church, Masterton
Folio	3649
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Halliday, Presbyterian

24 April 1915

Herbert George Yates
Euphemia Menzies

Herbert George Yates
Euphemia Menzies
💍 1915/1768

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Domestic duties

23
24

Masterton
Masterton

23 years
3 years

St. Matthews church, Masterton

3640

24 April 1915

Rev. H. Watson, Anglican

No	28
Date of Notice	24 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert George Yates	Euphemia Menzies
	💍 1915/1768
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Domestic duties
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	23 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews church, Masterton
Folio	3640
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Watson, Anglican

26 April 1915

Percy Donald McLachlan
Evita Ellen Harris

Percy Donald McLachlan
Eva Ellen Harris
💍 1915/1770

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

31
31

Masterton
Masterton

31 years
31 years

St. Matthews church, Masterton

3642

26 April 1915

Rev. H. Watson, Anglican

No	29
Date of Notice	26 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy Donald McLachlan	Evita Ellen Harris
BDM Match (94%)	Percy Donald McLachlan	Eva Ellen Harris
	💍 1915/1770
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	31	31
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	31 years	31 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews church, Masterton
Folio	3642
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Watson, Anglican

26 April 1915

John Cantwell
Florence Annie Halstead Whetton

John Cantwell
Florence Annie Halstead Whitton
💍 1915/1767

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

27
23

Masterton
Masterton

3 days
4 weeks

St. Matthews church, Masterton

3639

26 April 1915

Rev. H. Watson, Anglican

No	30
Date of Notice	26 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Cantwell	Florence Annie Halstead Whetton
BDM Match (98%)	John Cantwell	Florence Annie Halstead Whitton
	💍 1915/1767
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	3 days	4 weeks
Marriage Place	St. Matthews church, Masterton
Folio	3639
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Watson, Anglican

28 April 1915

William John Rockliff
Jessie Isabella Ferguson

William John Roskcliff
Jessie Isabella Ferguson
💍 1915/11037

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Domestic duties

21
21

Masterton
Masterton

6 days
3 months

The house of J. Kilgarriff, Chapel Street, Masterton

3654

28 April 1915

Rev. J. Halliday, Presbyterian

No	31
Date of Notice	28 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Rockliff	Jessie Isabella Ferguson
BDM Match (95%)	William John Roskcliff	Jessie Isabella Ferguson
	💍 1915/11037
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Domestic duties
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	6 days	3 months
Marriage Place	The house of J. Kilgarriff, Chapel Street, Masterton
Folio	3654
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Halliday, Presbyterian

1 May 1915

Leonard John Bishop
Ellen Byrn

Leonard John Bishop
Ellen Byrn
💍 1915/1769

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor mechanic
Domestic duties

29
25

Masterton
Masterton

6 years
15 years

St. Matthews church, Masterton

3641

1 May 1915

Rev. H. Watson, Anglican

No	32
Date of Notice	1 May 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard John Bishop	Ellen Byrn
	💍 1915/1769
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor mechanic	Domestic duties
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	6 years	15 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews church, Masterton
Folio	3641
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 May 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Watson, Anglican

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).