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 1418

District of Feilding Quarter ending 31 March 1915 Registrar Charles Christian Halliday

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

3 February 1915

Theophilus Edward Craine
Annie Mary Violet Stewart

Theophilus Edward Craine
Annie Mary Violet Stewart
💍 1915/453

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

31
24

Pohangina
Waiata

3 days
24 years

Presbyterian Church Feilding

1061

3 February 1915

Rev. George Budd

No	7
Date of Notice	3 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Theophilus Edward Craine	Annie Mary Violet Stewart
	💍 1915/453
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	31	24
Dwelling Place	Pohangina	Waiata
Length of Residence	3 days	24 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Feilding
Folio	1061
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Budd

5 February 1915

William James Banks Tantrum
Elsie Ann Arnold

William James Banks Tantrum
Elsie Ann Arnold
💍 1915/473

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Lady Help

24
21

Aorangi
Colyton

14 years
10 years

Wesleyan Church Manchester St. Feilding

1057

5 February 1915

Rev. P. W. Jones

No	8
Date of Notice	5 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Banks Tantrum	Elsie Ann Arnold
	💍 1915/473
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Lady Help
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Aorangi	Colyton
Length of Residence	14 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church Manchester St. Feilding
Folio	1057
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. W. Jones

25 February 1915

James Swallow
Lilian Mary Bristow

James Swallow
Lilian Mary Bristow
💍 1915/8008

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

24
28

Matamau
Feilding

3 days
15 years

Roman Catholic Church Feilding

1834

25 February 1915

Rev. M. O'Dwyer

No	9
Date of Notice	25 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Swallow	Lilian Mary Bristow
	💍 1915/8008
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	24	28
Dwelling Place	Matamau	Feilding
Length of Residence	3 days	15 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Feilding
Folio	1834
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. O'Dwyer

1 March 1915

Sydney Arthur Parkes
Ethel Muriel Barley

Sydney Arthur Parkes
Ethel Muriel Carley
💍 1915/7733

Bachelor
Spinster

Dentist

39
29

Feilding
Masterton

12 years
7 years

St Matthews Church of England Masterton

981

1 March 1915

Rev. H. Watson

No	10
Date of Notice	1 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney Arthur Parkes	Ethel Muriel Barley
BDM Match (97%)	Sydney Arthur Parkes	Ethel Muriel Carley
	💍 1915/7733
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dentist
Age	39	29
Dwelling Place	Feilding	Masterton
Length of Residence	12 years	7 years
Marriage Place	St Matthews Church of England Masterton
Folio	981
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Watson

4 March 1915

Harry Alphonso Tregea Gallagher
Edith Harford

Harry Alphonso Tregea Gallagher
Edith Harford
💍 1915/459

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic

29
20

Feilding
Feilding

5 months
15 years

Salvation Army Citadel Feilding

1067

George Joseph Harford, Father

4 March 1915

Brigadier A. B. Carmichael

No	11
Date of Notice	4 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Alphonso Tregea Gallagher	Edith Harford
	💍 1915/459
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic
Age	29	20
Dwelling Place	Feilding	Feilding
Length of Residence	5 months	15 years
Marriage Place	Salvation Army Citadel Feilding
Folio	1067
Consent	George Joseph Harford, Father
Date of Certificate	4 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Brigadier A. B. Carmichael

5 March 1915

Charles Albert King
Frances Evelyn Mary Jefferies

Charles Albert King
Francis Evelyn Mary Jefferies
💍 1915/8837

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Domestic

22
21

Bunnythorpe
Taonui

10 years
8 years

Mr. H. C. Jefferies Residence Taonui

1112

5 March 1915

Rev. F. W. Boys

No	12
Date of Notice	5 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Albert King	Frances Evelyn Mary Jefferies
BDM Match (98%)	Charles Albert King	Francis Evelyn Mary Jefferies
	💍 1915/8837
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Domestic
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Bunnythorpe	Taonui
Length of Residence	10 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Mr. H. C. Jefferies Residence Taonui
Folio	1112
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. W. Boys

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).