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 1248

District of Napier Quarter ending 31 December 1915 Registrar W. Buchanan

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

172

19 October 1915

William Henderson
Isabella Hastings

William Henderson
Isabela Hastings
💍 1915/6678

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Domestic Duties

41
44

Napier
Napier

5 days
5 days

The Manse, Lincoln Road, Napier

9049

19 October 1915

Rev. J. A. Asher, Presbyterian

No	172
Date of Notice	19 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henderson	Isabella Hastings
BDM Match (97%)	William Henderson	Isabela Hastings
	💍 1915/6678
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Domestic Duties
Age	41	44
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	5 days	5 days
Marriage Place	The Manse, Lincoln Road, Napier
Folio	9049
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Asher, Presbyterian

173

19 October 1915

Noel Herdman Cresswell
Elinor Herz

Noel Herdman Cresswell
Elinor Herz
💍 1915/7130

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Mechanic
Machinist

23
21

Napier
Napier

23 years
21 years

St. Patricks Presbytery, Napier

9642

19 October 1915

Rev. Father Dignan, Roman Catholic

No	173
Date of Notice	19 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Noel Herdman Cresswell	Elinor Herz
	💍 1915/7130
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Mechanic	Machinist
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	23 years	21 years
Marriage Place	St. Patricks Presbytery, Napier
Folio	9642
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Dignan, Roman Catholic

174

20 October 1915

Bernard Harry Goldsmith
Gwendoline Clara Gifford

Bernard Harry Goldsmith
Gwendoline Clara Gifford
💍 1915/6679

Bachelor
Spinster

Electrical Engineer
Domestic Duties

26
23

Napier
Napier

3 days
23 years

St. Paul's Church, Napier

9050

20 October 1915

Rev. J. A. Asher, Presbyterian

No	174
Date of Notice	20 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bernard Harry Goldsmith	Gwendoline Clara Gifford
	💍 1915/6679
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Electrical Engineer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 days	23 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Napier
Folio	9050
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Asher, Presbyterian

175

22 October 1915

George Edwin Strother
Eleanor Muriel Robson

George Edwin Strother
Eleanor Muriel Robson
💍 1915/6686

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Domestic Duties

23
22

Napier
Napier

8 years
22 years

Residence of Mrs. Stock, Nelson Crescent, Napier

9058

22 October 1915

Rev. Alfred Hodge, Congregational

No	175
Date of Notice	22 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Edwin Strother	Eleanor Muriel Robson
	💍 1915/6686
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Domestic Duties
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	8 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Stock, Nelson Crescent, Napier
Folio	9058
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alfred Hodge, Congregational

176

22 October 1915

Frank Oswald Cattle
Jean Eunice Lois Gibbons

Frank Oswald Tattle
Jeannie Eunice Lois Gibbons
💍 1915/5323

Bachelor
Spinster

Insurance Manager
Domestic Duties

32
31

Napier
Auckland

2 years
31 years

St. Andrews Church, Epsom

7640

22 October 1915

Rev. John Wilkinson, Church of England

No	176
Date of Notice	22 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Oswald Cattle	Jean Eunice Lois Gibbons
BDM Match (92%)	Frank Oswald Tattle	Jeannie Eunice Lois Gibbons
	💍 1915/5323
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Insurance Manager	Domestic Duties
Age	32	31
Dwelling Place	Napier	Auckland
Length of Residence	2 years	31 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church, Epsom
Folio	7640
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Wilkinson, Church of England

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).