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 1226

District of Napier Quarter ending 30 June 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

8 April 1915

Wiremu Mihaere
Keita Maehe

Wiremu Mihaere
Keita Maehe
💍 1915/174

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Household Duties

28
28

Petane
Petane

6 months
6 months

Mormon Chapel, Korongata

6798

8 April 1915

Elder W. Gardner, Latter Day Saints

No	74
Date of Notice	8 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Wiremu Mihaere	Keita Maehe
	💍 1915/174
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Household Duties
Age	28	28
Dwelling Place	Petane	Petane
Length of Residence	6 months	6 months
Marriage Place	Mormon Chapel, Korongata
Folio	6798
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Elder W. Gardner, Latter Day Saints

9 April 1915

John Thomas Whiston
Martha Ann Clara Trubshoe

John Thomas Whiston
Martha Ann Clara Trubshoe
💍 1915/10672

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Household Duties

27
23

Napier South
Napier South

4 months
4 months

St. Augustines Church, Napier

3458

9 April 1915

Rev. Canon Tuke, Church of England

No	75
Date of Notice	9 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thomas Whiston	Martha Ann Clara Trubshoe
	💍 1915/10672
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Household Duties
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Napier South	Napier South
Length of Residence	4 months	4 months
Marriage Place	St. Augustines Church, Napier
Folio	3458
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Canon Tuke, Church of England

12 April 1915

Alexander Forbes Aldie
Mary Jane Findlay

Alexander Forbes Aldie
Mary Jane Findlay
💍 1915/1626

Bachelor
Spinster

Pastry Cook
Shop Assistant

32
36

Napier
Napier

3 days
7 months

Residence, Carlyle Street, Napier

3470

12 April 1915

Rev. J. A. Asher, Presbyterian

No	76
Date of Notice	12 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Forbes Aldie	Mary Jane Findlay
	💍 1915/1626
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Pastry Cook	Shop Assistant
Age	32	36
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 days	7 months
Marriage Place	Residence, Carlyle Street, Napier
Folio	3470
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Asher, Presbyterian

12 April 1915

Herbert Walter Kesby
Minnie Gertrude Crawley

Herbert Walter Kesby
Minnie Gertrude Crawley
💍 1915/1514

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Shop Assistant

32
24

Napier
Awatoto

5 years
24 years

Residence of Henry Crawley, Awatoto

3476

12 April 1915

Rev. J. A. Asher, Presbyterian

No	77
Date of Notice	12 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Walter Kesby	Minnie Gertrude Crawley
	💍 1915/1514
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Shop Assistant
Age	32	24
Dwelling Place	Napier	Awatoto
Length of Residence	5 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Henry Crawley, Awatoto
Folio	3476
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Asher, Presbyterian

13 April 1915

Charles William Drinkrow
Mary Elizabeth Anderson

Charles William Drinkrow
Mary Elizabeth Anderson
💍 1915/1627

George William Augustine
Mary Elizabeth Anderson
💍 1916/3436

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

27
29

Taradale
Taradale

3 days
3 days

Residence of F. Schdroski, Taradale

3471

13 April 1915

Rev. F. Tucker, Presbyterian

No	78
Date of Notice	13 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles William Drinkrow	Mary Elizabeth Anderson
	💍 1915/1627
BDM Match (71%)	George William Augustine	Mary Elizabeth Anderson
	💍 1916/3436
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	27	29
Dwelling Place	Taradale	Taradale
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Residence of F. Schdroski, Taradale
Folio	3471
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Tucker, Presbyterian

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).