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 1222

District of Napier Quarter ending 31 March 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

22 March 1915

John Walker
Annie May James

John Walker
Annie May James
💍 1915/7714

Bachelor
Spinster

Horse Trainer
Domestic Duties

31
21

Taradale
Taradale

6 months
21 years

St. Augustines Church, Napier

15/986

22 March 1915

Rev. Canon Luke, Church of England

No	58
Date of Notice	22 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Walker	Annie May James
	💍 1915/7714
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Horse Trainer	Domestic Duties
Age	31	21
Dwelling Place	Taradale	Taradale
Length of Residence	6 months	21 years
Marriage Place	St. Augustines Church, Napier
Folio	15/986
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Canon Luke, Church of England

24 March 1915

Frederick Ernest McKenzie
Alice Maud Saunders

Frederick Ernest McKenzie
Alice Maud Saunders
💍 1915/7722

Widower, 7th March 1913
Spinster

Printer
Domestic Duties

45
33

Napier
Napier

3 days
3 weeks

Residence of A. P. Fischer, Hastings Street, Napier

994

24 March 1915

Rev. T. R. Richards, Methodist

No	59
Date of Notice	24 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Ernest McKenzie	Alice Maud Saunders
	💍 1915/7722
Condition	Widower, 7th March 1913	Spinster
Profession	Printer	Domestic Duties
Age	45	33
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 days	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Residence of A. P. Fischer, Hastings Street, Napier
Folio	994
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. R. Richards, Methodist

24 March 1915

Charles William Morgan
Mabel Colyer

Charles William Morgan
Mabel Colyer
💍 1915/7735

Bachelor
Divorced, 3rd March 1915

Grocer
Domestic Duties

26
26

Napier
Napier

6 months
6 months

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Napier

983

24 March 1915

W. Buchanan, Registrar

No	60
Date of Notice	24 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles William Morgan	Mabel Colyer
	💍 1915/7735
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced, 3rd March 1915
Profession	Grocer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	6 months	6 months
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Napier
Folio	983
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 March 1915
Officiating Minister	W. Buchanan, Registrar

27 March 1915

Ernest Richard Tacon
Margaret Arnott

Ernest Richard Tacon
Margaret Arnott
💍 1915/1528

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic Duties

26
21

Petane
Petane

20 years
5 years

Residence of W. P. Arnott, Petane

3497

27 March 1915

Rev. Father O'Sullivan, Roman Catholic

No	61
Date of Notice	27 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Richard Tacon	Margaret Arnott
	💍 1915/1528
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic Duties
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Petane	Petane
Length of Residence	20 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of W. P. Arnott, Petane
Folio	3497
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father O'Sullivan, Roman Catholic

29 March 1915

Rae John Nightingale
Mary Coralie Quinn

Rae John Nightingale
Mary Coralie Quinn
💍 1915/8588

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic Duties

34
29

Napier
Auckland

20 years
10 years

Catholic Church, Parnell, Auckland

2338

29 March 1915

Rev. Father Brodie, Roman Catholic

No	62
Date of Notice	29 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Rae John Nightingale	Mary Coralie Quinn
	💍 1915/8588
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic Duties
Age	34	29
Dwelling Place	Napier	Auckland
Length of Residence	20 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Catholic Church, Parnell, Auckland
Folio	2338
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Brodie, Roman Catholic

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).