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 1236

District of Napier Quarter ending 30 September 1915 Registrar H. 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

120

12 July 1915

Charles Batt
Ethel Beatrice Chapman

Charles Batt
Ethel Beatrice Chapman
💍 1915/5666

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Domestic Duties

26
19

Napier
Napier

3 days
4 months

St. Johns Cathedral Napier

7992

Amy Chapman Mother

12 July 1915

Rev. Canon Mayne Church of England

No	120
Date of Notice	12 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Batt	Ethel Beatrice Chapman
	💍 1915/5666
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Domestic Duties
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 days	4 months
Marriage Place	St. Johns Cathedral Napier
Folio	7992
Consent	Amy Chapman Mother
Date of Certificate	12 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Canon Mayne Church of England

121

13 July 1915

Alexander Carmichael Matheson
Annie Baird Currie

Alexander Carmichael Matheson
Annie Blair Currie
💍 1915/14683

Widower 16th August 1903
Spinster

Bank Manager
Nurse

47
37

Napier
Wellington

11 months
5 years

St. Andrews Church Wellington

5816

13 July 1915

Rev. J. Gibson Smith Presbyterian

No	121
Date of Notice	13 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Carmichael Matheson	Annie Baird Currie
BDM Match (94%)	Alexander Carmichael Matheson	Annie Blair Currie
	💍 1915/14683
Condition	Widower 16th August 1903	Spinster
Profession	Bank Manager	Nurse
Age	47	37
Dwelling Place	Napier	Wellington
Length of Residence	11 months	5 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church Wellington
Folio	5816
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Gibson Smith Presbyterian

122

14 July 1915

Arthur Norton Rush
Lily Alexander

Arthur Norton Rush
Lily Alexander
💍 1915/3231

Bachelor
Spinster

Steward
Domestic Duties

23
25

Napier
Greenmeadows

11 months
18 months

Office of Registrar of Marriages Napier

5444

14 July 1915

H. Buchanan Registrar

No	122
Date of Notice	14 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Norton Rush	Lily Alexander
	💍 1915/3231
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Steward	Domestic Duties
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	Napier	Greenmeadows
Length of Residence	11 months	18 months
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages Napier
Folio	5444
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1915
Officiating Minister	H. Buchanan Registrar

123

19 July 1915

Jack Stevens
Harriet Henrietta Bryan

Jack Stevens
Harriet Henrietta Bryan
💍 1915/3309

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

39
21

Taradale
Meeanee

29 years
5 years

Church of England Meeanee

5471

19 July 1915

Rev. A. P. Clarke Church of England

No	123
Date of Notice	19 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jack Stevens	Harriet Henrietta Bryan
	💍 1915/3309
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	39	21
Dwelling Place	Taradale	Meeanee
Length of Residence	29 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Church of England Meeanee
Folio	5471
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. P. Clarke Church of England

124

20 July 1915

Harold Noel Kebbell
Isobelle Margaret Pettit

Harold Noel Kebbell
Isabella Margaret Pettit
💍 1915/3321

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep farmer
Domestic Duties

27
28

Napier
Napier

3 days
7 days

St. Augustine's Church Napier

5476

20 July 1915

Rev. Canon Tuke Church of England

No	124
Date of Notice	20 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Noel Kebbell	Isobelle Margaret Pettit
BDM Match (96%)	Harold Noel Kebbell	Isabella Margaret Pettit
	💍 1915/3321
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	27	28
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 days	7 days
Marriage Place	St. Augustine's Church Napier
Folio	5476
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Canon Tuke 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).