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 1208

District of Hastings Quarter ending 31 December 1915 Registrar Robert Brathwaite

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

107

19 October 1915

Thomas Cook
Frances Ethel Meads

Thomas Cook
Francis Ethel Meads
💍 1915/6628

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic

26
26

Havelock North
Havelock North

24 years
18 months

Mr. W. A. Meads' house, Havelock

9009

19 October 1915

Rev. Rugby Pratt

No	107
Date of Notice	19 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Cook	Frances Ethel Meads
BDM Match (97%)	Thomas Cook	Francis Ethel Meads
	💍 1915/6628
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Havelock North	Havelock North
Length of Residence	24 years	18 months
Marriage Place	Mr. W. A. Meads' house, Havelock
Folio	9009
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Rugby Pratt

108

27 October 1915

Thomas Henry Begley
Ellen Eliza Thomson

Thomas Henry Begley
Ellen Eliza Thomson
💍 1915/6575

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

23
24

Hastings
Hastings

23 years
24 years

Catholic Church, Hastings

8981

27 October 1915

Rev. Father McDonnell

No	108
Date of Notice	27 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Henry Begley	Ellen Eliza Thomson
	💍 1915/6575
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	23 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Catholic Church, Hastings
Folio	8981
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father McDonnell

109

28 October 1915

Oswald Cooke Burrell Clarkson
Margaret Elizabeth Maclean

Oswald Cooke Burrell Clarkson
Margaret Elizabeth Madsen
💍 1915/6633

Bachelor
Spinster

Station Manager
Domestic duties

24
24

Maraekakaho
Maraekakaho

14 years
8 years

Residence of Mr. Maclean, Maraekakaho

9014

28 October 1915

Rev. Hutchinson

No	109
Date of Notice	28 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Oswald Cooke Burrell Clarkson	Margaret Elizabeth Maclean
BDM Match (94%)	Oswald Cooke Burrell Clarkson	Margaret Elizabeth Madsen
	💍 1915/6633
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Station Manager	Domestic duties
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Maraekakaho	Maraekakaho
Length of Residence	14 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Maclean, Maraekakaho
Folio	9014
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Hutchinson

110

1 November 1915

Noel Oswald Hewitt
Veronica Mary Theresa Vidal

Noel Oswald Hewitt
Veronica Mary Theresa Vidal
💍 1915/6590

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Domestic duties

24
21

Hastings
Hastings

9 months
10 years

Catholic Church, Hastings

8972

1 November 1915

Rev. Father McDonnell

No	110
Date of Notice	1 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Noel Oswald Hewitt	Veronica Mary Theresa Vidal
	💍 1915/6590
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Domestic duties
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	9 months	10 years
Marriage Place	Catholic Church, Hastings
Folio	8972
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father McDonnell

111

1 November 1915

Walter Hutton
Mary Bridger

Walter Hutton
Mary Bridger
💍 1915/6627

Bachelor
Spinster

Driver Army Service Corps
Dental Nurse

40
35

Hastings
Hastings

8 months
6 years

Private Residence of Mr. G. B. R. Maltby, Queen St., Hastings

8991

1 November 1915

Rev. Edridge

No	111
Date of Notice	1 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Hutton	Mary Bridger
	💍 1915/6627
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Driver Army Service Corps	Dental Nurse
Age	40	35
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	8 months	6 years
Marriage Place	Private Residence of Mr. G. B. R. Maltby, Queen St., Hastings
Folio	8991
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Edridge

112

3 November 1915

James Scott Nicholson Wemyss
Isabella Jane Ehrlich

James Scott Nicholson Wennyss
Isabella Jane McErlich
💍 1915/6638

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

30
30

Hastings
Hastings

3 1/2 years
4 years

Presbyterian Church, Hastings

8996

3 November 1915

Rev. P. Ramsay

No	112
Date of Notice	3 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Scott Nicholson Wemyss	Isabella Jane Ehrlich
BDM Match (90%)	James Scott Nicholson Wennyss	Isabella Jane McErlich
	💍 1915/6638
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	30	30
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 1/2 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Hastings
Folio	8996
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay

113

4 November 1915

John Leslie Davis
Alice Vivian Banks

John Leslie Davis
Alice Vivian Banks
💍 1915/6623

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic duties

20
17

Hastings
Hastings

18 months
17 years

House of Mr. A. J. Banks, Hastings

9005

W. S. Davis (Father), A. J. Banks (Father)

4 November 1915

Rev. Rugby Pratt

No	113
Date of Notice	4 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Leslie Davis	Alice Vivian Banks
	💍 1915/6623
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic duties
Age	20	17
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	18 months	17 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. A. J. Banks, Hastings
Folio	9005
Consent	W. S. Davis (Father), A. J. Banks (Father)
Date of Certificate	4 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Rugby Pratt

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).