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 1202

District of Hastings Quarter ending 30 September 1915 Registrar Robert Braithwaite

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

17 July 1915

Percival Charles Brooks
Christine Roche

Percival Charles Brooks
Christina Roche
💍 1915/3240

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraph Lineman
Housemaid

27
24

Hastings
Hastings

3 months
5 days

St. Matthews Hastings

5429

17 July 1915

Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

No	73
Date of Notice	17 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percival Charles Brooks	Christine Roche
BDM Match (97%)	Percival Charles Brooks	Christina Roche
	💍 1915/3240
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraph Lineman	Housemaid
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 months	5 days
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Hastings
Folio	5429
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

20 July 1915

William Robertson
Margaret Emma Paterson

William Robertson
Margaret Emma Paterson
💍 1915/11621

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Domestic duties

25
33

Hastings
Hastings

2 years
7 years

Registrars Office Hastings

5410

20 July 1915

Robert Braithwaite

No	74
Date of Notice	20 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Robertson	Margaret Emma Paterson
	💍 1915/11621
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	25	33
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	2 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office Hastings
Folio	5410
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Robert Braithwaite

21 July 1915

Arthur Gerald Stubbs Keyworth
Iris Isobel Hyslop

Arthur Gerald Stubbs Keyworth
Ivy Isobel Hyslop
💍 1915/3239

Bachelor
Spinster

N. Z. Field Ambulance
Dressmaker

32
18

Hastings
Hastings

3 days
2 months

Mrs. Bremner's House Seddon Street Hastings

5428

Nicholas Hyslop (mother)

21 July 1915

Rev. P. Ramsay

No	75
Date of Notice	21 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Gerald Stubbs Keyworth	Iris Isobel Hyslop
BDM Match (92%)	Arthur Gerald Stubbs Keyworth	Ivy Isobel Hyslop
	💍 1915/3239
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	N. Z. Field Ambulance	Dressmaker
Age	32	18
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 days	2 months
Marriage Place	Mrs. Bremner's House Seddon Street Hastings
Folio	5428
Consent	Nicholas Hyslop (mother)
Date of Certificate	21 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay

22 July 1915

Ralph Haliburton
Mary Rose Kitto

Ralph Halliburton
Mary Rose McIvor
💍 1915/3279

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Domestic duties

26
23

Hastings
Hastings

4 days
23 years

Catholic Church Hastings

5418

22 July 1915

Rev. Father McDonald

No	76
Date of Notice	22 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ralph Haliburton	Mary Rose Kitto
BDM Match (81%)	Ralph Halliburton	Mary Rose McIvor
	💍 1915/3279
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Domestic duties
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	4 days	23 years
Marriage Place	Catholic Church Hastings
Folio	5418
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father McDonald

26 July 1915

Frederick Samuel Elways-Thomas
Lucy Gertrude Ellen Sneade

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman
Domestic duties

32
29

Hastings
Hastings

8 years
3 years

St. Matthews Church Hastings

5426

26 July 1915

Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

No	77
Date of Notice	26 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Samuel Elways-Thomas	Lucy Gertrude Ellen Sneade
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman	Domestic duties
Age	32	29
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	8 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church Hastings
Folio	5426
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

27 July 1915

John James Collins
Martha Totty

John James Collins
Martha Totty
💍 1915/3295

Divorced
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

57
44

Hastings
Hastings

3 days
3 years

Registrars Office Hastings

5409

27 July 1915

Robert Braithwaite

No	78
Date of Notice	27 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John James Collins	Martha Totty
	💍 1915/3295
Condition	Divorced	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	57	44
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office Hastings
Folio	5409
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Robert Braithwaite

31 July 1915

James Edmund Brown
Elsie Pauline Piper

James Edmund Brown
Elsie Pauline Piper
💍 1915/3232

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Domestic duties

26
18

Hastings
Hastings

4 years
1 week

House of Adjutant Wain Hastings

5427

Mary Ann Skinner Legally entrusted guardian

31 July 1915

Adjutant E. L. Wain

No	79
Date of Notice	31 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Edmund Brown	Elsie Pauline Piper
	💍 1915/3232
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Domestic duties
Age	26	18
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	4 years	1 week
Marriage Place	House of Adjutant Wain Hastings
Folio	5427
Consent	Mary Ann Skinner Legally entrusted guardian
Date of Certificate	31 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Adjutant E. L. Wain

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).