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 1192

District of Hastings Quarter ending 31 March 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

1 February 1915

Walker Sneddon Robertson
Marie Antoinette Sarginson

Walter Sneddon Robertson
Marie Antoinette Sarginson
💍 1915/9139

Bachelor
Spinster

Medical Practitioner
Nurse

26
25

Hastings
Timaru

14 weeks
19 weeks

The Manse Theodosia St. Timaru

1394

1 February 1915

Rev Isaac Sarginson

No	8
Date of Notice	1 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walker Sneddon Robertson	Marie Antoinette Sarginson
BDM Match (98%)	Walter Sneddon Robertson	Marie Antoinette Sarginson
	💍 1915/9139
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Medical Practitioner	Nurse
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Timaru
Length of Residence	14 weeks	19 weeks
Marriage Place	The Manse Theodosia St. Timaru
Folio	1394
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev Isaac Sarginson

1 February 1915

Robert Cochrane Sachs
Ethel Deuchrass

Robert Cochrane Suchs
Ethel Ducrass
💍 1915/7759

Bachelor
Spinster

Taxi Proprietor
Domestic

26
18

Hastings
Hastings

5 years
3 years

Presbyterian Manse Hastings

957

Beatrice Deuchrass mother by adoption

1 February 1915

Rev. P. Ramsay

No	9
Date of Notice	1 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Cochrane Sachs	Ethel Deuchrass
BDM Match (91%)	Robert Cochrane Suchs	Ethel Ducrass
	💍 1915/7759
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Taxi Proprietor	Domestic
Age	26	18
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	5 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse Hastings
Folio	957
Consent	Beatrice Deuchrass mother by adoption
Date of Certificate	1 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay

1 February 1915

Wilmot Joseph Luttrell
Ellen Whitton Boyd

Wilmot Joseph Luttrell
Ellen Whitton Boyd
💍 1915/7758

Bachelor
Spinster

Bricklayer
Domestic duties

32
27

Hastings
Hastings

7 years
7 years

At Mrs. Boyds house Queen St. Hastings

956

1 February 1915

Rev. P. Ramsay

No	10
Date of Notice	1 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Wilmot Joseph Luttrell	Ellen Whitton Boyd
	💍 1915/7758
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bricklayer	Domestic duties
Age	32	27
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	7 years	7 years
Marriage Place	At Mrs. Boyds house Queen St. Hastings
Folio	956
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay

2 February 1915

Robert Harbison
May Adeline Macnamara

Robert Harbison
May Adeline Macnamara
💍 1915/7746

Widower
Spinster

Porter
Laundress

46
32

Havelock North
Havelock North

3 years
9 months

Registrar's Office Hastings

968

2 February 1915

Robert Braithwaite

No	11
Date of Notice	2 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Harbison	May Adeline Macnamara
	💍 1915/7746
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Porter	Laundress
Age	46	32
Dwelling Place	Havelock North	Havelock North
Length of Residence	3 years	9 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Hastings
Folio	968
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Robert Braithwaite

10 February 1915

Herbert Mountford Bishop
Hilda Maud Rivers

Herbert Mountford Bishop
Hilda Maud Rivers
💍 1915/7757

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer
Domestic duties.

32
23

Hastings
Hastings

32 years
23 years

St. Matthews Church Hastings

955

10 February 1915

Rev. H. N. Robjohns

No	12
Date of Notice	10 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Mountford Bishop	Hilda Maud Rivers
	💍 1915/7757
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer	Domestic duties.
Age	32	23
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	32 years	23 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church Hastings
Folio	955
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. N. Robjohns

10 February 1915

Arthur Lawrence
Ruby Edwards

Arthur Lawrence
Ruby Edwards
💍 1915/7745

Bachelor
Spinster

Jockey
Domestic

23
21

Hastings
Hastings

4 years
5 years

Registrar's Office Hastings

967

10 February 1915

Robert Braithwaite

No	13
Date of Notice	10 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Lawrence	Ruby Edwards
	💍 1915/7745
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Jockey	Domestic
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	4 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Hastings
Folio	967
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Robert Braithwaite

11 February 1915

Reginald Vaughan McCarthy
Catherine Warren

Reginald Vaughan McCarthy
Catherine Warren
💍 1915/7756

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Domestic

30
22

Napier
Hastings

11 years
22 years

St. Matthews Hastings

954

11 February 1915

Rev. H. N. Robjohns

No	14
Date of Notice	11 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reginald Vaughan McCarthy	Catherine Warren
	💍 1915/7756
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Domestic
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Napier	Hastings
Length of Residence	11 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Hastings
Folio	954
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. N. Robjohns

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).