Intentions to Marry, 1915 Mauriceville to Wellington

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840460, 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.

1915d contains pages 1501-1972, covering districts from Mauriceville to Wellington

Page 1527

District of Pahiatua Quarter ending 31 March 1915 Registrar David J. Monthe

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

5 January 1915

Lawrence Mervyn Miller
Maria Jowers

Lawrence Mervyn Miller
Maria Jowers
💍 1915/8857

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman
Domestic Duties

23
22

Ballance
Ballance

3 days
19 years

Residence of James Edmund Jowers, Ballance

1107

5 January 1915

Rev. M. Bawden Harris

No	1
Date of Notice	5 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lawrence Mervyn Miller	Maria Jowers
	💍 1915/8857
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman	Domestic Duties
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Ballance	Ballance
Length of Residence	3 days	19 years
Marriage Place	Residence of James Edmund Jowers, Ballance
Folio	1107
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Bawden Harris

15 February 1915

James Patrick Beech
Margaret Jane Matthews

James Patrick Beech
Margaret Jane Mathews
💍 1915/3

Widower
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

51
31

Konini
Mangahao

25 years
15 years

Roman Catholic Church, Pahiatua

1108

15 February 1915

Rev. T. McKenna

No	2
Date of Notice	15 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Patrick Beech	Margaret Jane Matthews
BDM Match (98%)	James Patrick Beech	Margaret Jane Mathews
	💍 1915/3
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	51	31
Dwelling Place	Konini	Mangahao
Length of Residence	25 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Pahiatua
Folio	1108
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. McKenna

17 February 1915

David Lyon Cruickshank
Violet Janet Christine Anderson

David Lyon Cruickshank
Violet Janet Christina Anderson
💍 1915/8854

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Housekeeper

29
20

Mangatainoka
Mangatainoka

3 weeks
21 months

Registrars Office, Pahiatua

1104

Matthew Anderson, Father

17 February 1915

D. J. Monthe Registrar

No	3
Date of Notice	17 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Lyon Cruickshank	Violet Janet Christine Anderson
BDM Match (98%)	David Lyon Cruickshank	Violet Janet Christina Anderson
	💍 1915/8854
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Housekeeper
Age	29	20
Dwelling Place	Mangatainoka	Mangatainoka
Length of Residence	3 weeks	21 months
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Pahiatua
Folio	1104
Consent	Matthew Anderson, Father
Date of Certificate	17 February 1915
Officiating Minister	D. J. Monthe Registrar

23 February 1915

Felix Reichenbach
Mary Sophia Brown

Peter Reichenbach
Mary Sophia Brown
💍 1915/8856

Widower
Widow

Farmer
Housekeeper

42
44

Mangatainoka
Mangatainoka

27 years
12 years

Presbyterian Church, Pahiatua

1106

23 February 1915

Rev. M. Bawden Harris

No	4
Date of Notice	23 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Felix Reichenbach	Mary Sophia Brown
BDM Match (88%)	Peter Reichenbach	Mary Sophia Brown
	💍 1915/8856
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Housekeeper
Age	42	44
Dwelling Place	Mangatainoka	Mangatainoka
Length of Residence	27 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Pahiatua
Folio	1106
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Bawden Harris

5 March 1915

William Scot Pragley
Ann Victoria Matthews

William Scot Bagley
Ann Victoria Matthews
💍 1915/8855

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

34
17

Pahiatua
Pahiatua

3 days
5 days

Registrars Office, Pahiatua

1105

Charles Matthews, Father

5 March 1915

D. J. Monthe Registrar

No	5
Date of Notice	5 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Scot Pragley	Ann Victoria Matthews
BDM Match (95%)	William Scot Bagley	Ann Victoria Matthews
	💍 1915/8855
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	34	17
Dwelling Place	Pahiatua	Pahiatua
Length of Residence	3 days	5 days
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Pahiatua
Folio	1105
Consent	Charles Matthews, Father
Date of Certificate	5 March 1915
Officiating Minister	D. J. Monthe Registrar

30 March 1915

Frederick French Williamson
Esther Elizabeth Priest

Frederick Trench Williamson
Esther Elizabeth Priest
💍 1915/1814

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
School-teacher

27
26

Gordonton
Ngaturi

20 months
6 weeks

Residence of Mrs. Priest, Ngaturi

1387

30 March 1915

Rev. J. McCaw

No	6
Date of Notice	30 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick French Williamson	Esther Elizabeth Priest
BDM Match (98%)	Frederick Trench Williamson	Esther Elizabeth Priest
	💍 1915/1814
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	School-teacher
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Gordonton	Ngaturi
Length of Residence	20 months	6 weeks
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Priest, Ngaturi
Folio	1387
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McCaw

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).