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 1603

District of Rangitikei Quarter ending 30 September 1915 Registrar R. O. Bayly

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

12 July 1915

William Gerald Twigg
Margaret Emily McShane

William Gerald Twigg
Margaret Emily McShane
💍 1915/3556

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor
Tailoress

29
17

Marton
Marton

1 year
6 years

Mr Saml McShane's Residence Marton

5720

Samuel McShane, Father

12 July 1915

Rev. A. Porter, Presbyterian

No	36
Date of Notice	12 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Gerald Twigg	Margaret Emily McShane
	💍 1915/3556
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor	Tailoress
Age	29	17
Dwelling Place	Marton	Marton
Length of Residence	1 year	6 years
Marriage Place	Mr Saml McShane's Residence Marton
Folio	5720
Consent	Samuel McShane, Father
Date of Certificate	12 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Porter, Presbyterian

14 July 1915

Arthur George Colson
Isabel Jane MacKay

Arthur George Colson
Isabel Jane MacKay
💍 1915/3586

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Household duties

31
30

Marton
Marton

3 days
6 weeks

Presbyterian Church Marton

5700

14 July 1915

Rev. A. Porter, Presbyterian

No	37
Date of Notice	14 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur George Colson	Isabel Jane MacKay
	💍 1915/3586
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Household duties
Age	31	30
Dwelling Place	Marton	Marton
Length of Residence	3 days	6 weeks
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Marton
Folio	5700
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Porter, Presbyterian

14 July 1915

Leslie Florence Hunter
Maria Selina Walden

Leslie Florence Hunter
Maria Selina Walden
💍 1915/3582

Widower
Widow

Railway clerk
Domestic duties

30
28

Marton Junction
Marton

6 months
6 months

Methodist Church Marton

5696

14 July 1915

Rev. F. Rands, Methodist

No	38
Date of Notice	14 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie Florence Hunter	Maria Selina Walden
	💍 1915/3582
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Railway clerk	Domestic duties
Age	30	28
Dwelling Place	Marton Junction	Marton
Length of Residence	6 months	6 months
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Marton
Folio	5696
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Rands, Methodist

19 July 1915

Andrew Cawthorn
Olive Mildred Friedrich

Andrew Cockburn
Olive Mildred Friedrich
💍 1915/3552

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Household duties

33
25

Marton
Marton

3 days
Life

A. Friedrich's Residence Marton

5717

19 July 1915

Rev. Jas Wilson, Presbyterian

No	39
Date of Notice	19 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Cawthorn	Olive Mildred Friedrich
BDM Match (83%)	Andrew Cockburn	Olive Mildred Friedrich
	💍 1915/3552
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Household duties
Age	33	25
Dwelling Place	Marton	Marton
Length of Residence	3 days	Life
Marriage Place	A. Friedrich's Residence Marton
Folio	5717
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jas Wilson, Presbyterian

10 August 1915

Thomas Heta Rakaria
Pirihia Taraera

Widower
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

21
20

Turakina
Turakina

Life
3 years

Church of England Marton

5719

Ha Rakaria Tamena, Father

10 August 1915

Rev. V. H. Kitcat, Church of England

No	40
Date of Notice	10 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Heta Rakaria	Pirihia Taraera
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Turakina	Turakina
Length of Residence	Life	3 years
Marriage Place	Church of England Marton
Folio	5719
Consent	Ha Rakaria Tamena, Father
Date of Certificate	10 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. V. H. Kitcat, Church of England

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).