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 1707

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 March 1915 Registrar J. H. Carrad

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

18 January 1915

William Clarence Bicheno
Annie Olaussen

William Clarence Bicheno
Annie Olausen
💍 1915/12527

Bachelor
Spinster

Schoolmaster

30
28

Wellington
Wellington

14 days
3 weeks

St. Peter's Church, Wellington

279

18 January 1915

Archdn C. C. Harper

No	41
Date of Notice	18 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Clarence Bicheno	Annie Olaussen
BDM Match (96%)	William Clarence Bicheno	Annie Olausen
	💍 1915/12527
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Schoolmaster
Age	30	28
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	14 days	3 weeks
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church, Wellington
Folio	279
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Archdn C. C. Harper

19 January 1915

George Austin Thomson
Ruby Eliza Hanlon

George Austin Thomson
Ruby Eliza Hanton
💍 1915/8261

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraphist

27
24

Wellington
Wellington

6 years
11 years

St. Mark's Church, Wellington

361

19 January 1915

Rev. A. W. Thomson

No	42
Date of Notice	19 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Austin Thomson	Ruby Eliza Hanlon
BDM Match (97%)	George Austin Thomson	Ruby Eliza Hanton
	💍 1915/8261
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	6 years	11 years
Marriage Place	St. Mark's Church, Wellington
Folio	361
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. W. Thomson

19 January 1915

Charles Edward Sligo
Evelyn Mary Halse

Charles Edward Sligo
Evelyn Mary Halse
💍 1915/8372

Bachelor
Spinster

Journalist

28
27

Wellington
Wellington

3 days
27 years

St Joseph's Church, Buckle Street, Wellington

346

19 January 1915

Rev. J. M. Barra

No	43
Date of Notice	19 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Edward Sligo	Evelyn Mary Halse
	💍 1915/8372
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Journalist
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 days	27 years
Marriage Place	St Joseph's Church, Buckle Street, Wellington
Folio	346
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Barra

19 January 1915

William Victor Weaver
Mabel Vera Thompson

William Victor Weaver
Mabel Vera Thompson
💍 1915/2256

Widower
Spinster

Carter

28
27

Wellington
Wellington

19 months
25 years

St. Thomas' Church, Wellington

4180

19 January 1915

Rev. W. Fancourt

No	44
Date of Notice	19 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Victor Weaver	Mabel Vera Thompson
	💍 1915/2256
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Carter
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	19 months	25 years
Marriage Place	St. Thomas' Church, Wellington
Folio	4180
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Fancourt

20 January 1915

John Patrick McKeowen
Catherine Mary Godsell

John Patrick McKeown
Catherine May Godsell
💍 1915/1946

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

28
26

Wellington
Wellington

28 years
7 years

Sacred Heart Basilica, Wellington

3820

20 January 1915

Rev. P. W. Tymons

No	45
Date of Notice	20 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Patrick McKeowen	Catherine Mary Godsell
BDM Match (95%)	John Patrick McKeown	Catherine May Godsell
	💍 1915/1946
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	28 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Sacred Heart Basilica, Wellington
Folio	3820
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. W. Tymons

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).