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 1954

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 December 1915 Registrar J. H. Fairbairne

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

1261

20 December 1915

Duncan McShorran McMillan
Elizabeth Arnott McShorran

Duncan McSporren McMillan
Elizabeth Arnot McSporren
💍 1915/5171

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Manager

27
28

Wellington
Wellington

3 days
1 day (from Scotland)

Presbyterian Manse, 35 Pirie Street Wellington

7489

20 December 1915

Rev. J. K. Elliott

No	1261
Date of Notice	20 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Duncan McShorran McMillan	Elizabeth Arnott McShorran
BDM Match (90%)	Duncan McSporren McMillan	Elizabeth Arnot McSporren
	💍 1915/5171
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Manager
Age	27	28
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 days	1 day (from Scotland)
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, 35 Pirie Street Wellington
Folio	7489
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. K. Elliott

1262

20 December 1915

George Richard de Vere York
Flossie Eleanor Hornell

George Richard De Vere York
Flossie Eleanor Hornell
💍 1915/1008

Bachelor
Spinster

Gunner, N.Z.F.A. 9th Reinforcement

33
22

Trentham
Wellington

3 months
1 year

Registrar's Office Wellington

7093

20 December 1915

Deputy Registrar

No	1262
Date of Notice	20 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Richard de Vere York	Flossie Eleanor Hornell
BDM Match (98%)	George Richard De Vere York	Flossie Eleanor Hornell
	💍 1915/1008
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gunner, N.Z.F.A. 9th Reinforcement
Age	33	22
Dwelling Place	Trentham	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 months	1 year
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Wellington
Folio	7093
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar

1263

20 December 1915

Alfred Henry Burtis
Ida May Hunt

Alfred Henry Curtis
Ida May Hunt
💍 1915/5172

Bachelor
Widow 18 May 1914.

Bridge Carpenter

46
33

Petone
Petone

3 weeks
2 years

Residence of Mr. W. H. Jones, 50 Fitzherbert Street Petone

7490

20 December 1915

Rev. J. J. Lewis

No	1263
Date of Notice	20 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Henry Burtis	Ida May Hunt
BDM Match (97%)	Alfred Henry Curtis	Ida May Hunt
	💍 1915/5172
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 18 May 1914.
Profession	Bridge Carpenter
Age	46	33
Dwelling Place	Petone	Petone
Length of Residence	3 weeks	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. W. H. Jones, 50 Fitzherbert Street Petone
Folio	7490
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Lewis

1264

20 December 1915

Reginald Parker
Salome Emma Craig

Reginald Parker
Salome Emma Craig
💍 1916/8705

Bachelor
Widow, 22 December 1908.

Coach Builder

28
29

Wellington
Wellington

4 years
12 years

Presbyterian Manse, 84 Hill Street Wellington

416

20 December 1915

Rev. J. G. Smith

No	1264
Date of Notice	20 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reginald Parker	Salome Emma Craig
	💍 1916/8705
Condition	Bachelor	Widow, 22 December 1908.
Profession	Coach Builder
Age	28	29
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	4 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, 84 Hill Street Wellington
Folio	416
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. Smith

1265

20 December 1915

Joseph Bailey Ashurst
Alice Lucy Joyner

Joseph Bailey Ashurst
Alice Lucy Joyner
💍 1915/5149

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman

40
31

Wellington
Wellington

4 years
5 years

Residence of Mr. Ashurst 13 Crawford Terrace Wellington

7491

20 December 1915

Rev. J. K. Smith

No	1265
Date of Notice	20 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Bailey Ashurst	Alice Lucy Joyner
	💍 1915/5149
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman
Age	40	31
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	4 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Ashurst 13 Crawford Terrace Wellington
Folio	7491
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. K. Smith

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).