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 1728

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 March 1915 Registrar J. Pascoe

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

146

22 February 1915

Matthew William Muir
Mary Hansen McVinish

Matthew William Muir
Mary Handsen McVinish
💍 1915/7664

Bachelor
Widow 9 Nov 1910

Builder

37
37

Wellington
Wellington

18 yrs
8 1/2 yrs

Presbyterian Church Kent Terrace Wellington

307

22 February 1915

Rev. J. K. Elliott

No	146
Date of Notice	22 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Matthew William Muir	Mary Hansen McVinish
BDM Match (98%)	Matthew William Muir	Mary Handsen McVinish
	💍 1915/7664
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 9 Nov 1910
Profession	Builder
Age	37	37
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	18 yrs	8 1/2 yrs
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Kent Terrace Wellington
Folio	307
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. K. Elliott

147

22 February 1915

Donald McInnes Bell
Gladys Jane McLachlan

Donald McInnes Bell
Gladys Jane McLachlan
💍 1915/8236

Bachelor
Spinster

Wellington
Wellington

23
20

Wellington
Wellington

Life
Life

Wesley Church Taranaki St. Wellington

262

Thomas William McLachlan Father

22 February 1915

Rev. J. G. Chapman

No	147
Date of Notice	22 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald McInnes Bell	Gladys Jane McLachlan
	💍 1915/8236
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wellington	Wellington
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Wesley Church Taranaki St. Wellington
Folio	262
Consent	Thomas William McLachlan Father
Date of Certificate	22 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. Chapman

148

22 February 1915

Stanley Richard Edwards
Florence Lillian McArthur

Stanley Richard Edwards
Florence Lillian McArthur
💍 1915/11814

Bachelor
Spinster

Civil Servant

23
20

Wellington
Wellington

6 yrs
2 wks

Presbyterian Manse 35 Pirie street Wellington

327

George McArthur Father

22 February 1915

Rev. J. K. Elliott

No	148
Date of Notice	22 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stanley Richard Edwards	Florence Lillian McArthur
	💍 1915/11814
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Civil Servant
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	6 yrs	2 wks
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse 35 Pirie street Wellington
Folio	327
Consent	George McArthur Father
Date of Certificate	22 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. K. Elliott

149

22 February 1915

Fred Bentley Warburton
Eliza Georgina Wilson

Fred Bentley Warburton
Eliza Georgina Wilson
💍 1915/357

Widower 15 Dec 1900
Spinster

Labourer

41
33

Petone
Petone

18 mos
18 mos

Registrar's Office Wellington

140

22 February 1915

Deputy Registrar

No	149
Date of Notice	22 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Fred Bentley Warburton	Eliza Georgina Wilson
	💍 1915/357
Condition	Widower 15 Dec 1900	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	41	33
Dwelling Place	Petone	Petone
Length of Residence	18 mos	18 mos
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Wellington
Folio	140
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar

150

22 February 1915

Edward Reynolds
Helen Barbara Sinclair

Edward Reynolds
Helen Barbara Sinclair
💍 1915/8359

Bachelor
Spinster

Merchant

42
33

Taita
Hataitai

14 yrs
Life

Presbyterian Manse 35 Pirie street Wellington

326

22 February 1915

Rev. J. K. Elliott

No	150
Date of Notice	22 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Reynolds	Helen Barbara Sinclair
	💍 1915/8359
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Merchant
Age	42	33
Dwelling Place	Taita	Hataitai
Length of Residence	14 yrs	Life
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse 35 Pirie street Wellington
Folio	326
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. K. Elliott

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).