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 1600

District of Rangitikei Quarter ending 31 March 1915 Registrar Robert Archibald Bayley

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

19 February 1915

Eric Alfred Abbott
Ellen Elizabeth Carlton Henderson

Eric Alfred Abbott
Ellen Elizabeth Carlton Henderson
💍 1915/7787

Bachelor
Spinster

Jockey
Domestic Servant

25
22

Turakina
Turakina

3 days
3 days

Presbyterian Church Turakina

1151

19 February 1915

Rev James Wilson, Turakina

No	10
Date of Notice	19 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Eric Alfred Abbott	Ellen Elizabeth Carlton Henderson
	💍 1915/7787
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Jockey	Domestic Servant
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Turakina	Turakina
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Turakina
Folio	1151
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev James Wilson, Turakina

23 February 1915

Sidney Thorn
Jennie Brandt

Sidney Thorn
Jennie Brandt
💍 1915/8975

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer
Domestic Duties

32
25

Marton
Marton

3 days
8 days

Church of England Marton

1150

23 February 1915

Rev V. H. Kitcat, Marton

No	11
Date of Notice	23 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sidney Thorn	Jennie Brandt
	💍 1915/8975
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	32	25
Dwelling Place	Marton	Marton
Length of Residence	3 days	8 days
Marriage Place	Church of England Marton
Folio	1150
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev V. H. Kitcat, Marton

10 March 1915

William Robinson Bromley
Ruby Jane Bell McCalden

William Robinson Bromley
Ruby Jane Bell McCaldon
💍 1915/8974

Bachelor
Spinster

Groom
Domestic Duties

26
18

Marton
Marton

3 months
3 days

Presbyterian Church Marton

1149

Jessie Jane McCalden Mother

27 March 1915

Rev A. Pater, Marton

No	12
Date of Notice	10 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Robinson Bromley	Ruby Jane Bell McCalden
BDM Match (98%)	William Robinson Bromley	Ruby Jane Bell McCaldon
	💍 1915/8974
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Groom	Domestic Duties
Age	26	18
Dwelling Place	Marton	Marton
Length of Residence	3 months	3 days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Marton
Folio	1149
Consent	Jessie Jane McCalden Mother
Date of Certificate	27 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev A. Pater, Marton

15 March 1915

Herbert Marshall
Emily Mary Little

Herbert Marshall
Emily Mary Little
💍 1915/2502

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic Servant

22
19

Marton
Marton

8 years
1.5 year

Registrar's Office Marton

4415

Thomas William Little, Father

15 March 1915

R. A. Bayley, Registrar

No	13
Date of Notice	15 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Marshall	Emily Mary Little
	💍 1915/2502
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Servant
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Marton	Marton
Length of Residence	8 years	1.5 year
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Marton
Folio	4415
Consent	Thomas William Little, Father
Date of Certificate	15 March 1915
Officiating Minister	R. A. Bayley, Registrar

18 March 1915

Gilbert Sydney Hutchinson
Hettie Eileen Vernon Smith

Gilbert Sydney Hutchinson
Hettie Eileen Smith Vernon
💍 1915/8971

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Domestic Servant

28
21

Marton
Marton

10 years
5 years

Mr Vernon's Dwelling house Marton

1146

18 March 1915

Rev J. J. Mather Marton

No	14
Date of Notice	18 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gilbert Sydney Hutchinson	Hettie Eileen Vernon Smith
BDM Match (77%)	Gilbert Sydney Hutchinson	Hettie Eileen Smith Vernon
	💍 1915/8971
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Domestic Servant
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Marton	Marton
Length of Residence	10 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Mr Vernon's Dwelling house Marton
Folio	1146
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev J. J. Mather Marton

26 March 1915

Edward George Parkinson
Harriet Ada Hatcher

Edward George Parkinson
Harriet Ada Hatcher
💍 1915/8972

Widower
Spinster

Blacksmith
Lady Help

56
32

Marton
Marton

Life
1.5 year

Presbyterian Manse Marton

1147

26 March 1915

Rev A. Pater Marton

No	15
Date of Notice	26 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward George Parkinson	Harriet Ada Hatcher
	💍 1915/8972
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Lady Help
Age	56	32
Dwelling Place	Marton	Marton
Length of Residence	Life	1.5 year
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse Marton
Folio	1147
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev A. Pater Marton

26 March 1915

Alfred Walter Leach
Ellen McSweeney

Alfred Walter Leach
Ellen McSweeney
💍 1915/1951

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic Servant

35
24

Marton
Marton

2 years
2 years

Roman Catholic Church Marton

3824

26 March 1915

Rev M. Doolaghty Marton

No	16
Date of Notice	26 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Walter Leach	Ellen McSweeney
	💍 1915/1951
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Servant
Age	35	24
Dwelling Place	Marton	Marton
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Marton
Folio	3824
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev M. Doolaghty Marton

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).