Intentions to Marry, 1916 Aria to Masterton

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840465, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1916 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.

1916c contains pages 931-1380, covering districts from Aria to Masterton

Page 1097

District of Hastings Quarter ending 30 June 1916 Registrar Robert Braithwaite

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

8 June 1916

John Falconer
Ada Emily Creed

John Falconer
Ada Emma Crew
💍 1916/8575

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Cook

40
43

Havelock
Hastings

8 years
4 years

Presbyterian Church Havelock North

3745

8 June 1916

Rev. R. Waugh

No	64
Date of Notice	8 June 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Falconer	Ada Emily Creed
BDM Match (83%)	John Falconer	Ada Emma Crew
	💍 1916/8575
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Cook
Age	40	43
Dwelling Place	Havelock	Hastings
Length of Residence	8 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Havelock North
Folio	3745
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 June 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Waugh

9 June 1916

Ernest Albert Sharcky
Janet Bell Finline

Ernest Albert Shattley
Janet Bell Tinline
💍 1916/6257

Bachelor
Spinster

Chemist
Milliner

23
24

Hastings
Hastings

22 years
7 years

St. Matthews Hastings

3751

9 June 1916

Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

No	65
Date of Notice	9 June 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Albert Sharcky	Janet Bell Finline
BDM Match (88%)	Ernest Albert Shattley	Janet Bell Tinline
	💍 1916/6257
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chemist	Milliner
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	22 years	7 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Hastings
Folio	3751
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 June 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

14 June 1916

Arthur George Johnson
Elizabeth Margaret Perrett

Arthur George Johnson
Elizabeth Margaret Perrett
💍 1916/6250

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Domestic

35
37

Hastings
Hastings

8 years
20 years

Registrar's Office Hastings

3742

14 June 1916

Robert Braithwaite

No	66
Date of Notice	14 June 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur George Johnson	Elizabeth Margaret Perrett
	💍 1916/6250
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	35	37
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	8 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Hastings
Folio	3742
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 June 1916
Officiating Minister	Robert Braithwaite

26 June 1916

Walter Bennison
Jeannie Tweedie

Walter Bennison
Jeannie Tweedie
💍 1916/8574

Bachelor
Spinster

Fishmonger
Housekeeper

23
23

Hastings
Hastings

2 years
3 years

Presbyterian Church Hastings

3743

26 June 1916

Rev. P. Ramsay

No	67
Date of Notice	26 June 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Bennison	Jeannie Tweedie
	💍 1916/8574
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fishmonger	Housekeeper
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	2 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Hastings
Folio	3743
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 June 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay

26 June 1916

Charles Skidmore
Sarah Ann Peacock

Charles Skidmore
Sarah Ann Peacock
💍 1916/8003

Bachelor
Widow

Bootmaker
Dressmaker

45
47

Hastings
Hastings

16 months
20 months

St. Matthews Hastings

5688

26 June 1916

Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

No	68
Date of Notice	26 June 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Skidmore	Sarah Ann Peacock
	💍 1916/8003
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Bootmaker	Dressmaker
Age	45	47
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	16 months	20 months
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Hastings
Folio	5688
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 June 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

27 June 1916

Eric Stanley Gray
Eileen Florence Quinlivan

Eric Stanley Gray
Eileen Florence Quinlivan
💍 1916/6251

Bachelor
Spinster

Shipping Clerk
Domestic duties

25
22

Hastings
Hastings

3 days
18 years

Roman Catholic Church Hastings

3744

27 June 1916

Rev. Father Mahony

No	69
Date of Notice	27 June 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Eric Stanley Gray	Eileen Florence Quinlivan
	💍 1916/6251
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shipping Clerk	Domestic duties
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 days	18 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Hastings
Folio	3744
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 June 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Mahony

27 June 1916

Donald Douglas McLagan
Jessie Maud Miller

Donald Douglas McLagan
Jessie Maud Miller
💍 1916/6254

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Nurse

30
32

Hastings
Hastings

3 days
1 week

St. Matthews Church Hastings

3749

27 June 1916

Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

No	70
Date of Notice	27 June 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald Douglas McLagan	Jessie Maud Miller
	💍 1916/6254
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Nurse
Age	30	32
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 days	1 week
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church Hastings
Folio	3749
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 June 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

27 June 1916

John Alfred Pothan
Margaret Hunt Hickey

John Alfred Pothan
Margaret Helen Hickey
💍 1916/6256

Widower
Spinster

Coachbuilder
Domestic duties

46
29

Havelock North
Hastings

19 years
29 years

Roman Catholic Church Hastings

3750

27 June 1916

Rev. Father Mahony

No	71
Date of Notice	27 June 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Alfred Pothan	Margaret Hunt Hickey
BDM Match (91%)	John Alfred Pothan	Margaret Helen Hickey
	💍 1916/6256
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Coachbuilder	Domestic duties
Age	46	29
Dwelling Place	Havelock North	Hastings
Length of Residence	19 years	29 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Hastings
Folio	3750
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 June 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Mahony

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).