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 1103

District of Hastings Quarter ending 30 September 1916 Registrar Robert Brathwaite

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

15 August 1916

Harry McClelland
Mary Macmillan

Harry McClelland
Mary Macmillan
💍 1916/7991

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Clerk

25
24

Hastings
Hastings

8 years
24 years

Catholic Church, Hastings

5675

15 August 1916

Rev. Father Casey

No	90
Date of Notice	15 August 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry McClelland	Mary Macmillan
	💍 1916/7991
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Clerk
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	8 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Catholic Church, Hastings
Folio	5675
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 August 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Casey

16 August 1916

Daniel Barry
Elizabeth Kearns

Daniel Barry
Elizabeth Kearns
💍 1916/7989

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic duties

31
33

Napier
Tomoana

31 years
30 years

Roman Catholic Church, Hastings

5673

16 August 1916

Rev. Father O'Donnell

No	91
Date of Notice	16 August 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel Barry	Elizabeth Kearns
	💍 1916/7989
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic duties
Age	31	33
Dwelling Place	Napier	Tomoana
Length of Residence	31 years	30 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Hastings
Folio	5673
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 August 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father O'Donnell

26 August 1916

William Alexander Black
Mary Agnes Parker

William Alexander Black
Mary Agnes Parker
💍 1916/7987

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
House duties

42
30

Hastings
Hastings

10 years
4 years

Presbyterian Manse, Hastings

5672

26 August 1916

Rev. P. Ramsay

No	92
Date of Notice	26 August 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Alexander Black	Mary Agnes Parker
	💍 1916/7987
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	House duties
Age	42	30
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	10 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Hastings
Folio	5672
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 August 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay

5 September 1916

Gordon Goodwin Grant Stephens
Margaret Catherine Griffith

Gordon Goodwin Grant Stephens
Margaret Catherine Griffith
💍 1916/7992

Bachelor
Spinster

Public Accountant
House duties

37
36

Hastings
Hastings

10 years
9 years

Baptist Church, Hastings

5676

5 September 1916

Rev. Pastor Edridge

No	93
Date of Notice	5 September 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gordon Goodwin Grant Stephens	Margaret Catherine Griffith
	💍 1916/7992
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Public Accountant	House duties
Age	37	36
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	10 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church, Hastings
Folio	5676
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 September 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. Pastor Edridge

9 September 1916

Ralph Goulding Herd
Winifred Ferguson Wallis

Ralph Goulding Herd
Winifred Ferguson Wallis
💍 1916/7787

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

24
24

Hastings
Hamilton

3 years
1 year

Methodist Church, Hamilton

5486

9 September 1916

Rev. W. J. Wallis

No	94
Date of Notice	9 September 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ralph Goulding Herd	Winifred Ferguson Wallis
	💍 1916/7787
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hamilton
Length of Residence	3 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Hamilton
Folio	5486
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 September 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Wallis

9 September 1916

David Stanley Shaw
Margaret Hilda Gumbley

David Stanley Shaw
Margaret Hilda Gumbley
💍 1916/8613

Bachelor
Spinster

Bricklayer
Domestic duties

28
27

Hastings
Hastings

2 1/2 years
4 months

Catholic Church, Hastings

5695

9 September 1916

Rev. Father O'Donnell

No	95
Date of Notice	9 September 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Stanley Shaw	Margaret Hilda Gumbley
	💍 1916/8613
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bricklayer	Domestic duties
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	4 months
Marriage Place	Catholic Church, Hastings
Folio	5695
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 September 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father O'Donnell

11 September 1916

Arthur George Webber
Annie Rose Martin

Arthur George Webber
Annie Rose Martin
💍 1916/7985

Bachelor
Widow

Farm hand
Domestic

25
31

Maraekakaho
Fernhill

2 years
4 years

St. Matthews Church, Hastings

5670

11 September 1916

Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

No	96
Date of Notice	11 September 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur George Webber	Annie Rose Martin
	💍 1916/7985
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farm hand	Domestic
Age	25	31
Dwelling Place	Maraekakaho	Fernhill
Length of Residence	2 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church, Hastings
Folio	5670
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 September 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

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).