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 1131

District of Napier Quarter ending 30 September 1916 Registrar W. Buchanan

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

14 August 1916

Percival Samuel Hellier
Jean Mair Findlay

Percival Samuel Hellier
Jean Mair Findlay
💍 1916/8044

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Waitress

37
27

Napier
Napier

3 years
6 months

Registrars Office Napier

5706

14 August 1916

W. Buchanan, Registrar

No	99
Date of Notice	14 August 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percival Samuel Hellier	Jean Mair Findlay
	💍 1916/8044
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Waitress
Age	37	27
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 years	6 months
Marriage Place	Registrars Office Napier
Folio	5706
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 August 1916
Officiating Minister	W. Buchanan, Registrar

100

15 August 1916

George Robert Stevens
Lillian Alice Board

George Robert Stevens
Lillian Alice Board
💍 1916/8046

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer
Domestic Duties

27
23

Napier
Napier

3 days
21 months

St. Augustines Church Napier

5708

15 August 1916

Rev. E. T. Rice, Church of England

No	100
Date of Notice	15 August 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Robert Stevens	Lillian Alice Board
	💍 1916/8046
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer	Domestic Duties
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 days	21 months
Marriage Place	St. Augustines Church Napier
Folio	5708
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 August 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. T. Rice, Church of England

101

16 August 1916

Edward Leopold Brown
Rebecca Louisa Satchell

Edward Leopold Brown
Rebecca Louisa Satchell
💍 1916/8045

Divorced 10th December 1910
Divorced 20th July 1901

Farmer
Music Teacher

about 46
54

Taradale
Taradale

3 days
9 months

Registrars Office Napier

5707

16 August 1916

W. Buchanan, Registrar

No	101
Date of Notice	16 August 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Leopold Brown	Rebecca Louisa Satchell
	💍 1916/8045
Condition	Divorced 10th December 1910	Divorced 20th July 1901
Profession	Farmer	Music Teacher
Age	about 46	54
Dwelling Place	Taradale	Taradale
Length of Residence	3 days	9 months
Marriage Place	Registrars Office Napier
Folio	5707
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 August 1916
Officiating Minister	W. Buchanan, Registrar

102

16 August 1916

Ernest Henry Gibbs
Jessie Starkey

Ernest Henry Gibbs
Jessie Starkey
💍 1916/8042

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Mechanic
Machinist

28
22

Westshore
Westshore

6 years
22 years

St. Augustines Church Napier

5704

16 August 1916

Rev. E. T. Rice, Church of England

No	102
Date of Notice	16 August 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Henry Gibbs	Jessie Starkey
	💍 1916/8042
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Mechanic	Machinist
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Westshore	Westshore
Length of Residence	6 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Augustines Church Napier
Folio	5704
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 August 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. T. Rice, Church of England

103

21 August 1916

Arthur John Hellyer
Phoebe Isabel Howie

Arthur John Hellyer
Phoebe Isabel Howie
💍 1916/8041

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

32
23

Farndon
Napier

32 years
7 years

Congregational Church Napier

5703

21 August 1916

Rev. Alfred Hodge, Congregational

No	103
Date of Notice	21 August 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur John Hellyer	Phoebe Isabel Howie
	💍 1916/8041
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	32	23
Dwelling Place	Farndon	Napier
Length of Residence	32 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Congregational Church Napier
Folio	5703
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 August 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alfred Hodge, Congregational

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).