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 1141

District of Napier Quarter ending 31 December 1916 Registrar H. 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

140

21 November 1916

James Gleeson
Margaret Kearney

James Gleeson
Margaret Kearney
💍 1916/2998

James Walter Lyons
Margaret Kearney
💍 1916/7241

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Ganger
Dressmaker

39
24

Napier
Napier

4 days
24 years

St. Patricks Church Napier

8202

21 November 1916

Rev. Father O'Sullivan, Roman Catholic

No	140
Date of Notice	21 November 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Gleeson	Margaret Kearney
	💍 1916/2998
BDM Match (78%)	James Walter Lyons	Margaret Kearney
	💍 1916/7241
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Ganger	Dressmaker
Age	39	24
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	4 days	24 years
Marriage Place	St. Patricks Church Napier
Folio	8202
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 November 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father O'Sullivan, Roman Catholic

141

23 November 1916

James Taylor
Florence Harriet Hart

James Taylor
Florence Harriet Hart
💍 1916/2648

Widower 16 April 1902
Spinster

Foreman of Works
Nurse

56
47

Napier
Napier

26 years
3 months

Residence of J. R. Taylor Hornby Road Napier

7571

23 November 1916

Rev. H. B. Edridge, Baptist

No	141
Date of Notice	23 November 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Taylor	Florence Harriet Hart
	💍 1916/2648
Condition	Widower 16 April 1902	Spinster
Profession	Foreman of Works	Nurse
Age	56	47
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	26 years	3 months
Marriage Place	Residence of J. R. Taylor Hornby Road Napier
Folio	7571
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 November 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. B. Edridge, Baptist

142

24 November 1916

James Charles Paget
Mary Bald

James Charles Paget
Mary Bald
💍 1916/2666

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Mechanic
Dressmaker

23
22

Napier
Napier

10 years
22 years

St Augustines Church Napier

7573

24 November 1916

Rev. E. D. Rice, Church of England

No	142
Date of Notice	24 November 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Charles Paget	Mary Bald
	💍 1916/2666
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Mechanic	Dressmaker
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	10 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St Augustines Church Napier
Folio	7573
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 November 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. D. Rice, Church of England

143

28 November 1916

Herewini Karehana
Raroa Apatari

Herewini Karehana
Raroa Apatari
💍 1916/2667

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

26
19

Waiohiki
Waiohiki

2 weeks
17 years

Registrar's Office Napier

7574

Kurupo Tareha, Guardian

28 November 1916

H. Buchanan, Registrar

No	143
Date of Notice	28 November 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herewini Karehana	Raroa Apatari
	💍 1916/2667
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Waiohiki	Waiohiki
Length of Residence	2 weeks	17 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Napier
Folio	7574
Consent	Kurupo Tareha, Guardian
Date of Certificate	28 November 1916
Officiating Minister	H. Buchanan, Registrar

144

2 December 1916

Walter Isaac Hartley Kirkham
Emma Barbara Taylor

Walter Isaac Hartley Kirkham
Emma Barbara Taylor
💍 1916/2659

Widower 11th August 1914
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

55
35

Eskdale
Napier

42 years
17 years

Congregational Church Napier

7572

2 December 1916

Rev. Alfred Hodge, Congregational

No	144
Date of Notice	2 December 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Isaac Hartley Kirkham	Emma Barbara Taylor
	💍 1916/2659
Condition	Widower 11th August 1914	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	55	35
Dwelling Place	Eskdale	Napier
Length of Residence	42 years	17 years
Marriage Place	Congregational Church Napier
Folio	7572
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 December 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).