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 1187

District of Waipawa Quarter ending 31 March 1916 Registrar R. James

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

18 January 1916

Thomas George Thomson
Eliza May Thomson

Thomas George Thomson
Eliza May Thomson Verran
💍 1916/5367

Previously married
Previously married

Labourer
Domestic

26
21

Waipawa
Waipawa

7 days
10 years

Methodist Church, Waipawa

2485

18 January 1916

Rev. Arthur Harding, Waipawa

No	1
Date of Notice	18 January 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas George Thomson	Eliza May Thomson
BDM Match (85%)	Thomas George Thomson	Eliza May Thomson Verran
	💍 1916/5367
Condition	Previously married	Previously married
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Waipawa	Waipawa
Length of Residence	7 days	10 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Waipawa
Folio	2485
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 January 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. Arthur Harding, Waipawa

2 February 1916

John Casey
Catherine Enright

John Casey
Catherine Enright
💍 1916/3592

Widower
Spinster

Bootmaker
Domestic

57
57

Waipukurau
Waipawa

8 months
3 weeks

Roman Catholic Church, Waipawa

537

2 February 1916

Rev. Edward Bergin, Waipawa

No	2
Date of Notice	2 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Casey	Catherine Enright
	💍 1916/3592
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker	Domestic
Age	57	57
Dwelling Place	Waipukurau	Waipawa
Length of Residence	8 months	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Waipawa
Folio	537
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. Edward Bergin, Waipawa

10 February 1916

Albyn Vincent Collins
Caroline Florence Olive Lowe

Albyn Vincent Collins
Caroline Florence Olive Lowe
💍 1916/3594

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm hand
Domestic

21
19

Otane
Waipawa

21 years
19 years

Presbyterian Church, Waipawa

539

Frederick Charles Lowe (Bride's father)

10 February 1916

Rev. J. Douglas Smith, Waipawa

No	3
Date of Notice	10 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albyn Vincent Collins	Caroline Florence Olive Lowe
	💍 1916/3594
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm hand	Domestic
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Otane	Waipawa
Length of Residence	21 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Waipawa
Folio	539
Consent	Frederick Charles Lowe (Bride's father)
Date of Certificate	10 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Douglas Smith, Waipawa

14 February 1916

Donald Eric McLeod
Mary Logan

Donald Eric McLeod
Mary Logan
💍 1916/3595

Bachelor
Spinster

Station Manager
Domestic

24
24

Waipawa
Tamumu

3 days
20 years

at the residence of Mrs Robertina Annie Logan, Tamumu

540

14 February 1916

Rev. J. Douglas Smith, Waipawa

No	4
Date of Notice	14 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald Eric McLeod	Mary Logan
	💍 1916/3595
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Station Manager	Domestic
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Waipawa	Tamumu
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	at the residence of Mrs Robertina Annie Logan, Tamumu
Folio	540
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Douglas Smith, Waipawa

24 February 1916

Arthur Middleton
Susan Birdie Chandler

Arthur Middleton
Susan Birdie Chandler
💍 1916/3593

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

25
18

Ongaonga
Ongaonga

25 years
3 years

Dwelling of Mr Frederick Samuel Chandler Ongaonga

538

Catherine Jane Jones (Bride's mother)

24 February 1916

Rev. James Archibald Munro, Ongaonga

No	5
Date of Notice	24 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Middleton	Susan Birdie Chandler
	💍 1916/3593
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	25	18
Dwelling Place	Ongaonga	Ongaonga
Length of Residence	25 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mr Frederick Samuel Chandler Ongaonga
Folio	538
Consent	Catherine Jane Jones (Bride's mother)
Date of Certificate	24 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Archibald Munro, Ongaonga

24 February 1916

Gordon Stewart White
Elizabeth Mysie Cameron

Gordon Stewart White
Elizabeth Mysie Cameron
💍 1916/3562

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

29
23

Otane
Hunterville

29 years
2 1/2 years

Roman Catholic Church, Hunterville

608

24 February 1916

Rev. Matthew Doolaghty, Hunterville

No	6
Date of Notice	24 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gordon Stewart White	Elizabeth Mysie Cameron
	💍 1916/3562
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Otane	Hunterville
Length of Residence	29 years	2 1/2 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Hunterville
Folio	608
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. Matthew Doolaghty, Hunterville

28 February 1916

William Hunter
Minnie Mary Stack

William Hunter
Minnie Mary Stack
💍 1916/3591

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

26
22

Pukehou
Pukehou

6 months
22 years

St Patricks Church, Waipawa

536

28 February 1916

Rev. E. Bergin, Waipawa

No	7
Date of Notice	28 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Hunter	Minnie Mary Stack
	💍 1916/3591
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Pukehou	Pukehou
Length of Residence	6 months	22 years
Marriage Place	St Patricks Church, Waipawa
Folio	536
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Bergin, Waipawa

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).