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 1347

District of Levin Quarter ending 30 September 1916 Registrar H. H. Cork

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

12 July 1916

Robert Symonds
Eva Louisa Garard

Robert Symonds
Eva Louisa Garard
💍 1916/8126

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

22
18

Levin
Levin

3 days
6 years

St Mary's Church, Levin

5838

Mary Ann Archibald, Mother

12 July 1916

Rev. H. T. Stealey, Church of England

No	11
Date of Notice	12 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Symonds	Eva Louisa Garard
	💍 1916/8126
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	22	18
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	3 days	6 years
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church, Levin
Folio	5838
Consent	Mary Ann Archibald, Mother
Date of Certificate	12 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. T. Stealey, Church of England

31 July 1916

Thomas Morison Hall
Flora Jane McKinnon

Thomas Rorison Hall
Flora Jane McKinnon
💍 1916/8125

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Tailoress

32
33

Levin
Levin

7 years
9 days

Residence of Mr David Malcolm, Cambridge Street, Levin

5837

31 July 1916

Mr Herbert Grinstead, Church of Christ

No	12
Date of Notice	31 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Morison Hall	Flora Jane McKinnon
BDM Match (97%)	Thomas Rorison Hall	Flora Jane McKinnon
	💍 1916/8125
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Tailoress
Age	32	33
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	7 years	9 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr David Malcolm, Cambridge Street, Levin
Folio	5837
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Mr Herbert Grinstead, Church of Christ

07 August 1916

John Franklin Daniel
Elizabeth Ann Driver

John Franklin Daniel
Elizabeth Ann Driver
💍 1916/8124

Widower
Widow

Labourer
Domestic Duties

62
50

Levin
Levin

8 years
12 years

Residence of William Storey, Seddon Street, Weraroa

5836

07 August 1916

Rev. W. H. E. Abbey, Methodist

No	13
Date of Notice	07 August 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Franklin Daniel	Elizabeth Ann Driver
	💍 1916/8124
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	62	50
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	8 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Residence of William Storey, Seddon Street, Weraroa
Folio	5836
Consent
Date of Certificate	07 August 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. E. Abbey, Methodist

12 August 1916

Robert David Rolston
Eva Caroline Ellen Harvey

Robert David Rolston
Eva Caroline Ellen Harvey
💍 1916/8123

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

23
22

Levin
Levin

2 months
2 years

Gospel Hall, Oxford Street, Levin

5835

12 August 1916

Thomas Rowe, Christians commonly known as Brethren

No	14
Date of Notice	12 August 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert David Rolston	Eva Caroline Ellen Harvey
	💍 1916/8123
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	2 months	2 years
Marriage Place	Gospel Hall, Oxford Street, Levin
Folio	5835
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 August 1916
Officiating Minister	Thomas Rowe, Christians commonly known as Brethren

05 September 1916

Lewis Percival Scott
Lilian May Death

Lewis Percival Scott
Lilian May Death
💍 1916/8145

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic Duties

22
22

Eltham
Ohau

12 months
13 years

St Mary's Church, Levin

5834

05 September 1916

Rev. H. T. Stealey, Church of England

No	15
Date of Notice	05 September 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lewis Percival Scott	Lilian May Death
	💍 1916/8145
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Eltham	Ohau
Length of Residence	12 months	13 years
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church, Levin
Folio	5834
Consent
Date of Certificate	05 September 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. T. Stealey, Church of England

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).