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 1124

District of Napier Quarter ending 30 June 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

24 May 1916

Albert Alfred Wishnowsky
Ivy Grace Marion Fisher Wiley

Albert Alfred Wishnowsky
Ivy Grace Marion Fisher Wiley
💍 1916/13289

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway clerk
Waitress

25
22

Napier
Napier

3 days
18 months

St. Johns Cathedral Napier

4481

24 May 1916

Rev. Canon Mayne Church of England

No	68
Date of Notice	24 May 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Alfred Wishnowsky	Ivy Grace Marion Fisher Wiley
	💍 1916/13289
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway clerk	Waitress
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 days	18 months
Marriage Place	St. Johns Cathedral Napier
Folio	4481
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 May 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. Canon Mayne Church of England

25 May 1916

Charles Corkill
Lydia Goodall

Charles Corkill
Lydia Goodall
💍 1916/576

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman
Domestic Duties

21
20

Napier
Napier

12 years
20 years

Registrar's Office Napier

3794

Emma Jane Jane, Mother

25 May 1916

W. Buchanan Registrar

No	69
Date of Notice	25 May 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Corkill	Lydia Goodall
	💍 1916/576
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman	Domestic Duties
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	12 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Napier
Folio	3794
Consent	Emma Jane Jane, Mother
Date of Certificate	25 May 1916
Officiating Minister	W. Buchanan Registrar

25 May 1916

James Edward Lyford
Lilian Margaret Robinson

James Edward Lyford
Lilian Margaret Robinson
💍 1916/577

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier late Horse Trainer
Domestic Duties

27
16

Greenmeadows
Greenmeadows

5 years
10 years

The Manse Lincoln Road Napier

3795

Thomas Robinson Father

25 May 1916

Rev. J. A. Asher Presbyterian

No	70
Date of Notice	25 May 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Edward Lyford	Lilian Margaret Robinson
	💍 1916/577
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier late Horse Trainer	Domestic Duties
Age	27	16
Dwelling Place	Greenmeadows	Greenmeadows
Length of Residence	5 years	10 years
Marriage Place	The Manse Lincoln Road Napier
Folio	3795
Consent	Thomas Robinson Father
Date of Certificate	25 May 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Asher Presbyterian

31 May 1916

William Joseph Quinn
Edith May Anderson

William Joseph Quinn
Edith May Anderson
💍 1916/575

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Employee
Domestic Duties

27
24

Clive
Clive

3 days
18 months

Catholic Church Clive

3793

31 May 1916

Rev. Father McDonnell Roman Catholic

No	71
Date of Notice	31 May 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Joseph Quinn	Edith May Anderson
	💍 1916/575
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employee	Domestic Duties
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Clive	Clive
Length of Residence	3 days	18 months
Marriage Place	Catholic Church Clive
Folio	3793
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father McDonnell Roman Catholic

7 June 1916

William Horace Wells
Charlotte Maude Bryan

William Horace Wells
Charlotte Maude Bryan
💍 1916/574

Bachelor
Spinster

Hotel Employee
Domestic

28
24

Taradale
Taradale

5 years
24 years

All Saints Church Taradale

3792

7 June 1916

Rev. A. P. Clarke Church of England

No	72
Date of Notice	7 June 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Horace Wells	Charlotte Maude Bryan
	💍 1916/574
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hotel Employee	Domestic
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Taradale	Taradale
Length of Residence	5 years	24 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church Taradale
Folio	3792
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 June 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. P. Clarke 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).