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 1098

District of Hastings Quarter ending 30 June 1916 Registrar Robert Braithwaite

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

25 May 1916

Andrew Thorburrow
Alice Theresa Ebbett

Andrew Thornburrow
Alice Thresa Ebbett
💍 1916/6295

Bachelor
Widow

Orchardist
Domestic duties

33
34

Hastings
Hastings

4 years
20 years

St. Matthews Hastings

3769

25 May 1916

Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

No	56
Date of Notice	25 May 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Thorburrow	Alice Theresa Ebbett
BDM Match (95%)	Andrew Thornburrow	Alice Thresa Ebbett
	💍 1916/6295
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Orchardist	Domestic duties
Age	33	34
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	4 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Hastings
Folio	3769
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 May 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

29 May 1916

Andrew Robert Kelt
Christina Mackenzie

Andrew Robert Kell
Christina Mackenzie
💍 1916/6293

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier
School Teacher

30
25

Hastings
Hastings

8 days
8 days

Presbyterian Manse Hastings

3767

29 May 1916

Rev. P. Ramsay

No	57
Date of Notice	29 May 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Robert Kelt	Christina Mackenzie
BDM Match (97%)	Andrew Robert Kell	Christina Mackenzie
	💍 1916/6293
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier	School Teacher
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	8 days	8 days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse Hastings
Folio	3767
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 May 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay

30 May 1916

Hone Ngata
Wiramina Henry King

Hone Ngata
Wiramina Henry Kingi
💍 1916/6291

Widower
Widow

Farmer
Domestic duties

42
39

Waimarama
Waimarama

7 days
7 days

Registrars Office Hastings

3763

30 May 1916

Robert Braithwaite

No	58
Date of Notice	30 May 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hone Ngata	Wiramina Henry King
BDM Match (98%)	Hone Ngata	Wiramina Henry Kingi
	💍 1916/6291
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	42	39
Dwelling Place	Waimarama	Waimarama
Length of Residence	7 days	7 days
Marriage Place	Registrars Office Hastings
Folio	3763
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1916
Officiating Minister	Robert Braithwaite

30 May 1916

Herbert Beagle Smyth
Margaret Tidman Wallace

Herbert Neagle
Margaret McCalman Wallace
💍 1916/8578

Widower
Spinster

Stable Proprietor
Domestic

39
27

Hastings
Hastings

4 years
4 years

Presbyterian Manse Hastings

3766

30 May 1916

Rev. P. Ramsay

No	59
Date of Notice	30 May 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Beagle Smyth	Margaret Tidman Wallace
BDM Match (73%)	Herbert Neagle	Margaret McCalman Wallace
	💍 1916/8578
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Stable Proprietor	Domestic
Age	39	27
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse Hastings
Folio	3766
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay

1 June 1916

William Stanislaus Smyth
Jane Clara Grover

William Stanislaus Smyth
Jane Clara Grover
💍 1916/6292

Bachelor
Spinster

Orchardist
Domestic duties

33
26

Havelock North
Havelock North

4 years
8 years

Wesleyan Church Hastings

3765

1 June 1916

Rev. M. A. Rugby Pratt

No	60
Date of Notice	1 June 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Stanislaus Smyth	Jane Clara Grover
	💍 1916/6292
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Orchardist	Domestic duties
Age	33	26
Dwelling Place	Havelock North	Havelock North
Length of Residence	4 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church Hastings
Folio	3765
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 June 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. A. Rugby Pratt

2 June 1916

John Wyatt Newell
Janet Paton Ritchie Robertson

John Wyatt Newell
Janet Paton Ritchie Robertson
💍 1916/8577

Widower
Spinster

Plumber
Domestic duties

26
28

Military Camp Featherston
Hastings

5 days
12 years

St. Andrews Church Hastings

3764

2nd June 1916

Rev. P. Ramsay

No	61
Date of Notice	2 June 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Wyatt Newell	Janet Paton Ritchie Robertson
	💍 1916/8577
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Domestic duties
Age	26	28
Dwelling Place	Military Camp Featherston	Hastings
Length of Residence	5 days	12 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church Hastings
Folio	3764
Consent
Date of Certificate	2nd June 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay

5 June 1916

John Joseph Bird
Ellen Aldridge

John Joseph Bird
Ellen Aldridge
💍 1916/6294

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Shop Assistant

32
28

Waipukurau
Hastings

3 years
28 years

Sacred Heart Church Hastings

3768

5 June 1916

Rev. H. L. Donnell

No	62
Date of Notice	5 June 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Joseph Bird	Ellen Aldridge
	💍 1916/6294
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Shop Assistant
Age	32	28
Dwelling Place	Waipukurau	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 years	28 years
Marriage Place	Sacred Heart Church Hastings
Folio	3768
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 June 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. L. Donnell

7 June 1916

Axel Johnson
Louisa Hancock

Axel Johnson
Louisa Hancock
💍 1916/7983

Bachelor
Spinster

Cleaner
Domestic

32
30

Hastings
Hastings

2 1/2 years
3 years

St. Matthews Hastings

5668

7 June 1916

Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

No	63
Date of Notice	7 June 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Axel Johnson	Louisa Hancock
	💍 1916/7983
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cleaner	Domestic
Age	32	30
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Hastings
Folio	5668
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 June 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

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).