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 1092

District of Hastings Quarter ending 31 March 1916 Registrar Robert Brathwaite

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

22 February 1916

John Hannah
Phoebe Rubina O'Connell

John Hennah
Phoebe Rubina O'Connell
💍 1916/5075

Bachelor
Widow

Horse Trainer
Domestic duties

29
24

Hastings
Hastings

15 years
24 years

Residence of Mrs. Hurfitt, Hastings

2439

22 February 1916

Rev. P. Ramsay

No	22
Date of Notice	22 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Hannah	Phoebe Rubina O'Connell
BDM Match (95%)	John Hennah	Phoebe Rubina O'Connell
	💍 1916/5075
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Horse Trainer	Domestic duties
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	15 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Hurfitt, Hastings
Folio	2439
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay

25 February 1916

Cyril Septimus Reynolds
Ethel Smith

Cyril Septimus Reynolds
Ethel Smith
💍 1916/3659

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic duties

25
20

Hastings
Hastings

3 days
4 years

St. Matthews Church, Hastings

431

William Fiddler Smith, father

25 February 1916

Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

No	23
Date of Notice	25 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cyril Septimus Reynolds	Ethel Smith
	💍 1916/3659
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic duties
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 days	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church, Hastings
Folio	431
Consent	William Fiddler Smith, father
Date of Certificate	25 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

26 February 1916

Amohaere
Keita Rawiri

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

23
28

Hauke
Hauke

8 years
10 months

Rununga House, Hauke

26 February 1916

Elder William Gardiner

No	24
Date of Notice	26 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Amohaere	Keita Rawiri
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	23	28
Dwelling Place	Hauke	Hauke
Length of Residence	8 years	10 months
Marriage Place	Rununga House, Hauke
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Elder William Gardiner

2 March 1916

Whiri Tawera
Huitana Keaka

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

20
21

Hastings
Hastings

1 year
3 months

Hauke Church, Hauke

Panapa Tawera, father

2 March 1916

Elder W. Gardiner

No	25
Date of Notice	2 March 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Whiri Tawera	Huitana Keaka
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	20	21
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	1 year	3 months
Marriage Place	Hauke Church, Hauke
Folio
Consent	Panapa Tawera, father
Date of Certificate	2 March 1916
Officiating Minister	Elder W. Gardiner

2 March 1916

Wesley Overend
Jessie Evelyn Roe

Wesley Overend
Jessie Evelyn Roe
💍 1916/3660

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Domestic duties

22
22

Maraekakaho
Maraekakaho

3 years
22 years

Dwelling of Mr. Thomas Roe, Maraekakaho

432

2 March 1916

Rev. P. Ramsay

No	26
Date of Notice	2 March 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Wesley Overend	Jessie Evelyn Roe
	💍 1916/3660
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Domestic duties
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Maraekakaho	Maraekakaho
Length of Residence	3 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mr. Thomas Roe, Maraekakaho
Folio	432
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 March 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay

10 March 1916

Francis Couper
Alice Elizabeth Capelin

Francis Couper
Alice Elizabeth Capelin
💍 1916/3649

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Domestic duties

29
28

Hastings
Hastings

6 years
2 years

English Church, Hastings

427

10 March 1916

Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

No	27
Date of Notice	10 March 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Couper	Alice Elizabeth Capelin
	💍 1916/3649
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Domestic duties
Age	29	28
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	6 years	2 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Hastings
Folio	427
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 March 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

15 March 1916

Frank Henry Orchard
Camellia Catherine Caroline Lean

Frank Henry Orchard
Camellia Catherine Caroline Lean
💍 1916/3656

Bachelor
Spinster

Nurseryman
Domestic duties

20
21

Hastings
Hastings

20 years
21 years

Pukahu Church

428

George Henry Orchard, father

15 March 1916

Pastor Edridge

No	28
Date of Notice	15 March 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Henry Orchard	Camellia Catherine Caroline Lean
	💍 1916/3656
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Nurseryman	Domestic duties
Age	20	21
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	20 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Pukahu Church
Folio	428
Consent	George Henry Orchard, father
Date of Certificate	15 March 1916
Officiating Minister	Pastor Edridge

18 March 1916

Geoffrey Dalziell Robertson
Aileen Gertrude Sinclair

Geoffrey Dalziell Robertson
Aileen Gertrude Sinclair
💍 1916/3658

Bachelor
Spinster

Chauffeur
Domestic duties

28
21

Hastings
Koahora, Hastings

3 1/2 years
21 years

Residence of W. Sinclair, Koahora

430

18 March 1916

Rev. P. Ramsay

No	29
Date of Notice	18 March 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Geoffrey Dalziell Robertson	Aileen Gertrude Sinclair
	💍 1916/3658
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chauffeur	Domestic duties
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Koahora, Hastings
Length of Residence	3 1/2 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Residence of W. Sinclair, Koahora
Folio	430
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 March 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay

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).