Intentions to Marry, 1916 Mauriceville to Wellington

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840466, 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.

1916d contains pages 1381-1802, covering districts from Mauriceville to Wellington

Page 1491

District of Sanson Quarter ending 30 June 1916 Registrar Rose Richardson

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

5 May 1916

Rudolph Alexander Klatt
Catherine Elizabeth McDonald

Rudolph Alexander Klatt
Catherine Elizabeth McDonald
💍 1916/6554

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Domestic

33
32

Ohakea
Ohakea

3 days
2 months

Dwelling of Mr. G. Shronrock Ohakea

3989

5 May 1916

Rev. R. P. Keall, Wesleyan Sanson

No	1
Date of Notice	5 May 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Rudolph Alexander Klatt	Catherine Elizabeth McDonald
	💍 1916/6554
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic
Age	33	32
Dwelling Place	Ohakea	Ohakea
Length of Residence	3 days	2 months
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mr. G. Shronrock Ohakea
Folio	3989
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 May 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. P. Keall, Wesleyan Sanson

22 May 1916

Donald Thompson
Bertha Louisa Buff

Donald Thompson
Bertha Louisa Suff
💍 1916/1141

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

24
24

Awahuri
Awahuri

5 years
9 months

Presbyterian Church Awahuri

3858

22 May 1916

Rev. J Miller, Presbyterian Feilding

No	2
Date of Notice	22 May 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald Thompson	Bertha Louisa Buff
BDM Match (97%)	Donald Thompson	Bertha Louisa Suff
	💍 1916/1141
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Awahuri	Awahuri
Length of Residence	5 years	9 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Awahuri
Folio	3858
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 May 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J Miller, Presbyterian Feilding

2 June 1916

Thomas Leen
Catherine Mary McCutchan

Thomas Leen
Catherine Mary McCutchan
💍 1916/6557

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

32
29

Makowhai
Makowhai

5 days
29 years

Roman Catholic Church Rongotea

3992

2 June 1916

Rev. J. O'Dwyer, Roman Catholic Feilding

No	3
Date of Notice	2 June 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Leen	Catherine Mary McCutchan
	💍 1916/6557
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	32	29
Dwelling Place	Makowhai	Makowhai
Length of Residence	5 days	29 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Rongotea
Folio	3992
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. O'Dwyer, Roman Catholic Feilding

6 June 1916

Charles William Treson
Reriata Matene

Charles William Ireson
Reriata Matene
💍 1916/12645

Bachelor
Widow 30th April 1913

Labourer
Domestic

39
35

Ohinepuhaine Sanson
Ohinepuhaine Sanson

8 days
35 years

House of Bride Ohinepuhaine

3974

6 June 1916

Rev. T. H. Katene, Anglican Native Minister Marton

No	4
Date of Notice	6 June 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles William Treson	Reriata Matene
BDM Match (98%)	Charles William Ireson	Reriata Matene
	💍 1916/12645
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 30th April 1913
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	39	35
Dwelling Place	Ohinepuhaine Sanson	Ohinepuhaine Sanson
Length of Residence	8 days	35 years
Marriage Place	House of Bride Ohinepuhaine
Folio	3974
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 June 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. H. Katene, Anglican Native Minister Marton

30 June 1916

Hermann Wilhelm Klatt
Ottilie Albertine Natzke

Hermann Wilhelm Klatt
Ottilie Albertine Natzke
💍 1916/1422

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

37
33

Ohakea
Ohakea

25 years
33 years

Residence of Mrs W. Natzke Ohakea

6241

30 June 1916

Rev. F Hassell, Lutheran Rongotea

No	5
Date of Notice	30 June 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hermann Wilhelm Klatt	Ottilie Albertine Natzke
	💍 1916/1422
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	37	33
Dwelling Place	Ohakea	Ohakea
Length of Residence	25 years	33 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs W. Natzke Ohakea
Folio	6241
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 June 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. F Hassell, Lutheran Rongotea

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).