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 1599

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 March 1916 Registrar G. G. Hodgkins

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

171

24 February 1916

Thomas Brewer
Freda Mary Williamson

Thomas Brewer
Freda Mary Williamson
💍 1916/4241

Thomas Hernon Vesey
Elizabeth Mary Williamson
💍 1916/8866

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier

25
19

Wellington
Wellington

3 months
6 days

St. Barnabas Church Khandallah

1570

Charles Robert Williamson, father

24 February 1916

Rev. J. H. Petrie

No	171
Date of Notice	24 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Brewer	Freda Mary Williamson
	💍 1916/4241
BDM Match (60%)	Thomas Hernon Vesey	Elizabeth Mary Williamson
	💍 1916/8866
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 months	6 days
Marriage Place	St. Barnabas Church Khandallah
Folio	1570
Consent	Charles Robert Williamson, father
Date of Certificate	24 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. Petrie

172

24 February 1916

Ernest Bannons
Lilian Austin Taylor

Ernest Cannons
Lilian Austin Taylor
💍 1916/4254

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

29
22

Moawhango
Wellington

4 years
4 months

St. Peter's Church Wellington

1576

24 February 1916

Rev. H. Watson

No	172
Date of Notice	24 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Bannons	Lilian Austin Taylor
BDM Match (96%)	Ernest Cannons	Lilian Austin Taylor
	💍 1916/4254
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Moawhango	Wellington
Length of Residence	4 years	4 months
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church Wellington
Folio	1576
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Watson

173

24 February 1916

John Henry Medd
Alice Louisa Sheritt

John Henry Nedd
Alice Louisa Skeritt
💍 1916/8767

Bachelor
Widow (27 March 1915)

Labourer

35
34

Wellington
Wellington

12 months
3 years

Registrar's Office Wellington

846

24 February 1916

Deputy Registrar

No	173
Date of Notice	24 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Medd	Alice Louisa Sheritt
BDM Match (94%)	John Henry Nedd	Alice Louisa Skeritt
	💍 1916/8767
Condition	Bachelor	Widow (27 March 1915)
Profession	Labourer
Age	35	34
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	12 months	3 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Wellington
Folio	846
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar

174

24 February 1916

William Howard Greenfield
Ethel Bellini

William Howard Greenfield
Ethel Bellini
💍 1916/10395

Bachelor
Spinster

Drapery manager

23
25

Wellington
Wellington

8 months
2 years

Methodist Church Webb Street Wellington

1569

24 February 1916

Rev. G. Knowles Smith

No	174
Date of Notice	24 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Howard Greenfield	Ethel Bellini
	💍 1916/10395
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Drapery manager
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	8 months	2 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Webb Street Wellington
Folio	1569
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Knowles Smith

175

24 February 1916

Fredrick William Gough
Laura Louisa Hewson

Fredrick William Gough
Laura Louisa Hewson
💍 1916/4242

Bachelor
Widow (20 November 1904)

Carpenter

41
41

Wellington
Petone

7 days
18 years

Wesley Church Taranaki Street Wellington

1571

24 February 1916

Rev. J. G. Chapman

No	175
Date of Notice	24 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Fredrick William Gough	Laura Louisa Hewson
	💍 1916/4242
Condition	Bachelor	Widow (20 November 1904)
Profession	Carpenter
Age	41	41
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Petone
Length of Residence	7 days	18 years
Marriage Place	Wesley Church Taranaki Street Wellington
Folio	1571
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. Chapman

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).