Intentions to Marry, 1917 Aria to Masterton

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840471, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1917 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.

1917c contains pages 862-1282, covering districts from Aria to Masterton

Page 1040

District of Napier Quarter ending 30 June 1917 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

12 June 1917

John Elias Hodgetts
Janet Ann Burnett

John Elia Hodgetts
Janet Ann Burnett
💍 1917/4024

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

44
34

Napier
Napier

2 weeks
2 months

Methodist Church Napier

3295

12 June 1917

Rev. J. R. Richards, Methodist

No	49
Date of Notice	12 June 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Elias Hodgetts	Janet Ann Burnett
BDM Match (97%)	John Elia Hodgetts	Janet Ann Burnett
	💍 1917/4024
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	44	34
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	2 weeks	2 months
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Napier
Folio	3295
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 June 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Richards, Methodist

15 June 1917

Thomas Richardson
Louisa Gordon Stuart

Thomas Richardson
Louisa Gordon Stuart
💍 1917/3561

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Cook

38
32

Napier
Napier

3 months
4 months

Registrar's Office Napier

2781

15 June 1917

W. Buchanan, Registrar

No	50
Date of Notice	15 June 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Richardson	Louisa Gordon Stuart
	💍 1917/3561
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Cook
Age	38	32
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 months	4 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Napier
Folio	2781
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 June 1917
Officiating Minister	W. Buchanan, Registrar

22 June 1917

Henry Durant Jago
Daisy Melville Ross

Henry Durant Jago
Daisy Melville Ross
💍 1917/3562

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Manager
Domestic Duties

39
26

Napier
Taradale

4 days
2 weeks

All Saints Church Taradale

2782

22 June 1917

Rev. A. P. Clarke, Church of England

No	51
Date of Notice	22 June 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Durant Jago	Daisy Melville Ross
	💍 1917/3562
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Manager	Domestic Duties
Age	39	26
Dwelling Place	Napier	Taradale
Length of Residence	4 days	2 weeks
Marriage Place	All Saints Church Taradale
Folio	2782
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 June 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. P. Clarke, Church of England

25 June 1917

Ernest Little
Emily Harlow

Ernest Little
Emily Harlow
💍 1917/4023

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Waitress

34
19

Napier
Napier

13 months
4 years

St John's Cathedral Napier

3294

Jane Melville Power formerly Harlow Mother

25 June 1917

Rev. Canon Mayne, Church of England

No	52
Date of Notice	25 June 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Little	Emily Harlow
	💍 1917/4023
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Waitress
Age	34	19
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	13 months	4 years
Marriage Place	St John's Cathedral Napier
Folio	3294
Consent	Jane Melville Power formerly Harlow Mother
Date of Certificate	25 June 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. Canon Mayne, Church of England

27 June 1917

Frederick Francis Roe
Robina Agnes Villers

Frederick Frances Roe
Robina Agnes Villers
💍 1917/4286

Widower 21st Oct 1907
Widow 15th Mar 1904

Farmer
Domestic Duties

78
62

Napier
Petane

4 weeks
62 years

Catholic Presbytery Napier

3360

27 June 1917

Rev. J. H. Dowling, Roman Catholic

No	53
Date of Notice	27 June 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Francis Roe	Robina Agnes Villers
BDM Match (98%)	Frederick Frances Roe	Robina Agnes Villers
	💍 1917/4286
Condition	Widower 21st Oct 1907	Widow 15th Mar 1904
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	78	62
Dwelling Place	Napier	Petane
Length of Residence	4 weeks	62 years
Marriage Place	Catholic Presbytery Napier
Folio	3360
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 June 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. Dowling, Roman Catholic

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).