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 1032

District of Napier Quarter ending 31 March 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

14 March 1917

Peter McLean
Henrietta Taylor

Peter McLean
Henrietta Taylor
💍 1917/1935

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Shop Assistant

24
20

Napier
Napier

8 years
2 1/2 years

Registrar's Office Napier

1021

Susan Jamieson formerly Taylor Mother

17 March 1917

W. Buchanan Registrar

No	16
Date of Notice	14 March 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter McLean	Henrietta Taylor
	💍 1917/1935
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Shop Assistant
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	8 years	2 1/2 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Napier
Folio	1021
Consent	Susan Jamieson formerly Taylor Mother
Date of Certificate	17 March 1917
Officiating Minister	W. Buchanan Registrar

20 March 1917

William Hart
Annie Louis Smith

William Hart
Annie Louis Smith
💍 1917/2253

William Percy McNabb
Annie Louisa Smith
💍 1917/1498

Widower 15 January 1916
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

52
40

Napier
Napier

3 days
40 years

"Kia Ora" Nelson Crescent Napier

1440

20 March 1917

Rev. J. R. Richards Methodist

No	17
Date of Notice	20 March 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Hart	Annie Louis Smith
	💍 1917/2253
BDM Match (70%)	William Percy McNabb	Annie Louisa Smith
	💍 1917/1498
Condition	Widower 15 January 1916	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	52	40
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 days	40 years
Marriage Place	"Kia Ora" Nelson Crescent Napier
Folio	1440
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Richards Methodist

22 March 1917

William Owen Dupre' Ryall
Ethel Muriel Capp

William Owen Dupie Ryall
Ethel Muriel Capp
💍 1917/2287

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Clerk
Dental Attendant

30
25

Napier
Palmerston North

9 years
11 years

All Saints Church Palmerston North

1473

22 March 1917

Rev. H. G. Blackburne Church of England

No	18
Date of Notice	22 March 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Owen Dupre' Ryall	Ethel Muriel Capp
BDM Match (96%)	William Owen Dupie Ryall	Ethel Muriel Capp
	💍 1917/2287
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Clerk	Dental Attendant
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Napier	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	9 years	11 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church Palmerston North
Folio	1473
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 March 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. G. Blackburne Church of England

23 March 1917

Arthur Herbert Robinson
Mary Elizabeth Ward

Arthur Herbert Robinson
Mary Elizabeth Ward
💍 1917/2283

Bachelor
Spinster

Law Clerk
Domestic Duties

22
23

Napier
Napier

22 years
23 years

St. Augustine's Church Napier

1469

23 March 1917

Rev. S. D. Rice Church of England

No	19
Date of Notice	23 March 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Herbert Robinson	Mary Elizabeth Ward
	💍 1917/2283
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Law Clerk	Domestic Duties
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	22 years	23 years
Marriage Place	St. Augustine's Church Napier
Folio	1469
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 March 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. D. Rice Church of England

24 March 1917

James David Haugh
Elizabeth Magill

James David Haugh
Elizabeth Magill
💍 1917/2284

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer and Soldier
School Teacher

33
32

Trentham
Napier

3 weeks
32 years

Baptist Church Napier

1470

24 March 1917

Rev. Charles Menzies Baptist

No	20
Date of Notice	24 March 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James David Haugh	Elizabeth Magill
	💍 1917/2284
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer and Soldier	School Teacher
Age	33	32
Dwelling Place	Trentham	Napier
Length of Residence	3 weeks	32 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church Napier
Folio	1470
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 March 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. Charles Menzies Baptist

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).