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 1020

District of Hastings Quarter ending 30 September 1917 Registrar Robert Braithwaite

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

20 July 1917

Edward Cregoe Fookes
Elizabeth Bee

Edward Cregor Fookes
Elizabeth Bar
💍 1917/4923

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

40
30

Hastings
Hastings

4 days
30 years

Church of England, Hastings

4397

20 July 1917

Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

No	44
Date of Notice	20 July 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Cregoe Fookes	Elizabeth Bee
BDM Match (90%)	Edward Cregor Fookes	Elizabeth Bar
	💍 1917/4923
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	40	30
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	4 days	30 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Hastings
Folio	4397
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 July 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst

28 July 1917

Walter Stephen Guy Love
Margaret Binnie Christison

Walter Stephen Guy Love
Margaret Binnie Christison
💍 1917/4924

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Domestic duties

24
20

Hastings
Hastings

24 years
4 years

Registrar's Office, Hastings

4398

Robert Christison (father)

28 July 1917

Robert Braithwaite

No	45
Date of Notice	28 July 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Stephen Guy Love	Margaret Binnie Christison
	💍 1917/4924
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Domestic duties
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	24 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Hastings
Folio	4398
Consent	Robert Christison (father)
Date of Certificate	28 July 1917
Officiating Minister	Robert Braithwaite

2 August 1917

Richard David Collins
Annie Avery

Richard David Collins
Annie Avery
💍 1917/4925

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraph Linesman
Domestic duties

24
23

Hastings
Hastings

22 years
6 years

Catholic Church, Hastings

4399

2 August 1917

Rev. J. Fraher

No	46
Date of Notice	2 August 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard David Collins	Annie Avery
	💍 1917/4925
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraph Linesman	Domestic duties
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	22 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Catholic Church, Hastings
Folio	4399
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 August 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Fraher

3 August 1917

Ralph Ewart Barley
Florence Myrtle Marriott

Ralph Ewart Barley
Florence Myrtle Marriott
💍 1917/4933

Bachelor
Spinster

Master Tailor
Dressmaker

35
25

Hastings
Hastings

6 years
3 years

Baptist Church, Hastings

4400

3 August 1917

Rev. H. E. Edridge

No	47
Date of Notice	3 August 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ralph Ewart Barley	Florence Myrtle Marriott
	💍 1917/4933
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Master Tailor	Dressmaker
Age	35	25
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	6 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church, Hastings
Folio	4400
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 August 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. E. Edridge

13 August 1917

Daniel William Harper
Matilda Maria Lines

Daniel William Harper
Matilda Maria Lines
💍 1917/4944

Bachelor
Spinster

Shearer
Domestic duties

31
32

Hastings
Hastings

31 years
10 years

At the house of G. Lines, Hastings

4401

13 August 1917

Rev. R. Waugh

No	48
Date of Notice	13 August 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel William Harper	Matilda Maria Lines
	💍 1917/4944
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shearer	Domestic duties
Age	31	32
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	31 years	10 years
Marriage Place	At the house of G. Lines, Hastings
Folio	4401
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 August 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Waugh

21 August 1917

Alfred Moffat Smith
Alice Prentice Gillies

Alfred Moffat Smith
Alice Prentice Gillies
💍 1917/4949

Widower
Spinster

Sheepfarmer
Domestic duties

55
34

Hastings
Napier

38 years
9 years

Dwelling of Mrs Gillies, Sealy Road, Napier

4424

21 August 1917

Rev. J. Asher

No	49
Date of Notice	21 August 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Moffat Smith	Alice Prentice Gillies
	💍 1917/4949
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer	Domestic duties
Age	55	34
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Napier
Length of Residence	38 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mrs Gillies, Sealy Road, Napier
Folio	4424
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 August 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Asher

25 August 1917

Alexander Walker Whyte
Daisy Ellen Scott McNaughton

Alexander Walker Whyte
Daisy Ellen Scott McNaughton
💍 1917/4950

Bachelor
Spinster

Expeditionary Force
School Teacher

31
26

Hastings
Hastings

3 1/2 years
16 years

Presbyterian Church, Hastings

4402

25 August 1917

Rev. P. Ramsay

No	50
Date of Notice	25 August 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Walker Whyte	Daisy Ellen Scott McNaughton
	💍 1917/4950
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Expeditionary Force	School Teacher
Age	31	26
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 1/2 years	16 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Hastings
Folio	4402
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 August 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay

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).