Intentions to Marry, 1918 Levin to Wellington

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840478, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1918 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.

1918d contains pages 1249-1646, covering districts from Levin to Wellington

Page 1279

District of Masterton Quarter ending 30 September 1918 Registrar Miller

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

6 July 1918

Thomas James Carroll
Raku Arapata

Thomas James Carroll
Raku Arapata
💍 1918/4862

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

33
28

Masterton
Masterton

13 years
28 years

Roman Catholic Church Masterton

4424

6 July 1918

Rev Father Julian Maillard, Roman Catholic Church

No	36
Date of Notice	6 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas James Carroll	Raku Arapata
	💍 1918/4862
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	33	28
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	13 years	28 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Masterton
Folio	4424
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev Father Julian Maillard, Roman Catholic Church

2 August 1918

Charles Edward Madden
Sarah Annie Burling

Charles Edward Madden
Sarah Annie Burling
💍 1918/4873

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Importer
Domestic Duties

33
24

Masterton
Masterton

2 years
2 years

Knox Church Masterton

4425

2 August 1918

Rev Robert Inglis, Presbyterian Church

No	37
Date of Notice	2 August 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Edward Madden	Sarah Annie Burling
	💍 1918/4873
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Importer	Domestic Duties
Age	33	24
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Knox Church Masterton
Folio	4425
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 August 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev Robert Inglis, Presbyterian Church

8 August 1918

Philip Bree Valpy
Beatrice Stephens

Philip Brie Valpy
Beatrice Stephens
💍 1918/4878

Bachelor
Widow

Cycle Manager
Domestic Duties

34
34

Masterton
Masterton

18 months
18 months

Church of Epiphany Kuripuni

4426

8 August 1918

Rev John Walker, Church of England

No	38
Date of Notice	8 August 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Philip Bree Valpy	Beatrice Stephens
BDM Match (97%)	Philip Brie Valpy	Beatrice Stephens
	💍 1918/4878
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Cycle Manager	Domestic Duties
Age	34	34
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	18 months	18 months
Marriage Place	Church of Epiphany Kuripuni
Folio	4426
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 August 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev John Walker, Church of England

13 August 1918

Wilfred Clarke
Caroline Teresa Cicely Power

Wilfrid Clarke
Caroline Teresa Cicely Power
💍 1918/4879

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic Duties

41
37

Masterton and Wairoa
Masterton and Mauriceville

3 days (Masterton) 9 months (Wairoa)
3 days (Masterton) 26 years (Mauriceville)

St Patrick's Church Masterton

4427

13 August 1918

Rev Monsignor John McKenna, Roman Catholic Church

No	39
Date of Notice	13 August 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Wilfred Clarke	Caroline Teresa Cicely Power
BDM Match (96%)	Wilfrid Clarke	Caroline Teresa Cicely Power
	💍 1918/4879
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic Duties
Age	41	37
Dwelling Place	Masterton and Wairoa	Masterton and Mauriceville
Length of Residence	3 days (Masterton) 9 months (Wairoa)	3 days (Masterton) 26 years (Mauriceville)
Marriage Place	St Patrick's Church Masterton
Folio	4427
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 August 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev Monsignor John McKenna, Roman Catholic Church

17 August 1918

Arthur Ernest Harrington Slack
Lillian Maud Schofield

Arthur Ernest Harrington Atack
Lilian Maud Schofield
💍 1918/4880

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep farmer
Domestic Duties

30
23

Masterton
Mangapakeha

6 years
23 years

St Matthews Church Masterton

4428

17 August 1918

Rev John Walker, Church of England

No	40
Date of Notice	17 August 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Ernest Harrington Slack	Lillian Maud Schofield
BDM Match (94%)	Arthur Ernest Harrington Atack	Lilian Maud Schofield
	💍 1918/4880
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Mangapakeha
Length of Residence	6 years	23 years
Marriage Place	St Matthews Church Masterton
Folio	4428
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 August 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev John Walker, Church of England

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).