Intentions to Marry, 1909 Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840439, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1909 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay (1909a), Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1909b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1909c).

Page 676

District of Thames Quarter ending 31 December 1909 Registrar William Henry Potts

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

2 October 1909

Joseph Michael Moran
Ruth Kelsall

Joseph Michael Moran
Ruth Kelsall
💍 1909/6492

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic duties

22
21

Thames
Thames

22 years
21 years

Roman Catholic Church, Willoughby Street, Thames

09/8108

2 October 1909

Rev. H. J. Ligan, Roman Catholic

No	60
Date of Notice	2 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Michael Moran	Ruth Kelsall
	💍 1909/6492
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic duties
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	22 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Willoughby Street, Thames
Folio	09/8108
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 October 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. J. Ligan, Roman Catholic

29 May 1907

John Carpenter
Mary Ann Dunsford

John Carpenter
Mary Ann Dunsford
💍 1909/4780

Widower
Widow

Pensioner
Domestic duties

87
68

Thames
Thames

40 years
40 years

In the house of Mrs. Purnell, Mary Street, Thames

09/6216

4 October 1909

Rev. A. Harding, Primitive Methodist

No	61
Date of Notice	29 May 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Carpenter	Mary Ann Dunsford
	💍 1909/4780
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Pensioner	Domestic duties
Age	87	68
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	40 years	40 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs. Purnell, Mary Street, Thames
Folio	09/6216
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 October 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Harding, Primitive Methodist

9 October 1909

George Gray
Alice Mary Challis

George Gray
Alice Mary Challis
💍 1909/4767

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

23
20

Wharepoa
Thames

3 years
20 years

At the house of Mrs. M. A. Challis, Karaka

09/6204

Mary Ann Challis, mother

9 October 1909

Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

No	62
Date of Notice	9 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Gray	Alice Mary Challis
	💍 1909/4767
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Wharepoa	Thames
Length of Residence	3 years	20 years
Marriage Place	At the house of Mrs. M. A. Challis, Karaka
Folio	09/6204
Consent	Mary Ann Challis, mother
Date of Certificate	9 October 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

12 October 1909

Robert James Stevens
Hazel Ruby Dunlop

Robert James Stevens
Hazel Ruby Dunlop
💍 1909/4768

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer
Domestic duties

37
23

Thames
Thames

2 days
23 years

Presbyterian Church, Pollen Street, Thames

09/6205

14 October 1909

Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

No	63
Date of Notice	12 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert James Stevens	Hazel Ruby Dunlop
	💍 1909/4768
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	37	23
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	2 days	23 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Pollen Street, Thames
Folio	09/6205
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 October 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

20 October 1909

Hubert Gorton Elmes
Hilda Janet Ensor

Hubert Gorton Nelmes
Hilda Janet Ensor
💍 1909/4787

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Domestic duties

27
26

Thames
Thames

4 days
26 years

Methodist Church of Australasia, Pollen Street, Thames

09/6202

20 October 1909

Rev. J. Blight, Methodist Church of Australasia

No	64
Date of Notice	20 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hubert Gorton Elmes	Hilda Janet Ensor
BDM Match (95%)	Hubert Gorton Nelmes	Hilda Janet Ensor
	💍 1909/4787
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Domestic duties
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	4 days	26 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church of Australasia, Pollen Street, Thames
Folio	09/6202
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 October 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Blight, Methodist Church of Australasia

22 October 1909

Charles Lanning
Alma Gilroy

Charles Lanning
Alma Gilroy
💍 1909/4778

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic duties

23
17

Thames
Thames

23 years
7 months

Registrar's Office, Mary Street, Thames

09/6214

William H. Potts, Registrar

6 November 1909

William H. Potts, Registrar

No	65
Date of Notice	22 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Lanning	Alma Gilroy
	💍 1909/4778
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic duties
Age	23	17
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	23 years	7 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Mary Street, Thames
Folio	09/6214
Consent	William H. Potts, Registrar
Date of Certificate	6 November 1909
Officiating Minister	William H. Potts, Registrar

6 November 1909

James Treloar
Lily Neill Reid

James Treloar
Lily Neill Reid
💍 1909/4766

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer
Book Keeper

28
29

Thames
Thames

1 day
29 years

In the house of Mrs. L. Reid, Campbell Street, Thames

09/6203

9 November 1909

Rev. J. Blight, Methodist Church of Australasia

No	66
Date of Notice	6 November 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Treloar	Lily Neill Reid
	💍 1909/4766
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer	Book Keeper
Age	28	29
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	1 day	29 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs. L. Reid, Campbell Street, Thames
Folio	09/6203
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 November 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Blight, Methodist Church of Australasia

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).