Intentions to Marry, 1911 Auckland, Taranaki

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840445, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1911 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, (1911a), Hawke's Bay, Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1911b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1911c).

Page 674

District of Thames Quarter ending 31 December 1911 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 1911

William Henry Green
Lavina Alice Matheson

William Henry Green
Lavina Alice Matheson
💍 1911/7447

Bachelor
Spinster

Mill Hand
Domestic duties

24
18

Kopu
Kopu

7 months
8 months

In the house of Mrs P. Matheson

11/7490

Prudence Matheson, Mother

2 October 1911

Rev J Milne, Presbyterian

No	39
Date of Notice	2 October 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Green	Lavina Alice Matheson
	💍 1911/7447
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mill Hand	Domestic duties
Age	24	18
Dwelling Place	Kopu	Kopu
Length of Residence	7 months	8 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs P. Matheson
Folio	11/7490
Consent	Prudence Matheson, Mother
Date of Certificate	2 October 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev J Milne, Presbyterian

24 October 1911

John Lanigan
Mary Elizabeth Gilbley

John Lanigan
Mary Elizabeth Tilsley
💍 1911/6570

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

23
19

Thames
Thames

20 years
5 years

In the Registrar's Office, Mary Street, Thames

11/6614

George Gilbley, Father

24 October 1911

William H. Potts, Registrar

No	40
Date of Notice	24 October 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Lanigan	Mary Elizabeth Gilbley
BDM Match (95%)	John Lanigan	Mary Elizabeth Tilsley
	💍 1911/6570
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	20 years	5 years
Marriage Place	In the Registrar's Office, Mary Street, Thames
Folio	11/6614
Consent	George Gilbley, Father
Date of Certificate	24 October 1911
Officiating Minister	William H. Potts, Registrar

26 October 1911

George Wood
Ethel May Fisher

George Wood
Ethel May Fisher
💍 1911/7430

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Domestic duties

28
27

Thames
Thames

28 years
10 years

Methodist Church of Australasia, Pollen Street, Thames

11/7498

26 October 1911

Rev J Trestrail, Methodist Church of Australasia

No	41
Date of Notice	26 October 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Wood	Ethel May Fisher
	💍 1911/7430
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Domestic duties
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	28 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church of Australasia, Pollen Street, Thames
Folio	11/7498
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 October 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev J Trestrail, Methodist Church of Australasia

26 October 1911

George Henry Albert Gribb
Nellie Worsley Fisher

George Henry Albert Cribb
Nellie Worsley Fisher
💍 1911/7431

Bachelor
Spinster

Dairyman
Teacher

30
31

Thames
Thames

30 years
10 years

Methodist Church of Australasia, Pollen Street, Thames

11/7499

26 October 1911

Rev J Trestrail, Methodist Church of Australasia

No	42
Date of Notice	26 October 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Albert Gribb	Nellie Worsley Fisher
BDM Match (98%)	George Henry Albert Cribb	Nellie Worsley Fisher
	💍 1911/7431
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dairyman	Teacher
Age	30	31
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	30 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church of Australasia, Pollen Street, Thames
Folio	11/7499
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 October 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev J Trestrail, Methodist Church of Australasia

27 October 1911

Alexander Currie
Frances Alice Morgan

Alexander Currie
Frances Alice Morgan
💍 1911/7446

Bachelor
Spinster

Shoe Maker
Domestic duties

32
30

Thames
Thames

28 years
30 years

Church of Christ, Pollen Street, Thames

11/7489

27 October 1911

Chas Waterhouse, Church of Christ

No	43
Date of Notice	27 October 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Currie	Frances Alice Morgan
	💍 1911/7446
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shoe Maker	Domestic duties
Age	32	30
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	28 years	30 years
Marriage Place	Church of Christ, Pollen Street, Thames
Folio	11/7489
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 October 1911
Officiating Minister	Chas Waterhouse, Church of Christ

13 November 1911

Kenneth Harold Kidd
Florence Annette Day

Kenneth Harold Kidd
Florence Annette Day
💍 1911/7442

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic duties

28
19

Thames
Thames

2 days
2 days

St George's Church, Mackay Street, Thames

11/7485

Katherine Ann Day, Mother

15 November 1911

Dr O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	44
Date of Notice	13 November 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Kenneth Harold Kidd	Florence Annette Day
	💍 1911/7442
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic duties
Age	28	19
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	2 days	2 days
Marriage Place	St George's Church, Mackay Street, Thames
Folio	11/7485
Consent	Katherine Ann Day, Mother
Date of Certificate	15 November 1911
Officiating Minister	Dr O'Callaghan, 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).