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 675

District of Thames Quarter ending 31 December 1911 Registrar William Henry Pott

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

25 November 1911

Joseph Howard Johnston
Clara Griffin

Joseph Howard Johnston
Clara Griffin
💍 1911/7448

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine driver
Domestic duties

27
29

Thames
Thames

1 day
29 years

St James' Presbyterian Church, Pollen St, Thames

11/7491

28 November 1911

Rev J Milne Presbyterian

No	45
Date of Notice	25 November 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Howard Johnston	Clara Griffin
	💍 1911/7448
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine driver	Domestic duties
Age	27	29
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	1 day	29 years
Marriage Place	St James' Presbyterian Church, Pollen St, Thames
Folio	11/7491
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 November 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev J Milne Presbyterian

25 November 1911

Angus Fleming Johnston
Ellen Burrett

Bachelor
Spinster

Moulder
Domestic duties

25
21

Thames
Thames

4 years
21 years

St Georges Church of England Mackay Street Thames

11/7486

25 November 1911

Dr O'Callaghan Church of England

No	46
Date of Notice	25 November 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Angus Fleming Johnston	Ellen Burrett
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Moulder	Domestic duties
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	4 years	21 years
Marriage Place	St Georges Church of England Mackay Street Thames
Folio	11/7486
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 November 1911
Officiating Minister	Dr O'Callaghan Church of England

7 December 1911

Herbert Cramer Roberts
Isabel Florence Banks

Herbert James Cramer Roberts
Isabel Florence Banks
💍 1911/7413

Bachelor
Spinster

Mine Manager
Domestic duties

29
26

Waihi
Thames

2 years
26 years

Church of England Waihi

11/7454

7 December 1911

Rev G W Smales Church of England

No	47
Date of Notice	7 December 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Cramer Roberts	Isabel Florence Banks
BDM Match (89%)	Herbert James Cramer Roberts	Isabel Florence Banks
	💍 1911/7413
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mine Manager	Domestic duties
Age	29	26
Dwelling Place	Waihi	Thames
Length of Residence	2 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Church of England Waihi
Folio	11/7454
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 December 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev G W Smales Church of England

8 December 1911

Robert Thomas Trotter
Helenor May Jillett Dally

Robert Thomas Trotter
Helenor May Jillett Dally
💍 1911/7425

Bachelor
Spinster

Bushman
Domestic duties

25
21

Waiomo
Waiomo

3 days
1 day

In the house of Mr R R Trotter Waiomo

11/7492

12 December 1911

Rev J Milne Presbyterian

No	48
Date of Notice	8 December 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Thomas Trotter	Helenor May Jillett Dally
	💍 1911/7425
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bushman	Domestic duties
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Waiomo	Waiomo
Length of Residence	3 days	1 day
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr R R Trotter Waiomo
Folio	11/7492
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 December 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev J Milne Presbyterian

11 December 1911

Thomas John Bowden
Annie Elizabeth Heard

Thomas John Bowden
Annie Elizabeth Heard
💍 1911/7426

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

28
29

Thames
Thames

2 days
2 months

In the house of Mrs Peitman Karaka Creek Thames

11/7493

13 December 1911

Rev J Milne Presbyterian

No	49
Date of Notice	11 December 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas John Bowden	Annie Elizabeth Heard
	💍 1911/7426
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	28	29
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	2 days	2 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs Peitman Karaka Creek Thames
Folio	11/7493
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 December 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev J Milne Presbyterian

13 December 1911

Peter Nathan Aro
Hera Tauhinu Tookey

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Domestic duties

32
18

Thames
Thames

32 years
18 years

In the house of Mrs Botall Duck Creek Junia Thames

11/8867

Charlotte Botall (Mother)

13 December 1911

Rev Timoti Manuera Church of England Thames

No	50
Date of Notice	13 December 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Nathan Aro	Hera Tauhinu Tookey
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Domestic duties
Age	32	18
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	32 years	18 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs Botall Duck Creek Junia Thames
Folio	11/8867
Consent	Charlotte Botall (Mother)
Date of Certificate	13 December 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev Timoti Manuera Church of England Thames

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).