Intentions to Marry, 1912 Auckland, Taranaki, Gisborne

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840448, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1912 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, Gisborne (1912a), Hawke's Bay, Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1912b), and Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Chatham Islands (1912c).

Page 692

District of Thames Quarter ending 31 March 1912 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

3 January 1912

Walter Charles Franks
Letty Gilpin

Walter Charles Franks
Letty Gilpin
💍 1912/1599

Bachelor
Spinster

Drapers Assistant
Domestic duties

22
23

Thames
Thames

2 days
23 years

St. George's Church, Mackay St, Thames

12/1307

5 January 1912

Dr O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	1
Date of Notice	3 January 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Charles Franks	Letty Gilpin
	💍 1912/1599
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Drapers Assistant	Domestic duties
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	2 days	23 years
Marriage Place	St. George's Church, Mackay St, Thames
Folio	12/1307
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 January 1912
Officiating Minister	Dr O'Callaghan, Church of England

8 January 1912

John Thiel Pilling
Isabella Currie

John Ithiel Pilling
Isabella Currie
💍 1912/1596

Bachelor
Spinster

Constable
Domestic duties

28
30

Thames
Thames

2 days
21 years

In the house of Mr A Currie, Mount Sea Road, Parawai, Thames

12/1304

10 January 1912

Chas Waterhouse, Church of Christ

No	2
Date of Notice	8 January 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thiel Pilling	Isabella Currie
BDM Match (95%)	John Ithiel Pilling	Isabella Currie
	💍 1912/1596
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Constable	Domestic duties
Age	28	30
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	2 days	21 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr A Currie, Mount Sea Road, Parawai, Thames
Folio	12/1304
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1912
Officiating Minister	Chas Waterhouse, Church of Christ

15 January 1912

Thomas Moor Morriss
Sarah Emma Whitehead

Thomas Moor Morriss
Sarah Emma Whitehead
💍 1912/1598

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Domestic duties

36
24

Thames
Thames

2 days
2 weeks

Methodist Church of Australasia, Pollen Street, Thames

12/1306

17 January 1912

Rev S. L. Grestrail, Methodist Church of Australasia

No	3
Date of Notice	15 January 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Moor Morriss	Sarah Emma Whitehead
	💍 1912/1598
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Domestic duties
Age	36	24
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	2 days	2 weeks
Marriage Place	Methodist Church of Australasia, Pollen Street, Thames
Folio	12/1306
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 January 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev S. L. Grestrail, Methodist Church of Australasia

15 January 1912

Armstrong McCormick
Emily May Martin

Armstrong McCormick
Emily May Martin
💍 1912/705

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic duties

24
18

Thames
Thames

4 days
17 years

Registrars Office, Mary Street, Thames

12/354

Alice Mary Jane Martin (Mother)

15 January 1912

William H Potts, Registrar

No	4
Date of Notice	15 January 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Armstrong McCormick	Emily May Martin
	💍 1912/705
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic duties
Age	24	18
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	4 days	17 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Mary Street, Thames
Folio	12/354
Consent	Alice Mary Jane Martin (Mother)
Date of Certificate	15 January 1912
Officiating Minister	William H Potts, Registrar

16 January 1912

Arthur Charles Newland
Grace Kerby

Arthur Charles Newland
Grace Kerby
💍 1912/1576

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

32
19

Warahoe
Turua

1 week
4 years

Presbyterian Church, Pollen Street, Thames

12/1257

McInnes Holden (Mother)

16 January 1912

Rev J. Milne, Presbyterian

No	5
Date of Notice	16 January 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Charles Newland	Grace Kerby
	💍 1912/1576
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	32	19
Dwelling Place	Warahoe	Turua
Length of Residence	1 week	4 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Pollen Street, Thames
Folio	12/1257
Consent	McInnes Holden (Mother)
Date of Certificate	16 January 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Milne, Presbyterian

13 February 1912

William Michael Rae
Lucy Caroline Bell

William Michael Rae
Lucy Caroline Bell
💍 1912/1597

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

31
23

Turua
Wharepoa

2 years
18 years

In the house of Mr J. A. M. Bell, Wharepoa

12/1305

13 February 1912

Rev J. J. Dignan, Roman Catholic

No	6
Date of Notice	13 February 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Michael Rae	Lucy Caroline Bell
	💍 1912/1597
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	31	23
Dwelling Place	Turua	Wharepoa
Length of Residence	2 years	18 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr J. A. M. Bell, Wharepoa
Folio	12/1305
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev J. J. Dignan, Roman Catholic

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).