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 698

District of Thames Quarter ending 30 September 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

1 July 1912

John Dawson
Alice May Brokenshire

John Dawson
Alice May Brokenshire
💍 1912/5857

Bachelor
Spinster

Solicitor
Shop Assistant

27
32

Thames
Thames

3 days
6 weeks

Methodist Church of Australasia, Pollen Street, Thames

12/5229

2 July 1912

Rev. I. Trestrail, Methodist Church of Australasia

No	29
Date of Notice	1 July 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Dawson	Alice May Brokenshire
	💍 1912/5857
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Solicitor	Shop Assistant
Age	27	32
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	6 weeks
Marriage Place	Methodist Church of Australasia, Pollen Street, Thames
Folio	12/5229
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 July 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. Trestrail, Methodist Church of Australasia

2 July 1912

Richard Thomas Joseph Brockliss
Frederica Rachael Ricket

Richard Thomas Joseph Brockliss
Frederica Rachel Rickit
💍 1912/5847

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Clerk
Domestic duties

23
23

Thames
Thames

4 days
23 years

St. George's Church, Mackay Street, Thames

12/5239

2 July 1912

Dr. O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	30
Date of Notice	2 July 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Thomas Joseph Brockliss	Frederica Rachael Ricket
BDM Match (96%)	Richard Thomas Joseph Brockliss	Frederica Rachel Rickit
	💍 1912/5847
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Clerk	Domestic duties
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	4 days	23 years
Marriage Place	St. George's Church, Mackay Street, Thames
Folio	12/5239
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 July 1912
Officiating Minister	Dr. O'Callaghan, Church of England

10 July 1912

Alexander Horace McGinniss
Mary Ellen McGowan

Alexander Horace McGinniss
Mary Ellen McGowan
💍 1912/5866

Bachelor
Spinster

Traveller
Domestic duties

22
22

Thames
Thames

3 days
3 days

Roman Catholic Church, Willoughby Street, Thames

12/5232

10 July 1912

Rev. F. J. Dignan, Roman Catholic

No	31
Date of Notice	10 July 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Horace McGinniss	Mary Ellen McGowan
	💍 1912/5866
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Traveller	Domestic duties
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Willoughby Street, Thames
Folio	12/5232
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 July 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. J. Dignan, Roman Catholic

10 July 1912

Michael Lennan
Janet Black

Michael Lennan
Janet Black
💍 1912/4676

Bachelor
Spinster

Bushman
Domestic duties

32
35

Thames
Thames

5 years
20 years

Registrar's Office, Mary Street, Thames

12/4523

10 July 1912

William H. Potts, Registrar

No	32
Date of Notice	10 July 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Lennan	Janet Black
	💍 1912/4676
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bushman	Domestic duties
Age	32	35
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	5 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Mary Street, Thames
Folio	12/4523
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 July 1912
Officiating Minister	William H. Potts, Registrar

13 July 1912

Richard Homan
Agnes Sarah Morrow

Richard Homan
Agnes Sarah Morrow
💍 1912/5864

Bachelor
Divorced (Decree absolute 30 November 1911)

Fisherman
Domestic duties

27
31

Thames
Thames

17 years
8 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Mackay Street, Thames

12/5230

13 July 1912

Rev. G. P. Hunt, Primitive Methodist

No	33
Date of Notice	13 July 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Homan	Agnes Sarah Morrow
	💍 1912/5864
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced (Decree absolute 30 November 1911)
Profession	Fisherman	Domestic duties
Age	27	31
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	17 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Mackay Street, Thames
Folio	12/5230
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 July 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. P. Hunt, Primitive Methodist

17 July 1912

Alexander Bateman
Mary Williams

Alexander Bateman
Mary Williams
💍 1912/5846

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic duties

29
28

Thames
Thames

29 years
28 years

In the house of Mr. Williams, Kauaeranga Valley, Thames

12/5228

17 July 1912

E. A. Taylor, Church of Christ

No	34
Date of Notice	17 July 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Bateman	Mary Williams
	💍 1912/5846
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic duties
Age	29	28
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	29 years	28 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. Williams, Kauaeranga Valley, Thames
Folio	12/5228
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 July 1912
Officiating Minister	E. A. Taylor, Church of Christ

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).