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 700

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

14 August 1912

Robert Leitch Heggie
Annabelle Murray Potter

Robert Leitch Heggie
Annabelle Murray Potter
💍 1912/5865

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

28
20

Thames
Thames

2 years
20 years

In the house of Mr W. A. Murray, Martha Street, Thames

12/5231

William Anderson Murray (Father)

14 August 1912

E H Taylor, Church of Christ

No	42
Date of Notice	14 August 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Leitch Heggie	Annabelle Murray Potter
	💍 1912/5865
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr W. A. Murray, Martha Street, Thames
Folio	12/5231
Consent	William Anderson Murray (Father)
Date of Certificate	14 August 1912
Officiating Minister	E H Taylor, Church of Christ

20 August 1912

Ernest Alfred Fowles
Margaret Eva Bell

Ernest Alfred Vowles
Margaret Eva Bell
💍 1912/5849

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

27
22

Wharepoa
Wharepoa

3 days
21 years

In the house of Mr J A Bell, Wharepoa

12/5241

20 August 1912

Rev J. P. Cowie, Church of England

No	43
Date of Notice	20 August 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Alfred Fowles	Margaret Eva Bell
BDM Match (98%)	Ernest Alfred Vowles	Margaret Eva Bell
	💍 1912/5849
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Wharepoa	Wharepoa
Length of Residence	3 days	21 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr J A Bell, Wharepoa
Folio	12/5241
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 August 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev J. P. Cowie, Church of England

21 August 1912

William John Aro
Elsie Alice Bopall

William John Aeo
Elsie Alice Boxall
💍 1912/5848

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

23
15

Thames
Turua

23 years
15 years

In the house of Mrs C Bopall, Turua

12/5240

Charlotte Bopall (Mother)

21 August 1912

Dr O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	44
Date of Notice	21 August 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Aro	Elsie Alice Bopall
BDM Match (94%)	William John Aeo	Elsie Alice Boxall
	💍 1912/5848
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	23	15
Dwelling Place	Thames	Turua
Length of Residence	23 years	15 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs C Bopall, Turua
Folio	12/5240
Consent	Charlotte Bopall (Mother)
Date of Certificate	21 August 1912
Officiating Minister	Dr O'Callaghan, Church of England

21 August 1912

John West
Gertrude Bradshaw

John West
Gertrude Bradshaw
💍 1912/4678

Bachelor
Widow 22nd May 1911

Blacksmith
Domestic duties

29
28

Thames
Thames

29 years
3 years

In the Registrars Office, Mary St, Thames

12/4525

21 August 1912

William H Potts, Registrar

No	45
Date of Notice	21 August 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John West	Gertrude Bradshaw
	💍 1912/4678
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 22nd May 1911
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic duties
Age	29	28
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	29 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In the Registrars Office, Mary St, Thames
Folio	12/4525
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 August 1912
Officiating Minister	William H Potts, Registrar

22 August 1912

Milton Burnett Farquhar
Ruby Catherine Lawson

Milton Burnett Farquhar
Ruby Catherine Lawson
💍 1912/6553

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer
Domestic duties

30
24

Thames
Thames

6 days
24 years

In the house of Mrs O'Neill, Willoughby St, Thames

12/6471

22 August 1912

Rev F. J. Dignan, Roman Catholic

No	46
Date of Notice	22 August 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Milton Burnett Farquhar	Ruby Catherine Lawson
	💍 1912/6553
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer	Domestic duties
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	6 days	24 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs O'Neill, Willoughby St, Thames
Folio	12/6471
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 August 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev F. J. Dignan, Roman Catholic

31 August 1912

James Edward Quinn
Alice Lee

James Edward Quinn
Alice Lee
💍 1912/4686

Divorced Rule absolute June 1904
Divorced Rule absolute 21th August 1912

Master Mariner
Domestic duties

43
30

Thames
Thames

3 days
3 days

Registrars Office, Mary Street, Thames

12/4526

1 September 1912

William H Potts, Registrar

No	47
Date of Notice	31 August 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Edward Quinn	Alice Lee
	💍 1912/4686
Condition	Divorced Rule absolute June 1904	Divorced Rule absolute 21th August 1912
Profession	Master Mariner	Domestic duties
Age	43	30
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Mary Street, Thames
Folio	12/4526
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 September 1912
Officiating Minister	William H Potts, Registrar

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).