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 891

District of Stratford Quarter ending 30 September 1912 Registrar S. A. James

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 August 1912

Henry Albert Pinniger
Lillian Mary Coans

Henry Albert Penniger
Lillian Mary Evans
💍 1912/4679

Bachelor
Widow

Ship Steward

34
46

Feilding
Midhurst

3 months
1 week

Office of The Registrar at Stratford

12/4503

3 August 1912

S. P. James, Deputy Registrar

No	33
Date of Notice	3 August 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Albert Pinniger	Lillian Mary Coans
BDM Match (92%)	Henry Albert Penniger	Lillian Mary Evans
	💍 1912/4679
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Ship Steward
Age	34	46
Dwelling Place	Feilding	Midhurst
Length of Residence	3 months	1 week
Marriage Place	Office of The Registrar at Stratford
Folio	12/4503
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 August 1912
Officiating Minister	S. P. James, Deputy Registrar

8 August 1912

Charles Henry Trask
Grace Isabel Pauline Macdonald

Charles Henry Trask
Grace Isabel Pauline Macdonald
💍 1912/5213

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk Railways

26
25

Hawera
Stratford

9 months
18 years

Holy Trinity Church, Stratford

12/8771

8 August 1912

W. A. Butter, Church of England

No	34
Date of Notice	8 August 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Trask	Grace Isabel Pauline Macdonald
	💍 1912/5213
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk Railways
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Hawera	Stratford
Length of Residence	9 months	18 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Stratford
Folio	12/8771
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 August 1912
Officiating Minister	W. A. Butter, Church of England

14 August 1912

Robert Leonard Suisted
Jessie Johnson

Robert Leonard Suisted
Jessie Johnson
💍 1912/4680

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

23
27

Bunnythorpe
Ngaere

19 years
27 years

Office of the Registrar at Stratford

12/4504

14 August 1912

S. A. James, Registrar

No	35
Date of Notice	14 August 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Leonard Suisted	Jessie Johnson
	💍 1912/4680
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	23	27
Dwelling Place	Bunnythorpe	Ngaere
Length of Residence	19 years	27 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar at Stratford
Folio	12/4504
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 August 1912
Officiating Minister	S. A. James, Registrar

20 August 1912

Richard Andrew Belcher
Lillian Ellen Rogers

Richard Andrew Belcher
Lillian Ellen Rogers
💍 1912/6507

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

25
19

Cardiff
Cardiff

25 years
19 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Stratford

12/6230

William Rogers, father

20 August 1912

B. Metson, Primitive Methodist

No	36
Date of Notice	20 August 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Andrew Belcher	Lillian Ellen Rogers
	💍 1912/6507
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Cardiff	Cardiff
Length of Residence	25 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Stratford
Folio	12/6230
Consent	William Rogers, father
Date of Certificate	20 August 1912
Officiating Minister	B. Metson, Primitive Methodist

30 August 1912

Joseph John James Barre
Ellen Frances Edycombe

Joseph John James Barre
Ellen Frances Edgcombe
💍 1912/4681

Widower
Widow

Labourer

56
40

Whangamomona
Whangamomona

3 years
3 years

Office of the Registrar at Stratford

12/4506

30 August 1912

S. A. James, Registrar

No	37
Date of Notice	30 August 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph John James Barre	Ellen Frances Edycombe
BDM Match (98%)	Joseph John James Barre	Ellen Frances Edgcombe
	💍 1912/4681
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Labourer
Age	56	40
Dwelling Place	Whangamomona	Whangamomona
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar at Stratford
Folio	12/4506
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 August 1912
Officiating Minister	S. A. James, Registrar

2 September 1912

James Austin
Johanna Callaghan

James Austin
Johanna Callaghan
💍 1912/7626

Bachelor
Spinster

Factory Manager

28
31

Opunake
Ngaere

1 year
12 years

Roman Catholic Church, Stratford

12/5548

2 September 1912

P. Greacy, Roman Catholic

No	38
Date of Notice	2 September 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Austin	Johanna Callaghan
	💍 1912/7626
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Factory Manager
Age	28	31
Dwelling Place	Opunake	Ngaere
Length of Residence	1 year	12 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Stratford
Folio	12/5548
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 September 1912
Officiating Minister	P. Greacy, Roman Catholic

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).