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 705

District of Thames Quarter ending 31 December 1912 Registrar William H. 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

20 December 1912

Wallace Williams
Ethel May Abbott

Wallace Williams
Ethel May Abbott
💍 1912/8160

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

30
23

Pipiroa, Hauraki Plain
Pipiroa, Hauraki Plain

4 weeks
4 weeks

Registrar Office, Mary Street, Thames

12/6868

20 December 1912

William H. Potts, Registrar

No	70
Date of Notice	20 December 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Wallace Williams	Ethel May Abbott
	💍 1912/8160
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Pipiroa, Hauraki Plain	Pipiroa, Hauraki Plain
Length of Residence	4 weeks	4 weeks
Marriage Place	Registrar Office, Mary Street, Thames
Folio	12/6868
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 December 1912
Officiating Minister	William H. Potts, Registrar

20 December 1912

Robert Smith
Laura Jane Cleave

Robert Smith
Laura Jane Cleave
💍 1912/7093

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Shop Assistant

27
18

Thames
Thames

27 years
18 years

In the house of Rev. J. Milne, Rolleston Street, Thames

12/7554

George Martin Cleave

20 December 1912

Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

No	71
Date of Notice	20 December 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Smith	Laura Jane Cleave
	💍 1912/7093
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Shop Assistant
Age	27	18
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	27 years	18 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Rev. J. Milne, Rolleston Street, Thames
Folio	12/7554
Consent	George Martin Cleave
Date of Certificate	20 December 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

24 December 1912

Frederick Joseph Lowson
Annie Mary Mabel Harold

Frederick Joseph Lowson
Annie Mary Mabel Harold
💍 1912/7071

Bachelor
Spinster

Boilermakers Assistant
Saleswoman

31
26

Thames
Thames

27 years
4 years

Roman Catholic Church, Willoughby Street, Thames

12/7560

24 December 1912

Rev. J. J. Dignan, Roman Catholic

No	72
Date of Notice	24 December 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Joseph Lowson	Annie Mary Mabel Harold
	💍 1912/7071
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boilermakers Assistant	Saleswoman
Age	31	26
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	27 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Willoughby Street, Thames
Folio	12/7560
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 December 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Dignan, Roman Catholic

28 December 1912

William John Plabit
Mary Eliza Billings

William John Plant
Mary Eliza Billings
💍 1912/7070

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic duties

29
27

Thames
Thames

29 years
7 years

In the house of Mrs. Saunders, Rolleston St., Thames

12/7551

28 December 1912

Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

No	73
Date of Notice	28 December 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Plabit	Mary Eliza Billings
BDM Match (95%)	William John Plant	Mary Eliza Billings
	💍 1912/7070
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic duties
Age	29	27
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	29 years	7 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs. Saunders, Rolleston St., Thames
Folio	12/7551
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 December 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

30 December 1912

John Stewart
Agnes Louisa Jackson

John Stewart
Agnes Louisa Jackson
💍 1912/7339

Widower (24 February 1910)
Widow (27 August 1911)

Mill Hand
Domestic duties

51
42

Thames
Thames

30 years
42 years

In the house of Mr. Wyatt, Kopu, Thames

12/8001

30 December 1912

J. Clark, Baptist

No	74
Date of Notice	30 December 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Stewart	Agnes Louisa Jackson
	💍 1912/7339
Condition	Widower (24 February 1910)	Widow (27 August 1911)
Profession	Mill Hand	Domestic duties
Age	51	42
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	30 years	42 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. Wyatt, Kopu, Thames
Folio	12/8001
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 December 1912
Officiating Minister	J. Clark, Baptist

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).