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 363

District of Hamilton Quarter ending 31 December 1912 Registrar Alfred James Bond

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

30 October 1912

Louis Pieters Swarbrick
Bessie Branstead

Louis Pieters Swarbrick
Bessie Ranstead
💍 1912/8420

Bachelor
Spinster

Surveyor
Domestic Duties

26
24

Hamilton
Marangi

2 years
10 years

Residence of Mr W. Branstead, Marangi

12/7484

30 October 1912

Rev. E. M. Cowie

No	95
Date of Notice	30 October 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Louis Pieters Swarbrick	Bessie Branstead
BDM Match (94%)	Louis Pieters Swarbrick	Bessie Ranstead
	💍 1912/8420
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Surveyor	Domestic Duties
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Marangi
Length of Residence	2 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr W. Branstead, Marangi
Folio	12/7484
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 October 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. M. Cowie

5 November 1912

Arthur Morey
Ethel Amy Douglas

Arthur Morey
Ethel Amy Douglas
💍 1912/8421

Bachelor
Spinster

Groom
Domestic Duties

24
21

Hamilton
Hamilton

3 years
18 months

Church of England, Hamilton

12/7486

5 November 1912

Rev. R. L. Connolly

No	96
Date of Notice	5 November 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Morey	Ethel Amy Douglas
	💍 1912/8421
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Groom	Domestic Duties
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Hamilton
Length of Residence	3 years	18 months
Marriage Place	Church of England, Hamilton
Folio	12/7486
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 November 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. L. Connolly

11 November 1912

Herbert Hugh Horwell
Amelia Henry

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

25
23

Hamilton
Hamilton

5 days
6 weeks

Presbyterian Church, Hamilton East

12/9041

11 November 1912

Rev. A. Gow

No	97
Date of Notice	11 November 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Hugh Horwell	Amelia Henry
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Hamilton
Length of Residence	5 days	6 weeks
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Hamilton East
Folio	12/9041
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 November 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Gow

20 November 1912

Bernie Ernest Eales
Margaret Annie Taylor

Bertie Ernest Eales
Margaret Annie Taylor
💍 1912/7061

Bachelor
Spinster

Mill-hand
Domestic Duties

23
24

Frankton Junction
Frankton Junction

4 years
24 years

Church of England, Hamilton

12/7476

20 November 1912

Rev. E. M. Cowie

No	98
Date of Notice	20 November 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bernie Ernest Eales	Margaret Annie Taylor
BDM Match (97%)	Bertie Ernest Eales	Margaret Annie Taylor
	💍 1912/7061
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mill-hand	Domestic Duties
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Frankton Junction	Frankton Junction
Length of Residence	4 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Hamilton
Folio	12/7476
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 November 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. M. Cowie

23 November 1912

Stephen Robson
Mary Baker

Stephen Robson
Mary Baker
💍 1912/8406

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
Domestic Duties

24
24

Hamilton
Hamilton

4 years
6 weeks

St. Paul's Primitive Methodist Church, Hamilton

12/7492

23 November 1912

Rev. J. Glover

No	99
Date of Notice	23 November 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stephen Robson	Mary Baker
	💍 1912/8406
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Domestic Duties
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Hamilton
Length of Residence	4 years	6 weeks
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Primitive Methodist Church, Hamilton
Folio	12/7492
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 November 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Glover

100

25 November 1912

Alfred Edward Polglase
Eliza Ellen Cresswell

Alfred Edward Polglase
Eliza Ellen Cresswell
💍 1912/8422

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

23
23

Te Rapa
Te Rapa

6 months
2 months

House of Mr. J. Mashers, Te Rapa

12/7486

25 November 1912

Rev. J. W. Wrigley

No	100
Date of Notice	25 November 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Edward Polglase	Eliza Ellen Cresswell
	💍 1912/8422
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Te Rapa	Te Rapa
Length of Residence	6 months	2 months
Marriage Place	House of Mr. J. Mashers, Te Rapa
Folio	12/7486
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 November 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Wrigley

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).