Intentions to Marry, 1913 Auckland, Taranaki

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840451, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1913 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki (1913a), Hawke's Bay, Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1913b), and Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Chatham Islands (1913c).

Page 295

District of Drury Quarter ending 30 June 1913 Registrar John Alexander Mackenzie

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

12 April 1913

Harold Stewart Edward
Barbara Maud Pirrit

Harold Stewart Edward
Barbara Maud Pivit
💍 1913/2905

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
School Teacher

32
26

Hunua
Auckland

2 years 6 months
2 years

St. David's Auckland

13/2674

26 April 1913

Rev. J. M. Saunders

No	6
Date of Notice	12 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Stewart Edward	Barbara Maud Pirrit
BDM Match (95%)	Harold Stewart Edward	Barbara Maud Pivit
	💍 1913/2905
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	School Teacher
Age	32	26
Dwelling Place	Hunua	Auckland
Length of Residence	2 years 6 months	2 years
Marriage Place	St. David's Auckland
Folio	13/2674
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Saunders

24 April 1913

Richard John Bell
Sarah Elizabeth McConanghy

Richard John Bell
Sarah Elizabeth McConaughy
💍 1913/6837

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

29
25

Ardmore
Ardmore

Life
Life

Residence of Mr. McConanghy, Ardmore

13/6374

24 April 1913

Rev. W. C. Wood

No	7
Date of Notice	24 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard John Bell	Sarah Elizabeth McConanghy
BDM Match (98%)	Richard John Bell	Sarah Elizabeth McConaughy
	💍 1913/6837
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Ardmore	Ardmore
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. McConanghy, Ardmore
Folio	13/6374
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. C. Wood

14 May 1913

James William Leaning
Hilda Violetta Hill

James William Leaning
Hilda Violetta Hill
💍 1913/3111

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

27
25

Hunua
Hunua

1 week
Life

Presbyterian Church, Hunua

13/2932

14 May 1913

Rev. J. D. C. Madill

No	8
Date of Notice	14 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James William Leaning	Hilda Violetta Hill
	💍 1913/3111
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Hunua	Hunua
Length of Residence	1 week	Life
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Hunua
Folio	13/2932
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. D. C. Madill

20 May 1913

Richard Arnold Chaffey
Lottie Ellen Jones

Richard Arnold Chaffey
Lottie Ellen Jones
💍 1913/6836

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Domestic Duties

23
19

Clevedon
Clevedon

12 months
Life

All Souls Church, Clevedon

13/6374

Richard Roland Jones, Father of Bride

20 May 1913

Rev. W. C. Wood

No	9
Date of Notice	20 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Arnold Chaffey	Lottie Ellen Jones
	💍 1913/6836
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Domestic Duties
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Clevedon	Clevedon
Length of Residence	12 months	Life
Marriage Place	All Souls Church, Clevedon
Folio	13/6374
Consent	Richard Roland Jones, Father of Bride
Date of Certificate	20 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. C. Wood

27 May 1913

James Murray Shove
Winifred Shove

James Murray
Winifred Shove
💍 1913/3123

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Domestic Duties

29
25

Papakura
Papakura

12 months
2 years

Residence of Mr. T. H. Shove, Papakura

13/2969

27 May 1913

Rev. J. D. C. Madill

No	10
Date of Notice	27 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Murray Shove	Winifred Shove
BDM Match (83%)	James Murray	Winifred Shove
	💍 1913/3123
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Domestic Duties
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Papakura	Papakura
Length of Residence	12 months	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. T. H. Shove, Papakura
Folio	13/2969
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. D. C. Madill

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).