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 305

District of Gisborne Quarter ending 31 March 1913 Registrar Henry Ewart Hill

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

27 January 1913

William Alexander Couper
Edith Hilda Sherratt

William Alexander Couper
Edith Hilda Sherratt
💍 1913/1625

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer
Domestic Duties

26
26

Gisborne, Poverty Bay
Patutahi, Poverty Bay

10 days
Life

St. George's Church, Patutahi, Poverty Bay

13/638

27 January 1913

Rev. Henry Thos. Rawsley, Church of England (Patutahi)

No	16
Date of Notice	27 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Alexander Couper	Edith Hilda Sherratt
	💍 1913/1625
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Gisborne, Poverty Bay	Patutahi, Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	10 days	Life
Marriage Place	St. George's Church, Patutahi, Poverty Bay
Folio	13/638
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry Thos. Rawsley, Church of England (Patutahi)

29 January 1913

William Stanley Saunders
Nellie Gray

William Stanley Saunders
Nellie Gray
💍 1913/831

Bachelor
Married woman whose husband has been continually absent from her for the 20 years she has not been aware whether he was alive or dead during the 20 years last past

Seaman
Domestic Duties

38
41

Gisborne
Gisborne

2 years
4 years

The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

13/263

29 January 1913

Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

No	18
Date of Notice	29 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Stanley Saunders	Nellie Gray
	💍 1913/831
Condition	Bachelor	Married woman whose husband has been continually absent from her for the 20 years she has not been aware whether he was alive or dead during the 20 years last past
Profession	Seaman	Domestic Duties
Age	38	41
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	2 years	4 years
Marriage Place	The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne
Folio	13/263
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

30 January 1913

Thomas Breck
Jane Stevenson

Thomas Breck
Jane Stevenson
💍 1913/832

Bachelor
Widow

Journeyman Tailor
Domestic Duties

36
38

Gisborne
Gisborne

16 months
4 years

The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

13/264

30 January 1913

Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

No	19
Date of Notice	30 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Breck	Jane Stevenson
	💍 1913/832
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Journeyman Tailor	Domestic Duties
Age	36	38
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	16 months	4 years
Marriage Place	The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne
Folio	13/264
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

3 February 1913

John Cowie Houston
Ellen Would

John Cowie Huston
Ellen Mould
💍 1913/833

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

35
25

Gisborne
Mangapapa, Gisborne

About 14 years
6 months

The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

13/265

3 February 1913

Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

No	20
Date of Notice	3 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Cowie Houston	Ellen Would
BDM Match (93%)	John Cowie Huston	Ellen Mould
	💍 1913/833
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	35	25
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Mangapapa, Gisborne
Length of Residence	About 14 years	6 months
Marriage Place	The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne
Folio	13/265
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

10 February 1913

Theophilus McCallum
Dnez Ethel Oates

Theophilus McCallum
Inez Ethel Kate Oates
💍 1913/1202

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer
Domestic Duties

44
36

Gisborne
Gisborne

7 years
Life

Private residence of the bride, 11 Gladstone Street, Gisborne

13/662

10 February 1913

Rev. Ernest William Walker, Presbyterian Minister, Ormond

No	21
Date of Notice	10 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Theophilus McCallum	Dnez Ethel Oates
BDM Match (86%)	Theophilus McCallum	Inez Ethel Kate Oates
	💍 1913/1202
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	44	36
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	7 years	Life
Marriage Place	Private residence of the bride, 11 Gladstone Street, Gisborne
Folio	13/662
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Ernest William Walker, Presbyterian Minister, Ormond

10 February 1913

Frederick William Korte
Elizabeth Mary Redpath

Frederick William Korte
Elizabeth Mary Redpath
💍 1913/1203

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer
Domestic Duties

29
22

Matawai, Poverty Bay
Rakauroa, Poverty Bay

6 years
14 years

Private residence of the bride's parents, Rakauroa

13/663

10 February 1913

Rev. Ernest William Walker, Presbyterian Minister, Ormond

No	22
Date of Notice	10 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick William Korte	Elizabeth Mary Redpath
	💍 1913/1203
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer	Domestic Duties
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Matawai, Poverty Bay	Rakauroa, Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	6 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Private residence of the bride's parents, Rakauroa
Folio	13/663
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Ernest William Walker, Presbyterian Minister, Ormond

14 February 1913

Horace Charles Cornish
Daisy Thea Fraser

Horace Charles Cormish
Daisy Ella Fraser
💍 1913/1222

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
Domestic Duties

29
24

Gisborne
Gisborne

5 years
Life

Holy Trinity Church, Gisborne

13/658

14 February 1913

Rev. Leslie G. Thomas, Church of England

No	23
Date of Notice	14 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Horace Charles Cornish	Daisy Thea Fraser
BDM Match (89%)	Horace Charles Cormish	Daisy Ella Fraser
	💍 1913/1222
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Domestic Duties
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	5 years	Life
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Gisborne
Folio	13/658
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Leslie G. Thomas, Church of England

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).