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 560

District of Ohinemuri Quarter ending 31 December 1913 Registrar George William Woods

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 October 1913

James Arthur Thornton
Beatrice Thomson Lowry

James Arthur Thornton
Beatrice Thomson Lowry
💍 1913/7390

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Porter
Household duties

30
23

Paeroa
Hikutaia

3 days
2 years

Residence of Mr James Lowry Senior

13/7179

3 October 1913

Rev. J. P. Cowie, Church of England

No	20
Date of Notice	3 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Arthur Thornton	Beatrice Thomson Lowry
	💍 1913/7390
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Porter	Household duties
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Paeroa	Hikutaia
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr James Lowry Senior
Folio	13/7179
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. P. Cowie, Church of England

8 October 1913

Lionel Evelyn Hobart
Constance Margaret Edwards

Lionel Evelyn Hobart
Constance Margaret Edwards
💍 1913/7367

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant
Home duties

25
25

Paeroa
Paeroa

3 days
25 years

S. Pauls Church of England

13/7180

8 October 1913

Rev. J. P. Cowie, Church of England

No	21
Date of Notice	8 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lionel Evelyn Hobart	Constance Margaret Edwards
	💍 1913/7367
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	Home duties
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Paeroa	Paeroa
Length of Residence	3 days	25 years
Marriage Place	S. Pauls Church of England
Folio	13/7180
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. P. Cowie, Church of England

15 October 1913

Frank Emory Timanus
Barbara Jean Littlejohn

Frank Emery Temanus
Barbara Jean Littlejohn
💍 1913/7322

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Nurse

34
33

Mackaytown
Mackaytown

4 days
8 years

Residence of Mrs William Littlejohn

13/7135

15 October 1913

Rev. James Lowery, Presbyterian Minister

No	22
Date of Notice	15 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Emory Timanus	Barbara Jean Littlejohn
BDM Match (95%)	Frank Emery Temanus	Barbara Jean Littlejohn
	💍 1913/7322
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Nurse
Age	34	33
Dwelling Place	Mackaytown	Mackaytown
Length of Residence	4 days	8 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs William Littlejohn
Folio	13/7135
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Lowery, Presbyterian Minister

13 November 1913

Herbert Alfred Neil
Mary Annie Griffin

Herbert Alfred Neil
Mary Annie Griffin
💍 1913/7368

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker Carter
Home duties

23
19

Karangahake
Karangahake

16 years
10 years

S. Aidans Church of England

13/7181

Phillip Griffin, Father of Bride

13 November 1913

Rev. J. P. Cowie, Church of England

No	23
Date of Notice	13 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Alfred Neil	Mary Annie Griffin
	💍 1913/7368
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker Carter	Home duties
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Karangahake	Karangahake
Length of Residence	16 years	10 years
Marriage Place	S. Aidans Church of England
Folio	13/7181
Consent	Phillip Griffin, Father of Bride
Date of Certificate	13 November 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. P. Cowie, Church of England

15 November 1913

William Frederick Johnstone
Emily Winifred Jones

William Frederick Johnstone
Emily Winifred Jones
💍 1913/7307

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Home duties

29
26

Paeroa
Wharepoa (Thames)

16 months
6 years

Residence of Mrs Wallace Jones, Wharepoa

13/7094

15 November 1913

Rev. J. P. Cowie, Church of England

No	24
Date of Notice	15 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Frederick Johnstone	Emily Winifred Jones
	💍 1913/7307
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Home duties
Age	29	26
Dwelling Place	Paeroa	Wharepoa (Thames)
Length of Residence	16 months	6 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Wallace Jones, Wharepoa
Folio	13/7094
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 November 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. P. Cowie, 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).