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 642

District of Rotorua Quarter ending 31 March 1913 Registrar A. F. Bent

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

8 January 1913

Liegh Hilton James
Kathleen Grant

Legh Milton James
Kathleen Grant
💍 1913/818

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

24
14

Te Puke
Te Puke

3 days
3 days

Registry office, Courthouse Rotorua

13/249

Peter Grant, Father

8 January 1913

A. F. Bent, Registrar of Marriages

No	1
Date of Notice	8 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Liegh Hilton James	Kathleen Grant
BDM Match (94%)	Legh Milton James	Kathleen Grant
	💍 1913/818
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	24	14
Dwelling Place	Te Puke	Te Puke
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registry office, Courthouse Rotorua
Folio	13/249
Consent	Peter Grant, Father
Date of Certificate	8 January 1913
Officiating Minister	A. F. Bent, Registrar of Marriages

21 January 1913

Patrick Cornelius McCarthy
Rose Sheppard

Patrick Cornelius McCarthy
Rose Sheppard
💍 1913/1262

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

30
29

Rotorua
Rotorua

3 days
3 days

St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church, Ohinemutu

13/721

21 January 1913

Rev. Dean A. Lightheart

No	2
Date of Notice	21 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick Cornelius McCarthy	Rose Sheppard
	💍 1913/1262
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	30	29
Dwelling Place	Rotorua	Rotorua
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church, Ohinemutu
Folio	13/721
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Dean A. Lightheart

27 January 1913

Robert Henry Woolliams
Flora Ann MacKinnon

Robert Henry Woolliams
Flora Ann MacKinnon
💍 1913/1263

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Bath attendant

28
21

Rotorua
Rotorua

about 11 years
about 11 years

Bainbridge Memorial Church, Hinemoa Street

13/722

27 January 1913

Rev. Charles Boughton Jordan, B.A.

No	3
Date of Notice	27 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Henry Woolliams	Flora Ann MacKinnon
	💍 1913/1263
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Bath attendant
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Rotorua	Rotorua
Length of Residence	about 11 years	about 11 years
Marriage Place	Bainbridge Memorial Church, Hinemoa Street
Folio	13/722
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Charles Boughton Jordan, B.A.

4 February 1913

George Duncan Free
Emma Kane

George Duncan McNee
Emma Kane
💍 1913/1259

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Domestic duties

32
21

Matata
Murchison, Nelson

9 days
3 days

St. Luke's Church, Haupapa, St. Rotorua

13/719

4 February 1913

Ven. Archdeacon Charles Archibald Tisdall

No	4
Date of Notice	4 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Duncan Free	Emma Kane
BDM Match (92%)	George Duncan McNee	Emma Kane
	💍 1913/1259
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Domestic duties
Age	32	21
Dwelling Place	Matata	Murchison, Nelson
Length of Residence	9 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church, Haupapa, St. Rotorua
Folio	13/719
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon Charles Archibald Tisdall

12 February 1913

Harold Vaughan Davies
Cecilia Harriett Jane Collins

Harold Vaughan Davies
Cecilia Harriett Jane Collins
💍 1913/1261

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Clerk
Domestic duties

30
31

Whakatane
Rotorua

3 days
3 days

St. Luke's Church, Haupapa, St. Rotorua

13/720

12 February 1913

John William Chapman

No	5
Date of Notice	12 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Vaughan Davies	Cecilia Harriett Jane Collins
	💍 1913/1261
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Clerk	Domestic duties
Age	30	31
Dwelling Place	Whakatane	Rotorua
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church, Haupapa, St. Rotorua
Folio	13/720
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1913
Officiating Minister	John William Chapman

24 February 1913

Alexander Brownlee
Bertha Ellen Kempe

Alexander Brownlee
Bertha Ellen Kempe
💍 1913/1258

Widower
Spinster

Farmer
Governess

37
29

Tauranga
Rotorua

3 weeks
3 weeks

The Presbyterian Manse, Pukekura, Rotorua

13/718

24 February 1913

Alexander Porter

No	6
Date of Notice	24 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Brownlee	Bertha Ellen Kempe
	💍 1913/1258
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Governess
Age	37	29
Dwelling Place	Tauranga	Rotorua
Length of Residence	3 weeks	3 weeks
Marriage Place	The Presbyterian Manse, Pukekura, Rotorua
Folio	13/718
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Alexander Porter

25 February 1913

William Neil
Harriett Adams Kane
formerly Christison

William Neil
Harriet Adams Christison
💍 1913/819

Bachelor
Divorced

Native Constable
Domestic duties

32
33

Rotorua
Rotorua

about 6 years
about 7 years

At the Registry Office, Courthouse Rotorua

13/250

25 February 1913

A. F. Bent, Registrar of Marriages

No	7
Date of Notice	25 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Neil	Harriett Adams Kane formerly Christison
BDM Match (77%)	William Neil	Harriet Adams Christison
	💍 1913/819
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced
Profession	Native Constable	Domestic duties
Age	32	33
Dwelling Place	Rotorua	Rotorua
Length of Residence	about 6 years	about 7 years
Marriage Place	At the Registry Office, Courthouse Rotorua
Folio	13/250
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 February 1913
Officiating Minister	A. F. Bent, Registrar of Marriages

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).