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 693

District of Te Aroha Quarter ending 30 September 1913 Registrar John Hollywood

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 July 1913

Thomas Percival O'Connor
Catherine Sutherland

Thomas Percival O'Connor
Catherine Sutherland
💍 1913/8922

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic Help

25
24

Morrinsville
Morrinsville

3 months
3 months

Roman Catholic Church, Te Aroha

8478

12 July 1913

Rev. J. McGuinness, Roman Catholic

No	17
Date of Notice	12 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Percival O'Connor	Catherine Sutherland
	💍 1913/8922
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic Help
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Morrinsville	Morrinsville
Length of Residence	3 months	3 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Te Aroha
Folio	8478
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McGuinness, Roman Catholic

14 July 1913

William Jackson
Katie Elizabeth Allison

William Jackson
Katie Elizabeth Allison
💍 1913/8672

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer
Storekeeper

36
29

Waihou
Waihou

32 years
18 years

Private Residence, George Goodfellow, Rangaitia, Waihou

8504

14 July 1913

Rev. W. H. Wilson, Church of England

No	18
Date of Notice	14 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Jackson	Katie Elizabeth Allison
	💍 1913/8672
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Storekeeper
Age	36	29
Dwelling Place	Waihou	Waihou
Length of Residence	32 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Private Residence, George Goodfellow, Rangaitia, Waihou
Folio	8504
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Wilson, Church of England

17 July 1913

James Joseph Shallue
Ellen Catherine Fitzgerald

James Joseph Shallue
Ellen Catherine Fitzgerald
💍 1913/8923

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Spinster

24
25

River Lea, Taranaki
Mangaiti

5 years
3 years

Roman Catholic Church, Te Aroha

8479

17 July 1913

Rev. J. McGuinness, Roman Catholic

No	19
Date of Notice	17 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Joseph Shallue	Ellen Catherine Fitzgerald
	💍 1913/8923
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Spinster
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	River Lea, Taranaki	Mangaiti
Length of Residence	5 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Te Aroha
Folio	8479
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McGuinness, Roman Catholic

25 July 1913

William Brenan
Helen Mary Kenny

William Brenan
Helen Mary Kenny
💍 1913/8924

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker
Domestic Duties

25
24

Te Aroha
Te Aroha

25 years
22 months

Roman Catholic Church, Te Aroha

8480

25 July 1913

Rev. J. McGuinness, Roman Catholic

No	20
Date of Notice	25 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Brenan	Helen Mary Kenny
	💍 1913/8924
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker	Domestic Duties
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Te Aroha	Te Aroha
Length of Residence	25 years	22 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Te Aroha
Folio	8480
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McGuinness, Roman Catholic

28 July 1913

John Francis Shine
Norah Muriel McShiffrey

John Francis Shine
Nora Muriel McSheffrey
💍 1913/8925

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

24
18

Waihou
Waihou

24 years
14 years

Roman Catholic Church, Te Aroha

8481

Michael McShiffrey, Father

28 July 1913

Rev. James McGuinness, Roman Catholic

No	21
Date of Notice	28 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Francis Shine	Norah Muriel McShiffrey
BDM Match (96%)	John Francis Shine	Nora Muriel McSheffrey
	💍 1913/8925
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	24	18
Dwelling Place	Waihou	Waihou
Length of Residence	24 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Te Aroha
Folio	8481
Consent	Michael McShiffrey, Father
Date of Certificate	28 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. James McGuinness, Roman Catholic

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).