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 725

District of Thames Quarter ending 30 June 1913 Registrar William Henry Potts

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

4 April 1913

Richard Evans Walker
Ethel Mary Reed

Richard Evans Walker
Ethel May Reed
💍 1913/3250

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Household duties

50
30

Puriri
Puriri

4 years
10 years

In the house of Mr Brown, Puriri

13/2872

4 April 1913

Dr O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	19
Date of Notice	4 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Evans Walker	Ethel Mary Reed
BDM Match (97%)	Richard Evans Walker	Ethel May Reed
	💍 1913/3250
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Household duties
Age	50	30
Dwelling Place	Puriri	Puriri
Length of Residence	4 years	10 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr Brown, Puriri
Folio	13/2872
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Dr O'Callaghan, Church of England

7 April 1913

Clarence Tonkin
Esther Annie Coutts

Clarence Tonkin
Esther Annie Coutts
💍 1913/3243

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Domestic duties

27
26

Thames
Thames

2 days
26 years

Presbyterian Church, Janau, Thames

13/2866

9 April 1913

Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

No	20
Date of Notice	7 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Clarence Tonkin	Esther Annie Coutts
	💍 1913/3243
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Domestic duties
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	2 days	26 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Janau, Thames
Folio	13/2866
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

7 April 1913

Walter Alfred Choat
Hannah Lewis Smith

Walter Alfred Choat
Hannah Lewis Smith
💍 1913/3249

Bachelor
Spinster

Mill Hand
Domestic duties

34
29

Kopu
Kopu

18 years
29 years

St. George's Church, Mackay Street, Thames

13/2871

7 April 1913

Dr O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	21
Date of Notice	7 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Alfred Choat	Hannah Lewis Smith
	💍 1913/3249
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mill Hand	Domestic duties
Age	34	29
Dwelling Place	Kopu	Kopu
Length of Residence	18 years	29 years
Marriage Place	St. George's Church, Mackay Street, Thames
Folio	13/2871
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Dr O'Callaghan, Church of England

11 April 1913

Arthur Martin
Ellen Reid

Arthur Martin
Ellen Reid
💍 1913/3251

William Martin
Elsie Reid
💍 1913/5110

Bachelor
Spinster

Paperhanger
Domestic duties

33
18

Thames
Thames

33 years
18 years

Church of England, Mackay Street, Thames

13/2879

George Reid (Father)

11 April 1913

Dr O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	22
Date of Notice	11 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Martin	Ellen Reid
	💍 1913/3251
BDM Match (60%)	William Martin	Elsie Reid
	💍 1913/5110
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Paperhanger	Domestic duties
Age	33	18
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	33 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Mackay Street, Thames
Folio	13/2879
Consent	George Reid (Father)
Date of Certificate	11 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Dr O'Callaghan, Church of England

17 April 1913

Robson Jobe
Harriett Florence Smith

Robson Jobe
Harriett Florence Smith
💍 1913/8860

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

21
18

Thames
Thames

2 years
18 years

Church of England, Panawai, Thames

8364

Harriett Brown (Mother)

17 April 1913

Rev. Simoti Manuera, Church of England

No	23
Date of Notice	17 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robson Jobe	Harriett Florence Smith
	💍 1913/8860
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	21	18
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	2 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Panawai, Thames
Folio	8364
Consent	Harriett Brown (Mother)
Date of Certificate	17 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Simoti Manuera, Church of England

17 April 1913

Henry John Howard Andrews
Pare Raukawa Rua

Henry John Howard Andrews
Pare Raukawa Rua
💍 1913/2703

Bachelor
Spinster

Bushman
Domestic duties

36
37

Hikuai
Hikuai

15 years
7 years

Registrar's Office, Mackay Street, Thames

13/2422

17 April 1913

William H. Potts, Registrar

No	24
Date of Notice	17 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry John Howard Andrews	Pare Raukawa Rua
	💍 1913/2703
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bushman	Domestic duties
Age	36	37
Dwelling Place	Hikuai	Hikuai
Length of Residence	15 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Mackay Street, Thames
Folio	13/2422
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 April 1913
Officiating Minister	William H. Potts, Registrar

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).