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 731

District of Thames Quarter ending 31 December 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

21 October 1913

William Samaria McIlraith
Helen Gertrude Ensor

William Samaria McIlraith
Helen Gertrude Ensor
💍 1913/7268

Bachelor
Spinster

Warehouseman
Milliner

28
25

Thames
Thames

3 days
25 years

Methodist Church, Pollen Street, Thames

13/7106

22 October 1913

Rev D Mc Nicoll, Methodist

No	43
Date of Notice	21 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Samaria McIlraith	Helen Gertrude Ensor
	💍 1913/7268
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warehouseman	Milliner
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	25 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Pollen Street, Thames
Folio	13/7106
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev D Mc Nicoll, Methodist

24 October 1913

Peter Delahunty
Mary Beatrice Macduff

Peter Delahunty
Mary Beatrice MacDuff
💍 1913/6940

Bachelor
Widow

Brass Moulder
Domestic duties

41
38

Thames
Thames

3 years
21 years

Registrar Office, Mary Street, Thames

13/6651

24 October 1913

William H Potts, Registrar

No	44
Date of Notice	24 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Delahunty	Mary Beatrice Macduff
BDM Match (98%)	Peter Delahunty	Mary Beatrice MacDuff
	💍 1913/6940
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Brass Moulder	Domestic duties
Age	41	38
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Registrar Office, Mary Street, Thames
Folio	13/6651
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 October 1913
Officiating Minister	William H Potts, Registrar

30 October 1913

Thomas Birch Williams
Agnes Begg

Thomas Birch Williams
Agnes Begg
💍 1913/7266

Bachelor
Spinster

Miller & Contractor
Domestic duties

43
33

Hikutaia
Hikutaia

8 years
9 months

In the house of Rev J Milne, Rolleston Street, Thames

13/7096

30 October 1913

Rev J Milne, Presbyterian

No	45
Date of Notice	30 October 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Birch Williams	Agnes Begg
	💍 1913/7266
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miller & Contractor	Domestic duties
Age	43	33
Dwelling Place	Hikutaia	Hikutaia
Length of Residence	8 years	9 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Rev J Milne, Rolleston Street, Thames
Folio	13/7096
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 October 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev J Milne, Presbyterian

1 November 1913

Te Jaami Hira Karewa
Isabel Ngawhetu Rauneti

Te Taami Hira Karewa
Isabel Ngawhetu Raureti
💍 1913/7270

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Teacher

19
20

Omahu
Omahu

19 years
3 months

Church of Latter Day Saints, Kiri Kiri

13/7099

Raupeti Kerau, Mokonuiar (Parents) for groom

1 November 1913

Elder O. D. Romney, Latter Day Saints

No	46
Date of Notice	1 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Te Jaami Hira Karewa	Isabel Ngawhetu Rauneti
BDM Match (95%)	Te Taami Hira Karewa	Isabel Ngawhetu Raureti
	💍 1913/7270
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Teacher
Age	19	20
Dwelling Place	Omahu	Omahu
Length of Residence	19 years	3 months
Marriage Place	Church of Latter Day Saints, Kiri Kiri
Folio	13/7099
Consent	Raupeti Kerau, Mokonuiar (Parents) for groom
Date of Certificate	1 November 1913
Officiating Minister	Elder O. D. Romney, Latter Day Saints

10 November 1913

Lawrence Trevellian Fisher
Bessie Burt

Lawrence Trevellian Fisher
Bessie Burt
💍 1913/6941

Bachelor
Spinster

Coachbuilder
Domestic duties

22
20

Thames
Thames

22 years
11 years

Registrar Office, Mary Street, Thames

13/6660

William Burt

10 November 1913

William H Potts, Registrar

No	47
Date of Notice	10 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lawrence Trevellian Fisher	Bessie Burt
	💍 1913/6941
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coachbuilder	Domestic duties
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	22 years	11 years
Marriage Place	Registrar Office, Mary Street, Thames
Folio	13/6660
Consent	William Burt
Date of Certificate	10 November 1913
Officiating Minister	William H Potts, Registrar

15 November 1913

George Henry Shaw
Beatrice Mary Bennett

George Henry Shaw
Beatrice Mary Bennett
💍 1913/7277

Bachelor
Spinster

Shop Assistant
Domestic duties

26
29

Thames
Thames

11 years
29 years

Presbyterian Church, Tararu, Thames

13/7097

15 November 1913

Rev J Milne, Presbyterian

No	48
Date of Notice	15 November 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Shaw	Beatrice Mary Bennett
	💍 1913/7277
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shop Assistant	Domestic duties
Age	26	29
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	11 years	29 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Tararu, Thames
Folio	13/7097
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 November 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev J Milne, Presbyterian

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).