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 327

District of Gisborne Quarter ending 30 September 1913 Registrar Henry Ewart Hill

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

136

25 August 1913

Peter Sinclair Sim
Lilias Catherine McCra

Peter Sinclair Sim
Lilias Catherine McAra
💍 1913/8596

Bachelor
Spinster

Foreman (Gas Works)
Household Duties

29
24

Gisborne
Puha, Poverty Bay

9 years
9 years

St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Gisborne

13/5994

25 August 1913

Rev William Grant, Presbyterian Minister

No	136
Date of Notice	25 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Sinclair Sim	Lilias Catherine McCra
BDM Match (98%)	Peter Sinclair Sim	Lilias Catherine McAra
	💍 1913/8596
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Foreman (Gas Works)	Household Duties
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Puha, Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	9 years	9 years
Marriage Place	St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Gisborne
Folio	13/5994
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev William Grant, Presbyterian Minister

137

1 September 1913

Arthur Clyde Langford
Katie Wright

Arthur Clyde Langford
Katie Wright
💍 1913/6625

Bachelor
Spinster

Livery Stable Keeper
Tailoress

26
21

Gisborne
Gisborne

5 years
6 months

St John's Church of England, Mangapapa

13/6289

1 September 1913

Rev Leslie O. Thomas, Church of England

No	137
Date of Notice	1 September 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Clyde Langford	Katie Wright
	💍 1913/6625
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Livery Stable Keeper	Tailoress
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	5 years	6 months
Marriage Place	St John's Church of England, Mangapapa
Folio	13/6289
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 September 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev Leslie O. Thomas, Church of England

138

2 September 1913

Albert George Newman
Joan Frances Jennings

Albert George Newman
Joan Frances Jennings
💍 1913/6621

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

29
22

Ormond, Poverty Bay
Waerenga-a-hika, Poverty Bay

2 years
1 year

Waerenga-a-hika Church of England, Poverty Bay

13/6307

2 September 1913

Rev Edgar Ward, Church of England

No	138
Date of Notice	2 September 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert George Newman	Joan Frances Jennings
	💍 1913/6621
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Ormond, Poverty Bay	Waerenga-a-hika, Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	2 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Waerenga-a-hika Church of England, Poverty Bay
Folio	13/6307
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 September 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev Edgar Ward, Church of England

139

4 September 1913

Miaki Likawera Mitira
Ahenata Taitaha

Tiaki Hikawera Mitira
Ahenata Taituha
💍 1913/4908

Widower
Widow

Native Commission Agent
Domestic Duties

40
37

Gisborne
Te Arai

4 days
10 days

The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

13/4560

4 September 1913

Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

No	139
Date of Notice	4 September 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Miaki Likawera Mitira	Ahenata Taitaha
BDM Match (92%)	Tiaki Hikawera Mitira	Ahenata Taituha
	💍 1913/4908
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Native Commission Agent	Domestic Duties
Age	40	37
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Te Arai
Length of Residence	4 days	10 days
Marriage Place	The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne
Folio	13/4560
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 September 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

140

8 September 1913

Archibald Gardley
Fanny Thomas May

Archibald Yardley
Fanny Thomas May
💍 1913/4909

Bachelor
Spinster

Tairyman
Domestic Duties

27
23

Waimui
Kaiti

10 months
12 days

The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

13/4561

8 September 1913

Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

No	140
Date of Notice	8 September 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald Gardley	Fanny Thomas May
BDM Match (97%)	Archibald Yardley	Fanny Thomas May
	💍 1913/4909
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tairyman	Domestic Duties
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Waimui	Kaiti
Length of Residence	10 months	12 days
Marriage Place	The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne
Folio	13/4561
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 September 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

141

10 September 1913

Mark Borlase
Catherine Parsons

Mark Borlase
Catherine Parsons
💍 1913/7759

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic Servant

28
23

Gisborne
Gisborne

4 years
3 years

Private residence of the Father of the Bridegroom, Ormond

13/7524

10 September 1913

Rev Reginald P. Finn, Roman Catholic Minister (Ormond)

No	141
Date of Notice	10 September 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Mark Borlase	Catherine Parsons
	💍 1913/7759
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic Servant
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	4 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Private residence of the Father of the Bridegroom, Ormond
Folio	13/7524
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 September 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev Reginald P. Finn, Roman Catholic Minister (Ormond)

142

10 September 1913

Robert Charles Jeffers Stevenson
Edith May Boyle

Robert Charles Jeffers Stevenson
Edith May Boyle
💍 1913/4910

Bachelor
Spinster

Tramway Payer
Domestic Servant

22
21

Gisborne
Gisborne

3 years
1 year

The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

13/4562

10 September 1913

Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

No	142
Date of Notice	10 September 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Charles Jeffers Stevenson	Edith May Boyle
	💍 1913/4910
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tramway Payer	Domestic Servant
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	3 years	1 year
Marriage Place	The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne
Folio	13/4562
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 September 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

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).