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 044

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 March 1913 Registrar Thomas Culpan

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

203

18 February 1913

John McKernan
Blanche Beatrice Hawkins

John McKernan
Blanche Beatrice Hawkins
💍 1913/667

Widower
Spinster

General Dealer

35
34

Auckland
Auckland

2 months 3/4
2 months

Registrar's Office, Auckland

13/46

18 February 1913

Deputy Registrar

No	203
Date of Notice	18 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McKernan	Blanche Beatrice Hawkins
	💍 1913/667
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	General Dealer
Age	35	34
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	2 months 3/4	2 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Auckland
Folio	13/46
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar

204

18 February 1913

Thomas Wilson James
Bertha Winifred Jackson

Thomas Wilson James
Bertha Winifred Jackson
💍 1913/4827

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

27
27

Auckland
Auckland

4 days
3 months

House of Bride's father, Amy Street, Ellerslie, Auckland

13/305

18 February 1913

Rev. H. Knowles Kempton

No	204
Date of Notice	18 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Wilson James	Bertha Winifred Jackson
	💍 1913/4827
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 days	3 months
Marriage Place	House of Bride's father, Amy Street, Ellerslie, Auckland
Folio	13/305
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Knowles Kempton

205

18 February 1913

James Clifford Ray
Gertrude Mabel Watts

James Clifford Ray
Gertrude Mabel Watts
💍 1913/3048

Bachelor
Spinster

Tramway Conductor

25
24

Auckland
Auckland

5 years
4 years

St. David's Church, Auckland

13/196

18 February 1913

Rev. J. M. Saunders

No	205
Date of Notice	18 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Clifford Ray	Gertrude Mabel Watts
	💍 1913/3048
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tramway Conductor
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	5 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. David's Church, Auckland
Folio	13/196
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Saunders

206

19 February 1913

Douglas Charles Adamson
Florence May Thomas

Douglas Charles Adamson
Florence May Thomas
💍 1913/1196

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

19
19

Auckland
Auckland

2 years
Life

House of Bride's father, George Street, Kingsland, Auckland

13/60

Stephen Adamson, father; Joseph Thomas, father

19 February 1913

Rev. C. C. Harrison

No	206
Date of Notice	19 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Douglas Charles Adamson	Florence May Thomas
	💍 1913/1196
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	19	19
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	2 years	Life
Marriage Place	House of Bride's father, George Street, Kingsland, Auckland
Folio	13/60
Consent	Stephen Adamson, father; Joseph Thomas, father
Date of Certificate	19 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. C. Harrison

207

19 February 1913

Joseph Henry Silva
Martha Annie Songhurst

Joseph Henry Silva
Martha Annie Longhurst
💍 1913/668

Divorced (decree absolute 14 February 1913)
Spinster

Labourer

26
21

Auckland
Auckland

3 years
5 years

Registrar's Office, Auckland

13/47

19 February 1913

Deputy Registrar

No	207
Date of Notice	19 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Henry Silva	Martha Annie Songhurst
BDM Match (98%)	Joseph Henry Silva	Martha Annie Longhurst
	💍 1913/668
Condition	Divorced (decree absolute 14 February 1913)	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Auckland
Folio	13/47
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar

208

19 February 1913

Harry John Hemp
Florence Ellen Coley

Harry John Kemp
Florence Ellen Coley
💍 1913/1155

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor

30
22

Auckland
Auckland

4 years
3 years

House of Rev. J. Lowden, Chester Street, Mt. Eden, Auckland

13/590

19 February 1913

Rev. J. Lowden

No	208
Date of Notice	19 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry John Hemp	Florence Ellen Coley
BDM Match (97%)	Harry John Kemp	Florence Ellen Coley
	💍 1913/1155
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 years	3 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. J. Lowden, Chester Street, Mt. Eden, Auckland
Folio	13/590
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Lowden

209

20 February 1913

Frederick George Alpe
Effie Isabella Neale

Frederick George Alpe
Effie Isabella Neale
💍 1913/1140

Bachelor
Spinster

Stationer

26
23

Auckland
Auckland

10 years
12 years

St. John's Methodist Church, Ponsonby, Auckland

13/574

20 February 1913

Rev. H. L. Lawry

No	209
Date of Notice	20 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick George Alpe	Effie Isabella Neale
	💍 1913/1140
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stationer
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	10 years	12 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Methodist Church, Ponsonby, Auckland
Folio	13/574
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. L. Lawry

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).