Intentions to Marry, 1914 Auckland, Taranaki

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840454, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1914 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki (1914a), Wellington, Hawke's Bay, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1914b), and Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Chatham Islands (1914c).

Page 725

District of Rotorua Quarter ending 30 September 1914 Registrar Charles Vernon Roberts

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

24 July 1914

Arthur Hawley
Rhoda Whiteley

Arthur Hawley
Rhoda Whiteley
💍 1914/1167

Bachelor
Spinster

Cook
Housemaid

26
25

Rotorua
Rotorua

8 months
10 months

St John's Presbyterian Church, Tukuatua St., Rotorua

4862

28 July 1914

Rev. David Hird

No	26
Date of Notice	24 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Hawley	Rhoda Whiteley
	💍 1914/1167
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cook	Housemaid
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Rotorua	Rotorua
Length of Residence	8 months	10 months
Marriage Place	St John's Presbyterian Church, Tukuatua St., Rotorua
Folio	4862
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. David Hird

27 August 1914

Thomas Archibald Birkett
Mary Anne Peterson

Thomas Archibold Birkett
Mary Anne Peterson
💍 1914/1189

Widower
Spinster

Traveller
Domestic

59
35

Rotorua
Rotorua

5 days
5 months

Registrar's Office, Courthouse, Rotorua

4860

27 August 1914

Charles Vernon Roberts

No	27
Date of Notice	27 August 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Archibald Birkett	Mary Anne Peterson
BDM Match (98%)	Thomas Archibold Birkett	Mary Anne Peterson
	💍 1914/1189
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Traveller	Domestic
Age	59	35
Dwelling Place	Rotorua	Rotorua
Length of Residence	5 days	5 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Courthouse, Rotorua
Folio	4860
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 August 1914
Officiating Minister	Charles Vernon Roberts

2 September 1914

John Henry Ralfe
Gertrude Ruby Minogue

John Henry Ralfe
Gertrude Ruby Minoque
💍 1914/1190

Bachelor
Widow

Law Clerk

25
26

Rotorua
Rotorua

3 days
3 days

St Michael's Roman Catholic Church at Ohinemutu

4861

2 September 1914

Rev. E. Schoonhof

No	28
Date of Notice	2 September 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Ralfe	Gertrude Ruby Minogue
BDM Match (98%)	John Henry Ralfe	Gertrude Ruby Minoque
	💍 1914/1190
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Law Clerk
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Rotorua	Rotorua
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St Michael's Roman Catholic Church at Ohinemutu
Folio	4861
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 September 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Schoonhof

5 September 1914

Henry Simon Fraser
Kathleen Amy Florence Catherine Adams

Henry Simon Fraser
Kathleen Amy Florence Catherine Adams
💍 1914/3682

Divorced
Widow

Curio dealer

49
28

Rotorua
Rotorua

10 years
3 years

Residence of William Speers, Whaka Road, Rotorua

7507

5 September 1914

Rev. David Hird

No	29
Date of Notice	5 September 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Simon Fraser	Kathleen Amy Florence Catherine Adams
	💍 1914/3682
Condition	Divorced	Widow
Profession	Curio dealer
Age	49	28
Dwelling Place	Rotorua	Rotorua
Length of Residence	10 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of William Speers, Whaka Road, Rotorua
Folio	7507
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 September 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. David Hird

19 September 1914

Alexander William Durand Jonassen
Annie Margaret Campbell

Alexander William Durand Jonassen
Annie Margaret Campbell
💍 1914/5238

Bachelor
Spinster

Mechanical Engineer
Dentist's Assistant

26
24

Rotorua
Rotorua

8 months
12 months

Maori Mission Church at Ohinemutu

9164

19 September 1914

Rev. Frederick G. Bennett

No	30
Date of Notice	19 September 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander William Durand Jonassen	Annie Margaret Campbell
	💍 1914/5238
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mechanical Engineer	Dentist's Assistant
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Rotorua	Rotorua
Length of Residence	8 months	12 months
Marriage Place	Maori Mission Church at Ohinemutu
Folio	9164
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 September 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Frederick G. Bennett

25 September 1914

Arthur Bye
Emily Agnes Cummius

Arthur Bye
Emily Agnes Cummins
💍 1914/1187

Widower
Widow

Miner
Housekeeper

41
42

Rotorua
Rotorua

5 days
5 days

Registrar's Office, Courthouse, Rotorua

4858

25 September 1914

Charles Vernon Roberts

No	31
Date of Notice	25 September 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Bye	Emily Agnes Cummius
BDM Match (97%)	Arthur Bye	Emily Agnes Cummins
	💍 1914/1187
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Miner	Housekeeper
Age	41	42
Dwelling Place	Rotorua	Rotorua
Length of Residence	5 days	5 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Courthouse, Rotorua
Folio	4858
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 September 1914
Officiating Minister	Charles Vernon Roberts

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).