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 799

District of Thames Quarter ending 31 March '.1914.' 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

9 March '.1914.'

Thomas Rodewald
Lily Avis Lee

Thomas Rodewald
Lily Avis Lee
💍 1914/584

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Sailoress

23
22

Thames
Thames

2 days
2 days

Registrar's Office, Mary Street, Thames

275

11 March '.1914.'

William H. Potts, Registrar

No	12
Date of Notice	9 March '.1914.'
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Rodewald	Lily Avis Lee
	💍 1914/584
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Sailoress
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	2 days	2 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Mary Street, Thames
Folio	275
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 March '.1914.'
Officiating Minister	William H. Potts, Registrar

18 March '.1914.'

Joseph William Orchard
Emma Jane Williams

Joseph William Orchards
Emma Jane Williams
💍 1914/7148

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic duties

24
23

Thames
Thames

8 months
3 years

In the house of Mr. F. Williams, Inishtown, Thames

881

18 March '.1914.'

Rev. G. W. Spence, Methodist

No	13
Date of Notice	18 March '.1914.'
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph William Orchard	Emma Jane Williams
BDM Match (98%)	Joseph William Orchards	Emma Jane Williams
	💍 1914/7148
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic duties
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	8 months	3 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. F. Williams, Inishtown, Thames
Folio	881
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 March '.1914.'
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. W. Spence, Methodist

18 March '.1914.'

John Galloway
Jessie Isabella Mcuir

John Galloway
Jessie Isabella Muir
💍 1914/7348

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Domestic duties

28
29

Thames
Thames

6 years
29 years

St. James's Presbyterian Church, Pollen Street, Thames

1210

18 March '.1914.'

Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

No	14
Date of Notice	18 March '.1914.'
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Galloway	Jessie Isabella Mcuir
BDM Match (98%)	John Galloway	Jessie Isabella Muir
	💍 1914/7348
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Domestic duties
Age	28	29
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	6 years	29 years
Marriage Place	St. James's Presbyterian Church, Pollen Street, Thames
Folio	1210
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 March '.1914.'
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

19 March '.1914.'

William Ludwig
Harriett Green

William Ludwig
Harriett Green
💍 1914/585

Widower
Spinster

Battery hand
Domestic duties

31
29

Thames
Thames

15 years
3 months

Registrar's Office, Mary Street, Thames

276

19 March '.1914.'

William H. Potts, Registrar

No	15
Date of Notice	19 March '.1914.'
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Ludwig	Harriett Green
	💍 1914/585
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Battery hand	Domestic duties
Age	31	29
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	15 years	3 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Mary Street, Thames
Folio	276
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March '.1914.'
Officiating Minister	William H. Potts, Registrar

23 March '.1914.'

Albert Victor Wright
Jean Blacklock Walters

Albert Victor Wright
Jean Blacklock Walters
💍 1914/7349

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

23
23

Puriri
Matatoki

23 years
23 years

In the house of Mr. E. Halter, Matatoki

1211

23 March '.1914.'

Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

No	16
Date of Notice	23 March '.1914.'
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Victor Wright	Jean Blacklock Walters
	💍 1914/7349
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Puriri	Matatoki
Length of Residence	23 years	23 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. E. Halter, Matatoki
Folio	1211
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 March '.1914.'
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).