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 803

District of Thames Quarter ending 30 June 1914 Registrar William Henry Potte

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

7 May 1914

George William Clark
Emmeline Esther Ross

George William Clark
Emmeline Esther Ross
💍 1914/8617

Bachelor
Widow

Contractor
Domestic duties

33
28

Thames
Thames

33 years
28 years

In the house of Mr J.R.G. Serivel, Waio Ranara

14/2311

7 May 1914

Dr O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	29
Date of Notice	7 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George William Clark	Emmeline Esther Ross
	💍 1914/8617
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Contractor	Domestic duties
Age	33	28
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	33 years	28 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr J.R.G. Serivel, Waio Ranara
Folio	14/2311
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Dr O'Callaghan, Church of England

13 May 1914

Christopher James Johnston
Gertrude Hall

Christopher James Johnston
Gertrude Hall
💍 1914/7855

Bachelor
Spinster

Moulder
Domestic duties

20
20

Thames
Thames

20 years
2 years

In the house of Mr Henry Wood, Denton Shiel, Parawai

14/2906

William John Johnston (father), Henry Smith Hall (father)

13 May 1914

Rev J. Milne, Presbyterian

No	30
Date of Notice	13 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Christopher James Johnston	Gertrude Hall
	💍 1914/7855
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Moulder	Domestic duties
Age	20	20
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	20 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr Henry Wood, Denton Shiel, Parawai
Folio	14/2906
Consent	William John Johnston (father), Henry Smith Hall (father)
Date of Certificate	13 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Milne, Presbyterian

20 May 1914

George Bedford
Eveline May Heanlen

George Bedford
Eveline May Hanlen
💍 1914/7862

Divorced
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

44
37

Puriri
Thames

11 years
12 years

In the house of Mr A. Heanlen, Davy Street, Thames

14/2907

20 May 1914

Rev J. Milne, Presbyterian

No	31
Date of Notice	20 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Bedford	Eveline May Heanlen
BDM Match (97%)	George Bedford	Eveline May Hanlen
	💍 1914/7862
Condition	Divorced	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	44	37
Dwelling Place	Puriri	Thames
Length of Residence	11 years	12 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr A. Heanlen, Davy Street, Thames
Folio	14/2907
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Milne, Presbyterian

20 May 1914

Alexander Moncur Sommerville
Blanche Allan Pulford

Alexander Moncur Sommerville
Blanche Allan Pulford
💍 1914/7863

Bachelor
Widow

Engineer
Household duties

36
46

Thames
Thames

18 years
43 years

In the house of Mr J. Soughton, Vernon Street, Thames

14/2908

20 May 1914

Rev J. Milne, Presbyterian

No	32
Date of Notice	20 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Moncur Sommerville	Blanche Allan Pulford
	💍 1914/7863
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Engineer	Household duties
Age	36	46
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	18 years	43 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr J. Soughton, Vernon Street, Thames
Folio	14/2908
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Milne, Presbyterian

20 May 1914

Mounds McKenzie
Sarah Jane McCormick

Murdo McKenzie
Sarah Jane McCormick
💍 1914/6467

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
House

32
42

Puriri
Thames

32 years
42 years

In the house of Mrs McCormick, Hill Street, Thames

14/2909

20 May 1914

Rev J. Milne, Presbyterian

No	33
Date of Notice	20 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Mounds McKenzie	Sarah Jane McCormick
BDM Match (90%)	Murdo McKenzie	Sarah Jane McCormick
	💍 1914/6467
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	House
Age	32	42
Dwelling Place	Puriri	Thames
Length of Residence	32 years	42 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs McCormick, Hill Street, Thames
Folio	14/2909
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Milne, Presbyterian

29 May 1914

Leonard Claude Thomas
Florence Edith Waterhouse

Leonard Claude Thomas
Florence Edith Waterhouse
💍 1914/8634

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Dressmaker

22
21

Thames
Thames

22 years
4 years

In the house of Mr Waterhouse, Edward Street, Thames

14/2304

29 May 1914

Chas Waterhouse, Church of Christ

No	34
Date of Notice	29 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Claude Thomas	Florence Edith Waterhouse
	💍 1914/8634
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Dressmaker
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	22 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr Waterhouse, Edward Street, Thames
Folio	14/2304
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Chas Waterhouse, Church of Christ

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).