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 740

District of Taumarunui Quarter ending 30 June 1914 Registrar James Thorne

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

150

1 June 1914

Michael Keane
Ellen Morgan

Michael Keane
Ellen Morgan
💍 1914/7710

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic

26
21

Taumarunui
Taumarunui

1 month
5 months

Registrar of Marriages Office, Taumarunui

14/2249

1 June 1914

J. Thorne, Registrar of Marriages, Taumarunui

No	150
Date of Notice	1 June 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Keane	Ellen Morgan
	💍 1914/7710
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Taumarunui	Taumarunui
Length of Residence	1 month	5 months
Marriage Place	Registrar of Marriages Office, Taumarunui
Folio	14/2249
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 June 1914
Officiating Minister	J. Thorne, Registrar of Marriages, Taumarunui

151

2 June 1914

John Ernest O'Reilly
Ethel May Sibbald

John Ernest O'Reilly
Ethel May Sibbald
💍 1914/2947

Widower
Widow

Bricklayer
Domestic

36
34

Taumarunui
Taumarunui

5 years
6 months

Roman Catholic Church, Taumarunui

14/6673

2 June 1914

Rev. J. Brennan

No	151
Date of Notice	2 June 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Ernest O'Reilly	Ethel May Sibbald
	💍 1914/2947
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Bricklayer	Domestic
Age	36	34
Dwelling Place	Taumarunui	Taumarunui
Length of Residence	5 years	6 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Taumarunui
Folio	14/6673
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Brennan

152

8 June 1914

George Gray
Lillias Oliver

George Gray
Lillias Oliver
💍 1914/7711

Bachelor
Widow

Sawmiller
Housekeeper

37
35

Mamaku
Mamaku

4 months
4 months

Registrar of Marriages Office, Taumarunui

14/2250

8 June 1914

J. Thorne, Registrar of Marriages

No	152
Date of Notice	8 June 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Gray	Lillias Oliver
	💍 1914/7711
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Sawmiller	Housekeeper
Age	37	35
Dwelling Place	Mamaku	Mamaku
Length of Residence	4 months	4 months
Marriage Place	Registrar of Marriages Office, Taumarunui
Folio	14/2250
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 June 1914
Officiating Minister	J. Thorne, Registrar of Marriages

153

10 June 1914

Michael Stephen Ryan
Norah Herlihy

Michael Stephen Ryan
Norah Herlihy
💍 1914/2948

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Household Duties

36
18

Taumarunui
Taumarunui

3 days
3 years

Roman Catholic Church, Taumarunui

14/6674

David Herlihy, Father

10 June 1914

Rev. J. Brennan

No	153
Date of Notice	10 June 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Stephen Ryan	Norah Herlihy
	💍 1914/2948
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Household Duties
Age	36	18
Dwelling Place	Taumarunui	Taumarunui
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Taumarunui
Folio	14/6674
Consent	David Herlihy, Father
Date of Certificate	10 June 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Brennan

154

10 June 1914

James McGuigan
Mary Adelaide Bennie

James McGuigan
Mary Adelaide Bennie
💍 1914/8515

Bachelor
Divorced

Carpenter
Boardinghouse Keeper

35
40

Taumarunui
Taumarunui

12 months
12 months

Presbyterian Church, Taumarunui

14/2251

10 June 1914

Rev. J. E. Ward

No	154
Date of Notice	10 June 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James McGuigan	Mary Adelaide Bennie
	💍 1914/8515
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced
Profession	Carpenter	Boardinghouse Keeper
Age	35	40
Dwelling Place	Taumarunui	Taumarunui
Length of Residence	12 months	12 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Taumarunui
Folio	14/2251
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 June 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. E. Ward

155

13 June 1914

William Terris
Olive Agnes Samson

William Terris
Olive Agnes Sanson
💍 1914/8502

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Domestic

23
19

Taumarunui
Owhango

2 years
4 days

D. Samson's Residence, Owhango

14/2220

David Galloway Samson, Father

13 June 1914

Rev. E. J. Dabourne

No	155
Date of Notice	13 June 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Terris	Olive Agnes Samson
BDM Match (97%)	William Terris	Olive Agnes Sanson
	💍 1914/8502
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Domestic
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Taumarunui	Owhango
Length of Residence	2 years	4 days
Marriage Place	D. Samson's Residence, Owhango
Folio	14/2220
Consent	David Galloway Samson, Father
Date of Certificate	13 June 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. J. Dabourne

156

27 June 1914

Frank Raven
Dorothy Lilian Grant

Frank Raven
Dorothy Lilian Grant
💍 1914/8526

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor & Builder
Domestic duties

26
22

Taumarunui
Taumarunui

3 years
6 years

Presbyterian Church, Taumarunui

14/2252

27 June 1914

Rev. J. E. Ward

No	156
Date of Notice	27 June 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Raven	Dorothy Lilian Grant
	💍 1914/8526
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor & Builder	Domestic duties
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Taumarunui	Taumarunui
Length of Residence	3 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Taumarunui
Folio	14/2252
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 June 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. E. Ward

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).