Intentions to Marry, 1915 Albertland to Hamilton

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840457, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1915 is bound in six volumes (a to f) with continuous page numbers. Each volume contains a different set of districts, going from north to south.

1915a contains pages 1-518, covering districts from Albertland to Hamilton

Page 467

District of Gisborne Quarter ending 30 September 1915 Registrar W. S. Hill

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

145

14 September 1915

Albert Stephen Lewis
Mary Rubena McSkimming

Albert Stephen Lewis
Mary Rubena McSkimming
💍 1915/3009

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Several Help

27
23

Gisborne
Gisborne

2 years
4 years

St Andrew's Presbyterian Church

5002

14 September 1915

Rev Alfred Hadfield Wheeldon

No	145
Date of Notice	14 September 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Stephen Lewis	Mary Rubena McSkimming
	💍 1915/3009
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Several Help
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	2 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St Andrew's Presbyterian Church
Folio	5002
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 September 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev Alfred Hadfield Wheeldon

146

18 September 1915

George Foster
Constance Maud Penrose

George Foster
Constance Maude Penrose
💍 1915/3007

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

28
18

To Hapara Gisborne
Waikanae Gisborne

3 months
6 months

The office of the Registrar of Marriages

5090

Matilda Anne Penrose (Mother)

18 September 1915

Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

No	146
Date of Notice	18 September 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Foster	Constance Maud Penrose
BDM Match (98%)	George Foster	Constance Maude Penrose
	💍 1915/3007
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	28	18
Dwelling Place	To Hapara Gisborne	Waikanae Gisborne
Length of Residence	3 months	6 months
Marriage Place	The office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	5090
Consent	Matilda Anne Penrose (Mother)
Date of Certificate	18 September 1915
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

147

21 September 1915

John Pierce Williams
Lower McCormack

John Pierce Williams
Honor McCormack
💍 1915/3021

Widower
Widow

Carpenter
Housekeeper

50
34

Gisborne
Gisborne

10 years
3 years

The Private dwelling of the Bridegroom Temple Street Gisborne

5080

18 September 1915

Rev Thomas Lowe Registrar of Marriages Gisborne Roman Catholic Minister

No	147
Date of Notice	21 September 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Pierce Williams	Lower McCormack
BDM Match (90%)	John Pierce Williams	Honor McCormack
	💍 1915/3021
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Carpenter	Housekeeper
Age	50	34
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	10 years	3 years
Marriage Place	The Private dwelling of the Bridegroom Temple Street Gisborne
Folio	5080
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 September 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev Thomas Lowe Registrar of Marriages Gisborne Roman Catholic Minister

148

23 September 1915

Thomas Trought Baker
Ethel Deasou Robinson

Thomas Drought Baker
Ethel Deason Robinson
💍 1915/6516

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic Duties

31
30

Gisborne
Gisborne Poverty Bay

11 years
30 years

Holy Trinity Church

8923

23 September 1915

Rev Archd. Mc Racke Church of England.

No	148
Date of Notice	23 September 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Trought Baker	Ethel Deasou Robinson
BDM Match (95%)	Thomas Drought Baker	Ethel Deason Robinson
	💍 1915/6516
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic Duties
Age	31	30
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	11 years	30 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church
Folio	8923
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 September 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev Archd. Mc Racke Church of England.

149

29 September 1915

Frederick Heigh Joblin
Ivy Helene Richardson

Frederick Leigh Joblin
Ivy Helene Richardson
💍 1915/6494

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

30
27

Gisborne
Gisborne

4 days
4 days

Holy Trinity Church Gisborne.

8924

29 September 1915

Rev Archd. Mc Racke Church of England.

No	149
Date of Notice	29 September 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Heigh Joblin	Ivy Helene Richardson
BDM Match (98%)	Frederick Leigh Joblin	Ivy Helene Richardson
	💍 1915/6494
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	30	27
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church Gisborne.
Folio	8924
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 September 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev Archd. Mc Racke Church of England.

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).