Intentions to Marry, 1915 Helensville to Whangaroa

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840458, 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.

1915b contains pages 519-1020, covering districts from Helensville to Whangaroa

Page 765

District of Owhango Quarter ending 31 December 1915 Registrar W. Finch

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

6 November 1915

John William McFie
Florence Isobel Brown

John William McGechie
Florence Evelyn Brown
💍 1915/5446

Bachelor
Spinster

School Teacher
Domestic Duties

26
24

Raetihi
Auckland

10 months
8 years

St Marys Cathedral, Auckland

15/7764

15 November 1915

Archdeacon McMurray, Auckland

No	33
Date of Notice	6 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William McFie	Florence Isobel Brown
BDM Match (76%)	John William McGechie	Florence Evelyn Brown
	💍 1915/5446
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	School Teacher	Domestic Duties
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Raetihi	Auckland
Length of Residence	10 months	8 years
Marriage Place	St Marys Cathedral, Auckland
Folio	15/7764
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Archdeacon McMurray, Auckland

26 November 1915

James Walter Llewellyn White
Grace Margaret Gardner

James Walter Lewellyn White
Grace Margaret Gardner
💍 1915/6362

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier
Household Duties

30
20

Mamunui
Hukapapa

7 years
6 years

Residence of David Gardner, Hukapapa

15/8661

David Gardner, Father

26 November 1915

J. I. Monfries, Taumarunui

No	34
Date of Notice	26 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Walter Llewellyn White	Grace Margaret Gardner
BDM Match (98%)	James Walter Lewellyn White	Grace Margaret Gardner
	💍 1915/6362
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier	Household Duties
Age	30	20
Dwelling Place	Mamunui	Hukapapa
Length of Residence	7 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Residence of David Gardner, Hukapapa
Folio	15/8661
Consent	David Gardner, Father
Date of Certificate	26 November 1915
Officiating Minister	J. I. Monfries, Taumarunui

2 December 1915

David William Ernest Rush
Alice Bertha Bringezu

David William Ruebe
Alice Bertha Bringeza
💍 1915/6359

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

32
19

Owhango
Owhango

7 years
5 years

Residence of A. Bringezu, Owhango

15/8658

Adolf Bringezu, Father

2 December 1915

Rev. W. H. Gallop, Taumarunui

No	35
Date of Notice	2 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David William Ernest Rush	Alice Bertha Bringezu
BDM Match (78%)	David William Ruebe	Alice Bertha Bringeza
	💍 1915/6359
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	32	19
Dwelling Place	Owhango	Owhango
Length of Residence	7 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of A. Bringezu, Owhango
Folio	15/8658
Consent	Adolf Bringezu, Father
Date of Certificate	2 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Gallop, Taumarunui

24 December 1915

Nicolas Berthold Bringezu
Annie Harriet Bremner

Nicolas Berthold Bringezer
Annie Harriette Bremner
💍 1915/6361

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

28
20

Owhango
Oio

5 years
5 years

Residence of G. D. Bremner, Oio

15/8660

G. D. Bremner, Father

24 December 1915

Rev. J. C. Abbott, Raetihi

No	36
Date of Notice	24 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Nicolas Berthold Bringezu	Annie Harriet Bremner
BDM Match (92%)	Nicolas Berthold Bringezer	Annie Harriette Bremner
	💍 1915/6361
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	Owhango	Oio
Length of Residence	5 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of G. D. Bremner, Oio
Folio	15/8660
Consent	G. D. Bremner, Father
Date of Certificate	24 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Abbott, Raetihi

24 December 1915

Thomas Hansen
Martha Victoria Bremner

Thomas Hansen
Martha Victoria Bremner
💍 1915/6360

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine driver
Domestic Duties

31
18

Oio
Oio

2 years
5 years

Residence of G. D. Bremner, Oio

15/8659

G. D. Bremner, Father

24 December 1915

Rev. J. C. Abbott, Raetihi

No	37
Date of Notice	24 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Hansen	Martha Victoria Bremner
	💍 1915/6360
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine driver	Domestic Duties
Age	31	18
Dwelling Place	Oio	Oio
Length of Residence	2 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of G. D. Bremner, Oio
Folio	15/8659
Consent	G. D. Bremner, Father
Date of Certificate	24 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Abbott, Raetihi

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).