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 837

District of Taumarunui Quarter ending 30 September 1915 Registrar Geo. W. Woods

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

09 July 1915

Percy Denning
Florence Gertrude Percival

Percy Denning
Florence Gertrude Percival
💍 1915/3131

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser
Domestic

23
21

Taumarunui
Taumarunui

5 months
3 months

Church of England Taumarunui

15/5193

09 July 1915

Rev E H Gallop Anglican

No	16
Date of Notice	09 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy Denning	Florence Gertrude Percival
	💍 1915/3131
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser	Domestic
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Taumarunui	Taumarunui
Length of Residence	5 months	3 months
Marriage Place	Church of England Taumarunui
Folio	15/5193
Consent
Date of Certificate	09 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev E H Gallop Anglican

19 July 1915

John Donovan Callen
Florence Dora Ryan

John Donovan Cullen
Florence Dorah Ryan
💍 1915/33

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Household Duties

37
34

Taumarunui
Taumarunui

15 months
6 weeks

Roman Catholic Church Taumarunui

15/7987

19 July 1915

Rev John Brennan Catholic

No	17
Date of Notice	19 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Donovan Callen	Florence Dora Ryan
BDM Match (95%)	John Donovan Cullen	Florence Dorah Ryan
	💍 1915/33
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Household Duties
Age	37	34
Dwelling Place	Taumarunui	Taumarunui
Length of Residence	15 months	6 weeks
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Taumarunui
Folio	15/7987
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev John Brennan Catholic

16 August 1915

David Coxhead
Stella May Gordon

David Coxhead
Stella May Gordon
💍 1915/3130

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier
Domestic

24
17

Taumarunui
Taumarunui

3 years
4 years

Residence of Brides Parents Taumarunui

15/5192

Thomas Gordon Father

16 August 1915

Rev Harry J Odell Methodist

No	18
Date of Notice	16 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Coxhead	Stella May Gordon
	💍 1915/3130
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier	Domestic
Age	24	17
Dwelling Place	Taumarunui	Taumarunui
Length of Residence	3 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Brides Parents Taumarunui
Folio	15/5192
Consent	Thomas Gordon Father
Date of Certificate	16 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev Harry J Odell Methodist

17 August 1915

Alfred Theodore Powell
Edith Lillian Thornton

Alfred Theodore Powell
Edith Lillian Thornton
💍 1915/3129

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Household Duties

26
19

Taumarunui
Taumarunui

3 days
6 days

Residence of Brides father Matapuna

15/5191

William Thomas Thornton Father

17 August 1915

Rev J. F. Monfries Presbyterian

No	19
Date of Notice	17 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Theodore Powell	Edith Lillian Thornton
	💍 1915/3129
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Household Duties
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Taumarunui	Taumarunui
Length of Residence	3 days	6 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Brides father Matapuna
Folio	15/5191
Consent	William Thomas Thornton Father
Date of Certificate	17 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev J. F. Monfries Presbyterian

17 August 1915

Alexander McCucheon
Minnie Neil

Alexander McCutcheon
Minnie Neil
💍 1915/3126

Widower
Widow

Farmer
Household Duties

52
49

Taringamotu
Taringamotu

2 years
3 months

Residence of Bridegroom Taringamotu

15/5187

17 August 1915

Rev H J Odell Methodist

No	20
Date of Notice	17 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander McCucheon	Minnie Neil
BDM Match (98%)	Alexander McCutcheon	Minnie Neil
	💍 1915/3126
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Household Duties
Age	52	49
Dwelling Place	Taringamotu	Taringamotu
Length of Residence	2 years	3 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Bridegroom Taringamotu
Folio	15/5187
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev H J Odell Methodist

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).