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 913

District of Thames Quarter ending 31 December 1915 Registrar William H. Potts

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

4 October 1915

William John Campbell
Florence Lillian Coutts

William John Campbell
Florence Lillian Coutts
💍 1915/6422

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier
Domestic duties

24
27

Thames
Thames

1 day
27 years

In the house of Mr J Coutts, Tararu Road, Thames

8785

4 October 1915

Rev J. Milne, Presbyterian

No	39
Date of Notice	4 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Campbell	Florence Lillian Coutts
	💍 1915/6422
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier	Domestic duties
Age	24	27
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	1 day	27 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr J Coutts, Tararu Road, Thames
Folio	8785
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Milne, Presbyterian

4 October 1915

George Coutts Kerr
Jessie Grace Boag

George Coutts Kerr
Jessie Grace Boag
💍 1915/6421

Bachelor
Spinster

Billiard Marker
Domestic duties

33
24

Thames
Thames

2 days
5 months

In the house of Mrs Boag, Pollen Street, Thames

8784

6 October 1915

Rev J. Milne, Presbyterian

No	40
Date of Notice	4 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Coutts Kerr	Jessie Grace Boag
	💍 1915/6421
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Billiard Marker	Domestic duties
Age	33	24
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	2 days	5 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs Boag, Pollen Street, Thames
Folio	8784
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Milne, Presbyterian

4 October 1915

Edward Percy Smith
Emily Eliza Peploe

Edward Percy Smith
Emily Eliza Peploe
💍 1915/6441

Bachelor
Spinster

Mill Hand
Tailoress

27
24

Thames
Thames

9 days
24 years

In the house of Mrs G Peploe, Karaka Road, Thames

8781

4 October 1915

Rev J. Sharp, Methodist

No	41
Date of Notice	4 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Percy Smith	Emily Eliza Peploe
	💍 1915/6441
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mill Hand	Tailoress
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	9 days	24 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs G Peploe, Karaka Road, Thames
Folio	8781
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Sharp, Methodist

11 October 1915

Thomas Henry Waud
Delicia Newman

Thomas Henry Waud
Selina Newman
💍 1915/6443

Bachelor
Widow 10th May 1899

Ganger
Lady's Help

51
55

Thames
Thames

4 days
40 years

Registrar's Office, Mary Street, Thames

8783

11 October 1915

William H. Potts, Registrar

No	42
Date of Notice	11 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Henry Waud	Delicia Newman
BDM Match (89%)	Thomas Henry Waud	Selina Newman
	💍 1915/6443
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 10th May 1899
Profession	Ganger	Lady's Help
Age	51	55
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	4 days	40 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Mary Street, Thames
Folio	8783
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 October 1915
Officiating Minister	William H. Potts, Registrar

16 October 1915

Harry Wren
Daisy McDetridge

Harry Wren
Daisy McFetridge
💍 1915/6438

Bachelor
Spinster

Bushman
Domestic duties

28
18

Waiomo
Puru

16 years
18 years

In the house of Mr A. McDetridge, Puru

8778

Alexander McDetridge (Father)

16 October 1915

Rev J. Milne, Presbyterian

No	43
Date of Notice	16 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Wren	Daisy McDetridge
BDM Match (97%)	Harry Wren	Daisy McFetridge
	💍 1915/6438
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bushman	Domestic duties
Age	28	18
Dwelling Place	Waiomo	Puru
Length of Residence	16 years	18 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr A. McDetridge, Puru
Folio	8778
Consent	Alexander McDetridge (Father)
Date of Certificate	16 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Milne, Presbyterian

18 October 1915

George Warne
Helen Margaret Donnelly

George Warne
Helen Margaret Donnelly
💍 1915/6442

Bachelor
Spinster

Iron Turner
Dressmaker

26
24

Thames
Thames

26 years
24 years

Methodist Church, Pollen Street, Thames

8782

18 October 1915

Rev G. W. J. Spence, Methodist

No	44
Date of Notice	18 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Warne	Helen Margaret Donnelly
	💍 1915/6442
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Iron Turner	Dressmaker
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	26 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Pollen Street, Thames
Folio	8782
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev G. W. J. Spence, 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).