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 914

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

20 October 1915

Andrew George Bailie Galloway
Eileen Gladys Annie Wrightson

Andrew George Bailie Galloway
Eileen Gladys Annie Wrightson
💍 1915/5257

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Domestic duties

25
23

Wharepoa
Northcote

3 1/2 months
23 years

Church of England Northcote

15/7573

20 October 1915

Rev. Beck, Church of England

No	45
Date of Notice	20 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew George Bailie Galloway	Eileen Gladys Annie Wrightson
	💍 1915/5257
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Domestic duties
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Wharepoa	Northcote
Length of Residence	3 1/2 months	23 years
Marriage Place	Church of England Northcote
Folio	15/7573
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Beck, Church of England

26 October 1915

John Samuel Sheldon
Vera Alma Melba Pulford

John Samuel Sheldon
Vera Alma Melba Pulford
💍 1915/6439

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinet Maker
Dressmaker

25
20

Thames
Thames

3 days
20 years

In the house of Mr Sommerville Hape Road Thames

15/8779

Blanche Allan Sommerville (mother)

26 October 1915

Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

No	46
Date of Notice	26 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Samuel Sheldon	Vera Alma Melba Pulford
	💍 1915/6439
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinet Maker	Dressmaker
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr Sommerville Hape Road Thames
Folio	15/8779
Consent	Blanche Allan Sommerville (mother)
Date of Certificate	26 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

27 October 1915

Jasper Blackhall Bennett
Alice Astley

Jasper Blackhall Bennett
Alice Artley
💍 1915/6440

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

23
22

Thames
Thames

23 years
10 months

In the house of Mr H. Carrington Pollen Street Thames

15/8780

27 October 1915

Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

No	47
Date of Notice	27 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jasper Blackhall Bennett	Alice Astley
BDM Match (96%)	Jasper Blackhall Bennett	Alice Artley
	💍 1915/6440
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	23 years	10 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr H. Carrington Pollen Street Thames
Folio	15/8780
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 October 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

29 October 1915

Joseph Grey
Bertha McGregor

Joseph Grey
Bertha McGregor
💍 1915/6431

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

33
35

Puriri
Puriri

20 years
20 years

Registrar Office Mary Street Thames

15/8776

29 October 1915

William H. Potts, Registrar

No	48
Date of Notice	29 October 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Grey	Bertha McGregor
	💍 1915/6431
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	33	35
Dwelling Place	Puriri	Puriri
Length of Residence	20 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Registrar Office Mary Street Thames
Folio	15/8776
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 October 1915
Officiating Minister	William H. Potts, Registrar

01 November 1915

Edgar William Harris
Lois Annie Buchanan

Edgar William Harris
Lois Aimie Buchanan
💍 1915/6420

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

24
20

Pipiroa
Pipiroa

5 years
4 years

In the house of Mrs Coad Karaka Road Thames

15/8775

John Buchanan (father)

01 November 1915

Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

No	49
Date of Notice	01 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edgar William Harris	Lois Annie Buchanan
BDM Match (95%)	Edgar William Harris	Lois Aimie Buchanan
	💍 1915/6420
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Pipiroa	Pipiroa
Length of Residence	5 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs Coad Karaka Road Thames
Folio	15/8775
Consent	John Buchanan (father)
Date of Certificate	01 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

01 November 1915

Alfred Price
Elsie Ellen Gundersen

Alfred Spice
Elsie Ellen Gundersen
💍 1915/6437

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

21
19

Pipiroa
Pipiroa

2 months
6 weeks

Registrar Office Mary Street Thames

15/8777

Mary Ann Adlam (mother)

01 November 1915

William H. Potts, Registrar

No	50
Date of Notice	01 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Price	Elsie Ellen Gundersen
BDM Match (92%)	Alfred Spice	Elsie Ellen Gundersen
	💍 1915/6437
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Pipiroa	Pipiroa
Length of Residence	2 months	6 weeks
Marriage Place	Registrar Office Mary Street Thames
Folio	15/8777
Consent	Mary Ann Adlam (mother)
Date of Certificate	01 November 1915
Officiating Minister	William H. Potts, Registrar

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).