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 867

District of Te Aroha Quarter ending 31 March 1915 Registrar J. Hollywood

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 January 1915

John McFillycuddy
Kathleen Moriarty

John McGillycuddy
Kathleen Moriarty
💍 1915/8725

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk of a Timber Mill
Nurse

32
26

Putaruru
Morrinsville

7 months
6 months

Roman Catholic Church Te Aroha

851

6 January 1915

Rev. J. McGuinness, Roman Catholic

No	1
Date of Notice	6 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McFillycuddy	Kathleen Moriarty
BDM Match (97%)	John McGillycuddy	Kathleen Moriarty
	💍 1915/8725
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk of a Timber Mill	Nurse
Age	32	26
Dwelling Place	Putaruru	Morrinsville
Length of Residence	7 months	6 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Te Aroha
Folio	851
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McGuinness, Roman Catholic

15 January 1915

Bert Teague
Ellen Shine

Bert Teague
Ellen Shine
💍 1915/8724

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

26
19

Waihou
Waihou

6 months
19 years

Private residence John Shine Waihou

850

James Shine Father Waihou

15 January 1915

Rev. J. McGuinness, Roman Catholic

No	2
Date of Notice	15 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bert Teague	Ellen Shine
	💍 1915/8724
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Waihou	Waihou
Length of Residence	6 months	19 years
Marriage Place	Private residence John Shine Waihou
Folio	850
Consent	James Shine Father Waihou
Date of Certificate	15 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McGuinness, Roman Catholic

25 January 1915

James Henry Stewart
Mary Donovan

James Henry Stewart
Mary Donovan
💍 1915/8723

Bachelor
Widow

Painter
Dressmaker

44
39

Auckland
Te Aroha

4 days
8 years

Roman Catholic Church Te Aroha

849

25 January 1915

Rev. J. McGuinness, Roman Catholic

No	3
Date of Notice	25 January 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Henry Stewart	Mary Donovan
	💍 1915/8723
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Painter	Dressmaker
Age	44	39
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Te Aroha
Length of Residence	4 days	8 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Te Aroha
Folio	849
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 January 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McGuinness, Roman Catholic

1 February 1915

Christopher Barton Irvine
Mary Ann Smith

Christopher Barton Irvine
Mary Ann Smith
💍 1915/8722

Bachelor
Widow

Ironmonger
Tailoress

39
28

Taumarunui
Te Aroha

7 years
7 months

Roman Catholic Church Te Aroha

848

1 February 1915

Rev. J. McGuinness, Roman Catholic

No	4
Date of Notice	1 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Christopher Barton Irvine	Mary Ann Smith
	💍 1915/8722
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Ironmonger	Tailoress
Age	39	28
Dwelling Place	Taumarunui	Te Aroha
Length of Residence	7 years	7 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Te Aroha
Folio	848
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McGuinness, Roman Catholic

2 February 1915

George Edward Hally
Primie Laetitia Oliphant Rowe

George Edward Hally
Minnie Laetitia Oliphant Rowe
💍 1915/11619

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dental assistant

28
26

Morrinsville
Te Aroha

2 years
6 years

Church of England Te Aroha

858

2 February 1915

Rev. W. H. Edgell, Church of England

No	5
Date of Notice	2 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Edward Hally	Primie Laetitia Oliphant Rowe
BDM Match (93%)	George Edward Hally	Minnie Laetitia Oliphant Rowe
	💍 1915/11619
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dental assistant
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	Morrinsville	Te Aroha
Length of Residence	2 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Church of England Te Aroha
Folio	858
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Edgell, Church of England

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).