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 911

District of Thames Quarter ending 30 September 1915 Registrar William Henry Scott

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

16 July 1915

Francis Shearer
Martha Emma Raw

Francis Shearer
Martha Emma Rau
💍 1915/3173

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

24
28

Pipiroa
Pipiroa

7 days
7 days

In the house of Mr A. G. Raw Shelly Beach Pipiroa

5236

17 July 1915

Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

No	29
Date of Notice	16 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Shearer	Martha Emma Raw
BDM Match (97%)	Francis Shearer	Martha Emma Rau
	💍 1915/3173
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	24	28
Dwelling Place	Pipiroa	Pipiroa
Length of Residence	7 days	7 days
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr A. G. Raw Shelly Beach Pipiroa
Folio	5236
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

19 July 1915

Charles Roberts
Gertrude Hilda Wallen

Charles Roberts
Gertrude Hilda Wallace
💍 1915/3151

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Domestic

30
20

Thames
Thames

6 days
3 months

In the house of Mr J. Roberts Karaka Thames

5238

John Thomas Wallen (Father)

19 July 1915

W. C. Waterhouse, Church of Christ

No	30
Date of Notice	19 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Roberts	Gertrude Hilda Wallen
BDM Match (93%)	Charles Roberts	Gertrude Hilda Wallace
	💍 1915/3151
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Domestic
Age	30	20
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	6 days	3 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr J. Roberts Karaka Thames
Folio	5238
Consent	John Thomas Wallen (Father)
Date of Certificate	19 July 1915
Officiating Minister	W. C. Waterhouse, Church of Christ

21 July 1915

John Thomas Kedzlie
Barbara Elizabeth Marion Law

John Thomas Kedzlie
Barabara Elizabeth Marion Law
💍 1915/3150

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Dressmaker

26
17

Thames
Thames

10 months
17 years

In the house of Mr R. A. Law Karaka

5237

Robert Alexander Law (Father)

21 July 1915

Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

No	31
Date of Notice	21 July 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thomas Kedzlie	Barbara Elizabeth Marion Law
BDM Match (98%)	John Thomas Kedzlie	Barabara Elizabeth Marion Law
	💍 1915/3150
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Dressmaker
Age	26	17
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	10 months	17 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr R. A. Law Karaka
Folio	5237
Consent	Robert Alexander Law (Father)
Date of Certificate	21 July 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

23 August 1915

William Henry Scott
Annie Francis Walsh

William Henry Scott
Annie Frances Walsh
💍 1915/3160

Widower 4th Nov 1905
Divorcee 12th Dec 1910

Farmer
Domestic duties

39
33

Pipiroa
Pipiroa

5 years
3 days

In the house of Mr Marshall Pipiroa

5229

23 August 1915

Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

No	32
Date of Notice	23 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Scott	Annie Francis Walsh
BDM Match (97%)	William Henry Scott	Annie Frances Walsh
	💍 1915/3160
Condition	Widower 4th Nov 1905	Divorcee 12th Dec 1910
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	39	33
Dwelling Place	Pipiroa	Pipiroa
Length of Residence	5 years	3 days
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr Marshall Pipiroa
Folio	5229
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

25 August 1915

George Grey McAndrew
Edith Elizabeth Myrtle Kitching

George Grey McAndrew
Edith Elizabeth Myrtle Kitching
💍 1915/3171

Bachelor
Spinster

Timber Merchant
Domestic duties

32
31

Paeroa
Thames

—
31 years

In the house of Mr William H. Kitching Willoughby St Thames

5234

25 August 1915

Joseph Sharp, Methodist

No	33
Date of Notice	25 August 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Grey McAndrew	Edith Elizabeth Myrtle Kitching
	💍 1915/3171
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Timber Merchant	Domestic duties
Age	32	31
Dwelling Place	Paeroa	Thames
Length of Residence	—	31 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr William H. Kitching Willoughby St Thames
Folio	5234
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 August 1915
Officiating Minister	Joseph Sharp, 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).