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 915

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

02 November 1915

Henry Gilbert Brownlee
Margaret Currie

Henry Gilbet Brownlee
Margaret Currie
💍 1915/6324

Bachelor
Spinster

Orchardist
Domestic duties

23
29

Thames
Thames

23 years
29 years

In the house of Mr A Currie Fenton Street Parawai Thames

8774

02 November 1915

Rev J Milne Presbyterian

No	51
Date of Notice	02 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Gilbert Brownlee	Margaret Currie
BDM Match (98%)	Henry Gilbet Brownlee	Margaret Currie
	💍 1915/6324
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Orchardist	Domestic duties
Age	23	29
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	23 years	29 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr A Currie Fenton Street Parawai Thames
Folio	8774
Consent
Date of Certificate	02 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev J Milne Presbyterian

03 November 1915

Lyndon Bethel
Agnes Bedford

Lyndon Bethel
Agnes Bedford
💍 1915/6323

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Milliner

25
23

Thames
Thames

3 months
5 months

In the Presbyterian Manse Rolleston Terrace Thames

8773

03 November 1915

Rev J Milne Presbyterian

No	52
Date of Notice	03 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lyndon Bethel	Agnes Bedford
	💍 1915/6323
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Milliner
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 months	5 months
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Manse Rolleston Terrace Thames
Folio	8773
Consent
Date of Certificate	03 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev J Milne Presbyterian

05 November 1915

James Odlum
Rangipakihi Wiremu

James Odlum
Rangi Pakiki Wirumu
💍 1915/6322

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

35
43

Hikutaia
Hikutaia

35 years
43 years

Registrar Office, Mary Street, Thames

15/8772

05 November 1915

William H Potts, Registrar

No	53
Date of Notice	05 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Odlum	Rangipakihi Wiremu
BDM Match (89%)	James Odlum	Rangi Pakiki Wirumu
	💍 1915/6322
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	35	43
Dwelling Place	Hikutaia	Hikutaia
Length of Residence	35 years	43 years
Marriage Place	Registrar Office, Mary Street, Thames
Folio	15/8772
Consent
Date of Certificate	05 November 1915
Officiating Minister	William H Potts, Registrar

08 November 1915

David Joseph Spiers
Eliza May Brown

David Joseph Spiers
Eliza May Brown
💍 1915/6320

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic duties

38
24

Karangahake
Thames

24 years

In the house of Mr J Reilly Grey Street Thames

8770 Ohinemuri

08 November 1915

Rev J Milne Presbyterian

No	54
Date of Notice	08 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Joseph Spiers	Eliza May Brown
	💍 1915/6320
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic duties
Age	38	24
Dwelling Place	Karangahake	Thames
Length of Residence		24 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr J Reilly Grey Street Thames
Folio	8770 Ohinemuri
Consent
Date of Certificate	08 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev J Milne Presbyterian

11 November 1915

Frank Louis Jenner
Coraline Mary Josephine Gemming

Frank Louis Jenner
Coralie Mary Josephine Gemming
💍 1915/6321

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant
Domestic duties

28
30

Kopu
Kopu

22 months
14 months

Presbyterian Manse Rolleston Terrace Thames

8771

11 November 1915

Rev J Milne Presbyterian

No	55
Date of Notice	11 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Louis Jenner	Coraline Mary Josephine Gemming
BDM Match (98%)	Frank Louis Jenner	Coralie Mary Josephine Gemming
	💍 1915/6321
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	Domestic duties
Age	28	30
Dwelling Place	Kopu	Kopu
Length of Residence	22 months	14 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse Rolleston Terrace Thames
Folio	8771
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev J Milne Presbyterian

12 November 1915

Thomas Prentis
Annie Alice Naylor

Thomas Prenter
Annie Alice Naylor
💍 1915/6319

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Dressmaker

29
29

Puriri
Puriri

2 days
3 weeks

In the house of Mr Naylor Puriri

8769

15 November 1915

Rev GW Spence Methodist

No	56
Date of Notice	12 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Prentis	Annie Alice Naylor
BDM Match (93%)	Thomas Prenter	Annie Alice Naylor
	💍 1915/6319
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Dressmaker
Age	29	29
Dwelling Place	Puriri	Puriri
Length of Residence	2 days	3 weeks
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr Naylor Puriri
Folio	8769
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev GW 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).