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 917

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

9 December 1915

Cyril Glover Mellor
Anita Pearl Gemming

Cyril Glover Mellor
Nita Pearl Gemming
💍 1915/6308

Bachelor
Spinster

Factory Assistant
Typist

26
26

Kopu
Kopu

2 1/2 years
1 year

St George's Church of England Mackay Street Thames

8759

9 December 1915

Dr O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	63
Date of Notice	9 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cyril Glover Mellor	Anita Pearl Gemming
BDM Match (95%)	Cyril Glover Mellor	Nita Pearl Gemming
	💍 1915/6308
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Factory Assistant	Typist
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Kopu	Kopu
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	1 year
Marriage Place	St George's Church of England Mackay Street Thames
Folio	8759
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Dr O'Callaghan, Church of England

11 December 1915

Richard Henry Smith
Kiritahanga Kennedy

Richard Henry Smith
Kiritahanga Kennedy
💍 1915/6312

Bachelor
Widow 12 May 1915

Soldier
Domestic duties

25
32

Thames
Thames

25 years
4 months

Registrar Office Mary Street Thames

8763

11 December 1915

William H. Potts, Registrar

No	64
Date of Notice	11 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Henry Smith	Kiritahanga Kennedy
	💍 1915/6312
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 12 May 1915
Profession	Soldier	Domestic duties
Age	25	32
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	25 years	4 months
Marriage Place	Registrar Office Mary Street Thames
Folio	8763
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 December 1915
Officiating Minister	William H. Potts, Registrar

15 December 1915

Montford Henry Hoskins
Gladys Margaret Burnett

Montford Henry Hoskins
Gladys Margaret Burrett
💍 1915/14703

Bachelor
Spinster

Brass Finisher
Music Teacher

30
22

Thames
Thames

4 years
22 years

Church of England Mackay Street Thames

9505

15 December 1915

Rev T. O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	65
Date of Notice	15 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Montford Henry Hoskins	Gladys Margaret Burnett
BDM Match (98%)	Montford Henry Hoskins	Gladys Margaret Burrett
	💍 1915/14703
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Brass Finisher	Music Teacher
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	4 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Church of England Mackay Street Thames
Folio	9505
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev T. O'Callaghan, Church of England

17 December 1915

George Govan Gibson
Myrtle Ramage Chalton

George Govan Gibson
Myrtle Ramage Chalton
💍 1915/6309

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Dental Assistant

28
21

Thames
Thames

28 years
3 years

In the house of Mr H. Chalton Fenton Street Parawai

8760

17 December 1915

Rev J. Milnes, Presbyterian

No	66
Date of Notice	17 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Govan Gibson	Myrtle Ramage Chalton
	💍 1915/6309
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Dental Assistant
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	28 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr H. Chalton Fenton Street Parawai
Folio	8760
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Milnes, Presbyterian

17 December 1915

John James Harbidge
Elizabeth Ann McEnteer

John James Harbidge
Elizabeth Ann McEnteer
💍 1915/6330

Widower 29/12/1910
Spinster

Station Master
Domestic duties

31
30

Thames
Thames

14 days
30 years

St Francis Roman Catholic Church Thames

8757

17 December 1915

Rev G. J. Dignan, Roman Catholic

No	67
Date of Notice	17 December 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John James Harbidge	Elizabeth Ann McEnteer
	💍 1915/6330
Condition	Widower 29/12/1910	Spinster
Profession	Station Master	Domestic duties
Age	31	30
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	14 days	30 years
Marriage Place	St Francis Roman Catholic Church Thames
Folio	8757
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 December 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev G. J. Dignan, Roman Catholic

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).