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 818

District of Rotorua Quarter ending 31 March 1915 Registrar Charles Vernon Roberts

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

19 March 1915

Sam Moore
Tamara Rapana

Sam Moore
Tamara Rapana
💍 1915/7994

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Domestic Duties

44
17

Whakarewarewa
Whakarewarewa

7 months
6 years

Registrar's Office Courthouse Rotorua

15/1843

Jaru Rapana, Father

19 March 1915

Charles Vernon Roberts

No	9
Date of Notice	19 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sam Moore	Tamara Rapana
	💍 1915/7994
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Domestic Duties
Age	44	17
Dwelling Place	Whakarewarewa	Whakarewarewa
Length of Residence	7 months	6 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Courthouse Rotorua
Folio	15/1843
Consent	Jaru Rapana, Father
Date of Certificate	19 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Charles Vernon Roberts

22 March 1915

Thomas Joseph Burke
Alice May Burton

Thomas Joseph Burke
Alice May Burton
💍 1915/8710

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Tailoress

23
21

Rotorua
Rotorua

4 days
4 days

St Luke's Anglican Church Haupapa Street Rotorua

15/837

22 March 1915

Rev. Kenneth Edward Maclean

No	10
Date of Notice	22 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Joseph Burke	Alice May Burton
	💍 1915/8710
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Tailoress
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Rotorua	Rotorua
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	St Luke's Anglican Church Haupapa Street Rotorua
Folio	15/837
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Kenneth Edward Maclean

25 March 1915

Leslie Vickers
Eva Smart

Leslie Vickers
Eva Smart
💍 1915/8355

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

28
24

Rotorua
Newmarket

2 1/2 years
3 weeks

St Matthews Anglican Church Hobson Street Auckland

15/2256

25 March 1915

Rev. William Eugene Gillam

No	11
Date of Notice	25 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie Vickers	Eva Smart
	💍 1915/8355
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Rotorua	Newmarket
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	St Matthews Anglican Church Hobson Street Auckland
Folio	15/2256
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Eugene Gillam

26 March 1915

Charles Cecil Southampton Fitzroy
Leila Mary Smith

Charles Cecil Southampton Fitzroy
Leila Mary Smith
💍 1915/13993

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier
Domestic Duties

30
26

Trentham Camp
Te Ngae

2 months
3 years

St Luke's Anglican Church Haupapa Street Rotorua

15/2591

26 March 1915

Rev. K. E. Maclean

No	12
Date of Notice	26 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Cecil Southampton Fitzroy	Leila Mary Smith
	💍 1915/13993
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier	Domestic Duties
Age	30	26
Dwelling Place	Trentham Camp	Te Ngae
Length of Residence	2 months	3 years
Marriage Place	St Luke's Anglican Church Haupapa Street Rotorua
Folio	15/2591
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. K. E. Maclean

27 March 1915

James Martin Keir
Florence May Dins

James Martin Keir
Florence May Sims
💍 1915/1387

Bachelor
Spinster

Cook
Waitress

27
26

Rotorua
Rotorua

six months
twelve months

St Luke's Anglican Church Haupapa Street Rotorua

15/3254

27 March 1915

Rev. K. E. Maclean

No	13
Date of Notice	27 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Martin Keir	Florence May Dins
BDM Match (94%)	James Martin Keir	Florence May Sims
	💍 1915/1387
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cook	Waitress
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Rotorua	Rotorua
Length of Residence	six months	twelve months
Marriage Place	St Luke's Anglican Church Haupapa Street Rotorua
Folio	15/3254
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. K. E. Maclean

29 March 1915

Thomas Alexander Turner
Fredericha Johnston

Thomas Alexander Turner
Fredricka Johnston
💍 1915/8639

Bachelor
Spinster

Millhand
Domestic

20
22

Ngongotaha
Rotorua

9 years
2 years

Residence of William Speer at Ngapuna

15/740

Charles Turner, Father

29 March 1915

Rev. William Perry

No	14
Date of Notice	29 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Alexander Turner	Fredericha Johnston
BDM Match (95%)	Thomas Alexander Turner	Fredricka Johnston
	💍 1915/8639
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Millhand	Domestic
Age	20	22
Dwelling Place	Ngongotaha	Rotorua
Length of Residence	9 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of William Speer at Ngapuna
Folio	15/740
Consent	Charles Turner, Father
Date of Certificate	29 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Perry

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).