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 906

District of Thames Quarter ending 31 March 1915 Registrar William Henry 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

19 February 1915

John Mann
Lilly Martin

John Mann
Lilly Martin
💍 1915/8743

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Dressmaker

38
34

Thames
Thames

38 years
34 years

In the Presbyterian Manse Rolleston Terrace Thames

875

19 February 1915

Rev J Milne Presbyterian

No	7
Date of Notice	19 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Mann	Lilly Martin
	💍 1915/8743
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Dressmaker
Age	38	34
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	38 years	34 years
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Manse Rolleston Terrace Thames
Folio	875
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev J Milne Presbyterian

23 February 1915

Ernest Lewin Gibbons
Jessie Evelyn Macduff

Ernest Lewin Gibbour
Jessie Evelyn Macduff
💍 1915/8742

Bachelor
Spinster

Fitter
Domestic duties

23
26

Thames
Thames

23 years
26 years

In the house of William Macduff Wharepoa

874

23 February 1915

Rev J Milne Presbyterian

No	8
Date of Notice	23 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Lewin Gibbons	Jessie Evelyn Macduff
BDM Match (95%)	Ernest Lewin Gibbour	Jessie Evelyn Macduff
	💍 1915/8742
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fitter	Domestic duties
Age	23	26
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	23 years	26 years
Marriage Place	In the house of William Macduff Wharepoa
Folio	874
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev J Milne Presbyterian

2 March 1915

David John Watson Everitt
Lilly McPherson

David John Watson Everitt
Lilly McPherson
💍 1915/8740

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Clerk

30
27

Thames
Thames

3 days
3 weeks

In the Methodist Church Pollen Street Thames

872

3 March 1915

Rev GW Spence Methodist

No	9
Date of Notice	2 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David John Watson Everitt	Lilly McPherson
	💍 1915/8740
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Clerk
Age	30	27
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	3 weeks
Marriage Place	In the Methodist Church Pollen Street Thames
Folio	872
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev GW Spence Methodist

2 March 1915

Alfred Edward Clark
Elsie France Gooder

Alfred Edward Clark
Elsie France Gooder
💍 1915/8741

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraphist
Domestic duties

24
21

Thames
Wharepoa

3 days
9 months

In the house of Mr R. Gooder Wharepoa

873

2 March 1915

H Orchard Methodist

No	10
Date of Notice	2 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Edward Clark	Elsie France Gooder
	💍 1915/8741
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist	Domestic duties
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Thames	Wharepoa
Length of Residence	3 days	9 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr R. Gooder Wharepoa
Folio	873
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 March 1915
Officiating Minister	H Orchard Methodist

13 March 1915

Edward George Louden
Elizabeth Helen Reddy

Edward George Louden
Elizabeth Helen Reddy
💍 1915/8739

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

28
21

Thames
Thames

1 year
1 year

In the Presbyterian Manse Rolleston Terrace Thames

871

13 March 1915

Rev J Milne Presbyterian

No	11
Date of Notice	13 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward George Louden	Elizabeth Helen Reddy
	💍 1915/8739
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	1 year	1 year
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Manse Rolleston Terrace Thames
Folio	871
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 March 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev J Milne Presbyterian

27 March 1915

John Burton Lowman
Beatrice Stretton

John Burton Lowman
Beatrice Stretton
💍 1915/1441

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

31
30

Waitakaruru
Waitakaruru

5 days
2 years

In the Waitakaruru Hall Waitakaruru

3308

27 March 1915

Rev GW Spence Methodist

No	12
Date of Notice	27 March 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Burton Lowman	Beatrice Stretton
	💍 1915/1441
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	31	30
Dwelling Place	Waitakaruru	Waitakaruru
Length of Residence	5 days	2 years
Marriage Place	In the Waitakaruru Hall Waitakaruru
Folio	3308
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 March 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).