Intentions to Marry, 1916 Albertland to Hamilton

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840463, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1916 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.

1916a contains pages 1-418, covering districts from Albertland to Hamilton

Page 369

District of Gisborne Quarter ending 30 September 1916 Registrar H. G. Hill

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

108

3 July 1916

William Graham White
Mary Elizabeth Duffy

William Graham White
Mary Elizabeth Duffy
💍 1916/7752

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmill Manager
Domestic Duties

28
22

Gisborne
Gisborne

7 years
20 years

The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

16/5400

3 July 1916

Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

No	108
Date of Notice	3 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Graham White	Mary Elizabeth Duffy
	💍 1916/7752
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmill Manager	Domestic Duties
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	7 years	20 years
Marriage Place	The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne
Folio	16/5400
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

109

3 July 1916

Oswald Vincent Church
Agnes Annie Barr

Oswald Vincent Church
Agnes Annie Barr
💍 1916/7778

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

23
22

Hangaroa Gisborne
Gisborne

14 years
4 years

Residence of the Bride's Parents Roebuck Road Gisborne

5403

3 July 1916

Rev James Aitken Presbyterian

No	109
Date of Notice	3 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Oswald Vincent Church	Agnes Annie Barr
	💍 1916/7778
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Hangaroa Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	14 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Residence of the Bride's Parents Roebuck Road Gisborne
Folio	5403
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev James Aitken Presbyterian

110

3 July 1916

Andrew Carlsen
Martha Elizabeth Murland

Andrew Carlsen
Martha Elizabeth Murland
💍 1916/7760

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Domestic Servant

36
36

Gisborne
Gisborne

4 years
8 years

The office of the Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

5401

3 July 1916

Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

No	110
Date of Notice	3 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Carlsen	Martha Elizabeth Murland
	💍 1916/7760
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	36	36
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	4 years	8 years
Marriage Place	The office of the Registrar of Marriages Gisborne
Folio	5401
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

111

4 July 1916

Francis Robert Hannah
Isabel Mary Ann Hamon

Francis Robert Hennah
Isabel Mary Ann Lamont
💍 1916/14163

Bachelor
Spinster

Stable Proprietor
Domestic Duties

25
19

Gisborne
Gisborne

14 years
Life

The office of the Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

5402

James Hamon (Father)

4 July 1916

Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

No	111
Date of Notice	4 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Robert Hannah	Isabel Mary Ann Hamon
BDM Match (93%)	Francis Robert Hennah	Isabel Mary Ann Lamont
	💍 1916/14163
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stable Proprietor	Domestic Duties
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	14 years	Life
Marriage Place	The office of the Registrar of Marriages Gisborne
Folio	5402
Consent	James Hamon (Father)
Date of Certificate	4 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

112

4 July 1916

Ernest William Voules
Edith Mary Case

Ernest William Vowles
Edith Mary Case
💍 1916/7779

Bachelor
Spinster

Jeweller (Soldier Expeditionary Forces)
Domestic Servant

27
30

Gisborne
Gisborne

14 years
2 years

161 Clifford Street Whataupoko Gisborne

5404

4 July 1916

Rev William Wills (Methodist Minister)

No	112
Date of Notice	4 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest William Voules	Edith Mary Case
BDM Match (98%)	Ernest William Vowles	Edith Mary Case
	💍 1916/7779
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Jeweller (Soldier Expeditionary Forces)	Domestic Servant
Age	27	30
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	14 years	2 years
Marriage Place	161 Clifford Street Whataupoko Gisborne
Folio	5404
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev William Wills (Methodist Minister)

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).