Intentions to Marry, 1916 Helensville to Whangaroa

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840464, 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.

1916b contains pages 419-930, covering districts from Helensville to Whangaroa

Page 818

District of Thames Quarter ending 30 June 1916 Registrar William West

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

24 April 1916

Jonathan Winks
Evelyn Johnston

Jonathan Winks
Evelyn Johnston
💍 1916/9047

Bachelor
Spinster

Warehouseman
Domestic duties

44
34

Thames
Thames

3 days
34 years

St Georges Church of England Mackay St Thames

3588

24 April 1916

Dr O'Callaghan Church of England

No	27
Date of Notice	24 April 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jonathan Winks	Evelyn Johnston
	💍 1916/9047
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warehouseman	Domestic duties
Age	44	34
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	34 years
Marriage Place	St Georges Church of England Mackay St Thames
Folio	3588
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 April 1916
Officiating Minister	Dr O'Callaghan Church of England

24 April 1916

James Handley
Nora Ngahuia Alley

James Handley
Nora Ngahuia Alley
💍 1916/9048

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

25
19

Paeroa
Hikutaia

13 years
19 years

Church of England Hikutaia

3589

Albert Henry Alley (Guardian)

24 April 1916

Dr O'Callaghan Church of England

No	28
Date of Notice	24 April 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Handley	Nora Ngahuia Alley
	💍 1916/9048
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Paeroa	Hikutaia
Length of Residence	13 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Church of England Hikutaia
Folio	3589
Consent	Albert Henry Alley (Guardian)
Date of Certificate	24 April 1916
Officiating Minister	Dr O'Callaghan Church of England

20 May 1916

Robert Leslie Hudson
Julia Violet Coxhead

Robert Leslie Hudson
Julia Violet Coxhead
💍 1916/9033

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

26
20

Kirikiri
Parawai

3 years
4 years

In the house of Mrs R Coxhead Parawai Thames

3591

Robert Coxhead (Father)

20 May 1916

Rev J Milne Presbyterian

No	29
Date of Notice	20 May 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Leslie Hudson	Julia Violet Coxhead
	💍 1916/9033
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Kirikiri	Parawai
Length of Residence	3 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs R Coxhead Parawai Thames
Folio	3591
Consent	Robert Coxhead (Father)
Date of Certificate	20 May 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev J Milne Presbyterian

22 May 1916

John Trebilcock
Ellen Margaret Smith

John Trebilcock
Ellen Margaret Smith
💍 1916/9049

Bachelor
Widow 12th May 1913

Baker
Domestic duties

33
22

Thames
Thames

33 years
22 years

In the house of Mr G W Peploe Karaka Thames

3590

22 May 1916

Rev S J Serpell Methodist

No	30
Date of Notice	22 May 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Trebilcock	Ellen Margaret Smith
	💍 1916/9049
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 12th May 1913
Profession	Baker	Domestic duties
Age	33	22
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	33 years	22 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr G W Peploe Karaka Thames
Folio	3590
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 May 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev S J Serpell Methodist

23 May 1916

Daniel McClennan
Elizabeth Maud Jamieson

Daniel McClennan
Elizabeth Maud Jamieson
💍 1916/9034

Widower 15th Jan 1915
Spinster

Hotel Keeper
House Maid

55
22

Tapu
Tapu

8 years
22 years

In the Royal Oak Hotel Tapu

3592

23 May 1916

Rev F J Dignan Roman Catholic

No	31
Date of Notice	23 May 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel McClennan	Elizabeth Maud Jamieson
	💍 1916/9034
Condition	Widower 15th Jan 1915	Spinster
Profession	Hotel Keeper	House Maid
Age	55	22
Dwelling Place	Tapu	Tapu
Length of Residence	8 years	22 years
Marriage Place	In the Royal Oak Hotel Tapu
Folio	3592
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 May 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev F 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).