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 814

District of Thames Quarter ending 31 March 1916 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

24 January 1916

Walter Edward Forbes
Irene Annie Lack

Walter Edward Forbes
Irene Annie Lack
💍 1916/9260

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

22
20

Thames
Thames

3 days
3 years

St James' Presbyterian Church, Pollen Street, Thames

245

Caroline Lack (Mother)

25 January 1916

Rev J Milne, Presbyterian

No	6
Date of Notice	24 January 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Edward Forbes	Irene Annie Lack
	💍 1916/9260
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	St James' Presbyterian Church, Pollen Street, Thames
Folio	245
Consent	Caroline Lack (Mother)
Date of Certificate	25 January 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev J Milne, Presbyterian

3 February 1916

Thomas Albert McClean
Dora Phillips

Thomas Albert McClean
Dora Phillips
💍 1916/8670

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

29
27

Ngatea
Ngatea

5 years
3 years

Church of England, Mackay Street, Thames

243

3 February 1916

Dr O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	7
Date of Notice	3 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Albert McClean	Dora Phillips
	💍 1916/8670
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	29	27
Dwelling Place	Ngatea	Ngatea
Length of Residence	5 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Mackay Street, Thames
Folio	243
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Dr O'Callaghan, Church of England

4 February 1916

Thomas Davis
Rachel Osphia Poole

Thomas Davis
Rachel Sophia Poole
💍 1916/8669

Bachelor
Spinster

Biograph Operator
Domestic duties

22
17

Thames
Thames

22 years
17 years

In the Presbyterian Manse, Rolleston Terrace, Thames

242

Arthur Turner Poole (Father)

4 February 1916

Rev J Milne, Presbyterian

No	8
Date of Notice	4 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Davis	Rachel Osphia Poole
BDM Match (95%)	Thomas Davis	Rachel Sophia Poole
	💍 1916/8669
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Biograph Operator	Domestic duties
Age	22	17
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	22 years	17 years
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Manse, Rolleston Terrace, Thames
Folio	242
Consent	Arthur Turner Poole (Father)
Date of Certificate	4 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev J Milne, Presbyterian

7 February 1916

John Duthie
Ethel Paul

John Duthie
Ethel Paul
💍 1916/8671

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic duties

26
24

Thames
Thames

2 years
24 years

In the house of Mr J Paul, Pollen Street, Thames

244

7 February 1916

C. W. Waterhouse, Church of Christ

No	9
Date of Notice	7 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Duthie	Ethel Paul
	💍 1916/8671
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic duties
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	2 years	24 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr J Paul, Pollen Street, Thames
Folio	244
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1916
Officiating Minister	C. W. Waterhouse, Church of Christ

11 February 1916

William Clifford Strong
Ruby May White

William Clifford Strong
Ruby May White
💍 1916/9256

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic duties

24
19

Thames
Thames

24 years
19 years

In the house of Mrs A Strong, Edward Street, Thames

241

Mary Elizabeth Nicholson White (Mother)

11 February 1916

Rev J Milne, Presbyterian

No	10
Date of Notice	11 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Clifford Strong	Ruby May White
	💍 1916/9256
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic duties
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	24 years	19 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs A Strong, Edward Street, Thames
Folio	241
Consent	Mary Elizabeth Nicholson White (Mother)
Date of Certificate	11 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev J Milne, Presbyterian

18 February 1916

Henry Lester Wright
Elisa Gillan

Henry Elster Wright
Eliza Gillan
💍 1916/8666

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Official
Domestic duties

31
36

Thames
Puriri

3 days
36 years

Methodist Church Puriri

239

18 February 1916

Rev J Milne, Presbyterian

No	11
Date of Notice	18 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Lester Wright	Elisa Gillan
BDM Match (91%)	Henry Elster Wright	Eliza Gillan
	💍 1916/8666
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Official	Domestic duties
Age	31	36
Dwelling Place	Thames	Puriri
Length of Residence	3 days	36 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Puriri
Folio	239
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev J Milne, Presbyterian

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).