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 671

District of Owhango Quarter ending 30 June 1916 Registrar W. Finch

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

10 April 1916

William Valentine Henderson
Margaret Crocker

William Valentine Henderson
Margaret Crocker
💍 1916/6133

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Domestic Duties

28
18

Waimarino
Raurimu

9 years
10 years

Church of England, Raurimu

3519

Henry Crocker, father

10 April 1916

Rev. H. J. Keller, Church of England

No	1
Date of Notice	10 April 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Valentine Henderson	Margaret Crocker
	💍 1916/6133
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Domestic Duties
Age	28	18
Dwelling Place	Waimarino	Raurimu
Length of Residence	9 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Raurimu
Folio	3519
Consent	Henry Crocker, father
Date of Certificate	10 April 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. J. Keller, Church of England

29 April 1916

George Thomas Watkins
Emma Mary Petersen

George Thomas Watkins
Emma Mary Petersen
💍 1916/6135

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmiller
Domestic Duties

29
23

Ta Rahi
Ta Rahi

3 years
3 years

Anglican Church, Ta Rahi

3520

29 April 1916

Rev. J. A. Kempthorne, Church of England

No	2
Date of Notice	29 April 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Thomas Watkins	Emma Mary Petersen
	💍 1916/6135
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmiller	Domestic Duties
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Ta Rahi	Ta Rahi
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, Ta Rahi
Folio	3520
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 April 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Kempthorne, Church of England

19 May 1916

Walter James Wade
Margaret Marie Lacy

Walter James Wade
Margaret Marie Lacy
💍 1916/7859

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Household Duties

32
22

Retaruke
Retaruke

6 years
2 years

Residence of J. S. Lacy, Jerusalem

5513

19 May 1916

Rev. F. Kinisty, Roman Catholic

No	3
Date of Notice	19 May 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter James Wade	Margaret Marie Lacy
	💍 1916/7859
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Household Duties
Age	32	22
Dwelling Place	Retaruke	Retaruke
Length of Residence	6 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of J. S. Lacy, Jerusalem
Folio	5513
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 May 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Kinisty, Roman Catholic

5 June 1916

Percival Richard Churchill
Lenasophia Petersen

Percival Richard Churchill
Lena Sophia Petersen
💍 1916/7860

Bachelor
Spinster

Plate-layer
Nurse

36
26

Ta Rahi
Ta Rahi

1 year
3 years

Church of England, Ta Rahi

5514

5 June 1916

Rev. J. A. Kempthorne, Church of England

No	4
Date of Notice	5 June 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percival Richard Churchill	Lenasophia Petersen
BDM Match (95%)	Percival Richard Churchill	Lena Sophia Petersen
	💍 1916/7860
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plate-layer	Nurse
Age	36	26
Dwelling Place	Ta Rahi	Ta Rahi
Length of Residence	1 year	3 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Ta Rahi
Folio	5514
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 June 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Kempthorne, Church of England

9 June 1916

Andrew Murray Roberts
Annie Isbell Huelstep

Andrew Murray Roberts
Annie Isabelle Huckstep
💍 1916/6498

Bachelor
Spinster

Surveyor
Saleswoman

50
30

Owhango
Palmerston North

4 months
5 months

Methodist Church, Palmerston North

3957

9 June 1916

Rev. J. Haslam, Methodist

No	5
Date of Notice	9 June 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Murray Roberts	Annie Isbell Huelstep
BDM Match (91%)	Andrew Murray Roberts	Annie Isabelle Huckstep
	💍 1916/6498
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Surveyor	Saleswoman
Age	50	30
Dwelling Place	Owhango	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	4 months	5 months
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Palmerston North
Folio	3957
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 June 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Haslam, 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).