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 731

District of Rotorua Quarter ending 30 September 1916 Registrar A. W. Curtis

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

3 July 1916

William Preston Tyson
Dorothy Ellen Langdon

William Preston Tyson
Dorothy Ellen Langdon
💍 1916/7184

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk (Government)
Post Office Official

50
30

Mamaku
Wellington

6 months
3 1/2 weeks

St Mark's Church of England Wellington

4719

3 July 1916

Rev. Charles Frederick Askew

No	22
Date of Notice	3 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Preston Tyson	Dorothy Ellen Langdon
	💍 1916/7184
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk (Government)	Post Office Official
Age	50	30
Dwelling Place	Mamaku	Wellington
Length of Residence	6 months	3 1/2 weeks
Marriage Place	St Mark's Church of England Wellington
Folio	4719
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. Charles Frederick Askew

10 July 1916

Paul David Fritzschner
Lydia Catherine Stuart

Paul David Fritzschner
Lydia Catherine Stuart
💍 1916/7825

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer
Domestic duties

22
28

Rotorua
Rotorua

12 months
4 days

St Luke's Anglican Church Haupapa Street Rotorua

5475

10 July 1916

Rev. K. A. Maclean

No	23
Date of Notice	10 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Paul David Fritzschner	Lydia Catherine Stuart
	💍 1916/7825
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer	Domestic duties
Age	22	28
Dwelling Place	Rotorua	Rotorua
Length of Residence	12 months	4 days
Marriage Place	St Luke's Anglican Church Haupapa Street Rotorua
Folio	5475
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. K. A. Maclean

25 July 1916

William Francis Gramer
Nellie Johnson

William Frances Grainey
Nellie Johnson
💍 1916/33

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser
Waitress

23
19

Rotorua
Rotorua

6 years
7 years

St Luke's Anglican Church Haupapa Street Rotorua

5537

Richard Henry Johnston

25 July 1916

Rev. Frederick Augustus Bennett

No	24
Date of Notice	25 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Francis Gramer	Nellie Johnson
BDM Match (91%)	William Frances Grainey	Nellie Johnson
	💍 1916/33
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser	Waitress
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Rotorua	Rotorua
Length of Residence	6 years	7 years
Marriage Place	St Luke's Anglican Church Haupapa Street Rotorua
Folio	5537
Consent	Richard Henry Johnston
Date of Certificate	25 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. Frederick Augustus Bennett

31 July 1916

Cuthbert Jones
Margaret Marion Russel

Cuthbert Jones
Margaret Marion Russel
💍 1916/7824

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor driver
Tea Room Proprietress

32
35

Rotorua
Rotorua

6 months
5 years

The residence of Mrs Ross Widow Haupapa Street Rotorua

5474

31 July 1916

Rev. David Hird

No	25
Date of Notice	31 July 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cuthbert Jones	Margaret Marion Russel
	💍 1916/7824
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor driver	Tea Room Proprietress
Age	32	35
Dwelling Place	Rotorua	Rotorua
Length of Residence	6 months	5 years
Marriage Place	The residence of Mrs Ross Widow Haupapa Street Rotorua
Folio	5474
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 July 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. David Hird

8 August 1916

Norman Rodger Hoffmann
Maria Maud Holland

Norman Rodger Hoffmann
Maria Maud Holland
💍 1916/7823

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor driver
Household duties

21
21

Rotorua
Rotorua

1 year 8 months
5 weeks

St Luke's Anglican Church Haupapa Street Rotorua

5473

8 August 1916

Rev. Kenneth Edward Maclean

No	26
Date of Notice	8 August 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Rodger Hoffmann	Maria Maud Holland
	💍 1916/7823
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor driver	Household duties
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Rotorua	Rotorua
Length of Residence	1 year 8 months	5 weeks
Marriage Place	St Luke's Anglican Church Haupapa Street Rotorua
Folio	5473
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 August 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. Kenneth Edward Maclean

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).