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 815

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

16 February 1916

Francis Michael Connolly
Eileen Mary Boyle

Francis Michael Connolly
Eileen Mary Boyle
💍 1916/9255

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic duties

43
26

Thames
Thames

43 years
4 years

St Francis' Church Willoughby St Thames

240

16 February 1916

Rev J. Dignan Roman Catholic

No	12
Date of Notice	16 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Michael Connolly	Eileen Mary Boyle
	💍 1916/9255
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic duties
Age	43	26
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	43 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St Francis' Church Willoughby St Thames
Folio	240
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Dignan Roman Catholic

26 February 1916

Colin Maurice Kelly
Mabel Eveline Maple

Colin Maurice Kelly
Mabel Eveline Moyle
💍 1916/3294

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

22
20

Puriri
Puriri

3 years
20 years

In the Puriri Church Puriri

236

John Maple (Father)

26 February 1916

Dr O'Callaghan Church of England

No	13
Date of Notice	26 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Colin Maurice Kelly	Mabel Eveline Maple
BDM Match (95%)	Colin Maurice Kelly	Mabel Eveline Moyle
	💍 1916/3294
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Puriri	Puriri
Length of Residence	3 years	20 years
Marriage Place	In the Puriri Church Puriri
Folio	236
Consent	John Maple (Father)
Date of Certificate	26 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Dr O'Callaghan Church of England

29 February 1916

Cornelius Mitchell Martin
Jane Baldurn

Cornelius Mitchell Martin
Jane Baldwin
💍 1916/8648

Bachelor
Spinster

Dyer & Cleaner
Domestic duties

43
34

Thames
Puriri

20 months
19 months

In the house of Mr J. Klaus Puriri

237

29 February 1916

Rev W Wallace Baptist

No	14
Date of Notice	29 February 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cornelius Mitchell Martin	Jane Baldurn
BDM Match (92%)	Cornelius Mitchell Martin	Jane Baldwin
	💍 1916/8648
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dyer & Cleaner	Domestic duties
Age	43	34
Dwelling Place	Thames	Puriri
Length of Residence	20 months	19 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr J. Klaus Puriri
Folio	237
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 February 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev W Wallace Baptist

1 March 1916

Alfred John Reid
Mary Ann Warner Heervel

Alfred John Reid
Mary Ann Warner Herivel
💍 1916/9254

Widower 6th Jan 1904
Spinster

Painter
Dressmaker

33
26

Thames
Thames

3 days
26 years

In the house of John E Heervel Mars Kauaeranga Thames

238

1 March 1916

Rev J Milne Presbyterian

No	15
Date of Notice	1 March 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred John Reid	Mary Ann Warner Heervel
BDM Match (96%)	Alfred John Reid	Mary Ann Warner Herivel
	💍 1916/9254
Condition	Widower 6th Jan 1904	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Dressmaker
Age	33	26
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	26 years
Marriage Place	In the house of John E Heervel Mars Kauaeranga Thames
Folio	238
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 March 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev J Milne Presbyterian

31 March 1916

Sydney Ensor
Margaret Elizabeth Billman

Sydney Ensor
Margaret Elizabeth Billman
💍 1916/3293

Bachelor
Spinster

Fish Curer
Domestic duties

22
18

Thames
Thames

22 years
4 years

In the house of Mr W Payne Pollen Street Thames

235

Charles Edward Billman (Father)

31 March 1916

William Gardner Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

No	16
Date of Notice	31 March 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney Ensor	Margaret Elizabeth Billman
	💍 1916/3293
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fish Curer	Domestic duties
Age	22	18
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	22 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr W Payne Pollen Street Thames
Folio	235
Consent	Charles Edward Billman (Father)
Date of Certificate	31 March 1916
Officiating Minister	William Gardner Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

10 March 1916

Thomas Edward Savage
Edith Watene

Thomas Savage
Edith Watene
💍 1916/3292

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier
Domestic duties

27
27

Thames
Kiri Kiri

4 months
27 years

In the Registrars Office Mary Street Thames

234

10 March 1916

William H. Potts Registrar

No	17
Date of Notice	10 March 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Edward Savage	Edith Watene
BDM Match (83%)	Thomas Savage	Edith Watene
	💍 1916/3292
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier	Domestic duties
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Thames	Kiri Kiri
Length of Residence	4 months	27 years
Marriage Place	In the Registrars Office Mary Street Thames
Folio	234
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 March 1916
Officiating Minister	William H. Potts Registrar

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).