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 819

District of Thames Quarter ending 30 June 1916 Registrar R. Manson

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

27 May 1916

Thomas Atkinson Crawford Gibb
Amy Frances Roberts

Thomas Atkinson Crawford Gibb
Amy Frances Roberts
💍 1916/8559

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

23
26

Thames
Thames

4 days
5 years

St Johns Church of England Parawai Thames

3594

27 May 1916

Dr O'Callaghan Church of England

No	32
Date of Notice	27 May 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Atkinson Crawford Gibb	Amy Frances Roberts
	💍 1916/8559
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	23	26
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	4 days	5 years
Marriage Place	St Johns Church of England Parawai Thames
Folio	3594
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 May 1916
Officiating Minister	Dr O'Callaghan Church of England

27 May 1916

Charles William Winder
Jessie Jane Henderson

Charles William Winder
Jessie Jane Henderson
💍 1916/6649

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

32
28

Thames
Thames

32 years
24 years

In the Presbyterian Manse Rolleston Terrace Thames

4138

27 May 1916

Rev. J. Milne Presbyterian

No	33
Date of Notice	27 May 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles William Winder	Jessie Jane Henderson
	💍 1916/6649
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	32	28
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	32 years	24 years
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Manse Rolleston Terrace Thames
Folio	4138
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 May 1916
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Milne Presbyterian

29 May 1916

Martin John McEnteer
Pare Whaarorangi Pauline Hogg

Martin John McEnteer
Pare Whaarorangi Pauline Hogg
💍 1916/9037

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor Thames
Domestic duties Thames

34
29

Thames
Thames

5 years
18 months

In the house of Mr Hogg Karaka Road Thames

3596

29 May 1916

Father Dignan Roman Catholic

No	34
Date of Notice	29 May 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Martin John McEnteer	Pare Whaarorangi Pauline Hogg
	💍 1916/9037
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor Thames	Domestic duties Thames
Age	34	29
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	5 years	18 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr Hogg Karaka Road Thames
Folio	3596
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 May 1916
Officiating Minister	Father Dignan Roman Catholic

29 May 1916

William Price
Ella Beatrice Sanderson

William Price
Ella Beatrice Sanderson
💍 1916/9036

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic duties

27
27

Thames
Thames

27 years
2 years

In St Georges Church Mackay Street Thames

3595

29 May 1916

Dr O'Callaghan Church of England

No	35
Date of Notice	29 May 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Price	Ella Beatrice Sanderson
	💍 1916/9036
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic duties
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	27 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In St Georges Church Mackay Street Thames
Folio	3595
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 May 1916
Officiating Minister	Dr O'Callaghan Church of England

1 June 1916

William Holden
Mereana Wata

William Holden
Mereana Wata
💍 1916/9035

Widower 1911
Widow 8 November 1914

Cabinetmaker
Domestic duties

51
56

Kopu
Kopu

28 years
50 years

Registrar Office Mary Street Thames

3593

1 June 1916

Emily R. Potts Deputy Registrar

No	36
Date of Notice	1 June 1916
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Holden	Mereana Wata
	💍 1916/9035
Condition	Widower 1911	Widow 8 November 1914
Profession	Cabinetmaker	Domestic duties
Age	51	56
Dwelling Place	Kopu	Kopu
Length of Residence	28 years	50 years
Marriage Place	Registrar Office Mary Street Thames
Folio	3593
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 June 1916
Officiating Minister	Emily R. Potts Deputy 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).