Intentions to Marry, 1917 Helensville to Whangaroa

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840470, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1917 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.

1917b contains pages 357-868, covering districts from Helensville to Whangaroa

Page 719

District of Te Aroha Quarter ending 31 March 1917 Registrar J. Hollywood

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

13 February 1917

David Francis Curtin
Norah O'Shea

David Francis Curtin
Norah O'Shea
💍 1917/2436

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

34
22

Waitoa
Waitoa

19 years
5 years

Private residence of Daniel Curtin, Waitoa

1624

13 February 1917

Rev James McGuinness, Roman Catholic

No	1
Date of Notice	13 February 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Francis Curtin	Norah O'Shea
	💍 1917/2436
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	34	22
Dwelling Place	Waitoa	Waitoa
Length of Residence	19 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Private residence of Daniel Curtin, Waitoa
Folio	1624
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev James McGuinness, Roman Catholic

14 February 1917

Patrick Hogan
Jane Grattan

Patrick Hogan
Jane Grattan
💍 1917/2444

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

29
29

Te Aroha
Te Aroha

29 years
29 years

Roman Catholic Church Te Aroha

1625

14 February 1917

Rev James McGuinness

No	2
Date of Notice	14 February 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick Hogan	Jane Grattan
	💍 1917/2444
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	29	29
Dwelling Place	Te Aroha	Te Aroha
Length of Residence	29 years	29 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Te Aroha
Folio	1625
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev James McGuinness

5 March 1917

William Frank Hooker
Vera Ruby Park

William Frank Hooker
Vera Ruby Park
💍 1917/1735

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Waitress

25
21

Manawaru
Manawaru

4 days
4 days

Church of England Te Aroha

892

5 March 1917

Rev. G. H. Morse, Church of England

No	3
Date of Notice	5 March 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Frank Hooker	Vera Ruby Park
	💍 1917/1735
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Waitress
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Manawaru	Manawaru
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Church of England Te Aroha
Folio	892
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. H. Morse, Church of England

13 March 1917

George Henry Pollard
Kate Aline Scurrah

George Henry Holland
Kate Alene Scurrah
💍 1917/1734

Widower
Spinster

Travelling agent
Tailoress

37
36

Te Aroha
Te Aroha

2 years
6 months

Methodist Church Te Aroha

891

13 March 1917

Rev J. Dukes, Methodist

No	4
Date of Notice	13 March 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Pollard	Kate Aline Scurrah
BDM Match (92%)	George Henry Holland	Kate Alene Scurrah
	💍 1917/1734
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Travelling agent	Tailoress
Age	37	36
Dwelling Place	Te Aroha	Te Aroha
Length of Residence	2 years	6 months
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Te Aroha
Folio	891
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 March 1917
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Dukes, Methodist

19 March 1917

Harold Ellis Clark
Miriam Carter

Harold Ellis Clark
Miriam Carter
💍 1917/1599

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

27
27

Waitoa
Frankton Junction

5 years
10 days

Private residence of Percy Carter, Frankton

Hamilton 731

19 March 1917

T. J. Wallis, Methodist

No	5
Date of Notice	19 March 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Ellis Clark	Miriam Carter
	💍 1917/1599
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Waitoa	Frankton Junction
Length of Residence	5 years	10 days
Marriage Place	Private residence of Percy Carter, Frankton
Folio	Hamilton 731
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1917
Officiating Minister	T. J. Wallis, Methodist

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).