Intentions to Marry, 1918 Albertland to Kohukohu

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840475, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1918 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.

1918a contains pages 1-432, covering districts from Albertland to Kohukohu

Page 198

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 December 1918 Registrar J. W. Jordan

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

926

26 November 1918

Cecil Samuel Ayres
Alice Millicent Carr

Cecil Samuel Ayers
Alice Millicent Carr
💍 1918/5899

Widower 25 May 1917
Spinster

Builder

38
37

Rangiora
Auckland

1 day
3 months

Methodist Church Mt. Eden

5468

26 November 1918

Rev. J. J. Carr, Methodist

No	926
Date of Notice	26 November 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cecil Samuel Ayres	Alice Millicent Carr
BDM Match (94%)	Cecil Samuel Ayers	Alice Millicent Carr
	💍 1918/5899
Condition	Widower 25 May 1917	Spinster
Profession	Builder
Age	38	37
Dwelling Place	Rangiora	Auckland
Length of Residence	1 day	3 months
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Mt. Eden
Folio	5468
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 November 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Carr, Methodist

927

27 November 1918

Arnold Menary Dunning
Cecil Dudley Ward

Arnold Meuary Dunning
Cicely Dudley Ward
💍 1918/5900

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

29
21

Auckland
Auckland

10 months
14 months

St Mary's Cathedral Parnell

5469

27 November 1918

Archdeacon MacMurray, Anglican

No	927
Date of Notice	27 November 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arnold Menary Dunning	Cecil Dudley Ward
BDM Match (89%)	Arnold Meuary Dunning	Cicely Dudley Ward
	💍 1918/5900
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	10 months	14 months
Marriage Place	St Mary's Cathedral Parnell
Folio	5469
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 November 1918
Officiating Minister	Archdeacon MacMurray, Anglican

928

27 November 1918

Wilfred Alick Black
Jannett Bruce

Wilfred Aluth Black
Jannett Bruce
💍 1918/5902

Widower 30 Dec 1917
Spinster

Barrister Solicitor

39
28

Auckland
Auckland

9 years
1 1/2 years Remuera

St Mark's Church

5470

27 November 1918

Rev. W. Beatty, Anglican

No	928
Date of Notice	27 November 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Wilfred Alick Black	Jannett Bruce
BDM Match (92%)	Wilfred Aluth Black	Jannett Bruce
	💍 1918/5902
Condition	Widower 30 Dec 1917	Spinster
Profession	Barrister Solicitor
Age	39	28
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	9 years	1 1/2 years Remuera
Marriage Place	St Mark's Church
Folio	5470
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 November 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Beatty, Anglican

929

27 November 1918

George Butcher
Helen Beatrice Neal

George Crutcher
Helen Beatrice Neal
💍 1918/5903

Divorced Decree absolute 12 May 1916
Widow 26 January 1910

Ship Joiner

44
33

Auckland
Auckland

3 years
5 months New Lynn

Congregational Manse

5471

27 November 1918

Rev. G. J. Ralph, Congregational

No	929
Date of Notice	27 November 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Butcher	Helen Beatrice Neal
BDM Match (93%)	George Crutcher	Helen Beatrice Neal
	💍 1918/5903
Condition	Divorced Decree absolute 12 May 1916	Widow 26 January 1910
Profession	Ship Joiner
Age	44	33
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 years	5 months New Lynn
Marriage Place	Congregational Manse
Folio	5471
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 November 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. J. Ralph, Congregational

930

27 November 1918

William Bascher
Ethel Bruce Lockhart

William Baxter
Ethel Bruce Lockhart
💍 1918/5904

Bachelor
Spinster

Ironmonger

32
29

Auckland
Auckland

2 years
Life Auckland

Registrar's Office

5472

27 November 1918

Registrar

No	930
Date of Notice	27 November 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Bascher	Ethel Bruce Lockhart
BDM Match (90%)	William Baxter	Ethel Bruce Lockhart
	💍 1918/5904
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ironmonger
Age	32	29
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	2 years	Life Auckland
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	5472
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 November 1918
Officiating Minister	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).