Intentions to Marry, 1918 Kuaotunu to Whangaroa

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840476, 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.

1918b contains pages 433-864, covering districts from Kuaotunu to Whangaroa

Page 759

District of Thames Quarter ending 31 December 1918 Registrar W. H. Grant

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

9 October 1918

William Watson
Bertha Baker

William Watson
Bertha Baker
💍 1918/1663

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

39
32

Thames
Thames

30 years
32 years

St Georges Church, Mackay St, Thames

5695

9 October 1918

A. J. Beck, Church of England

No	37
Date of Notice	9 October 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Watson	Bertha Baker
	💍 1918/1663
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	39	32
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	30 years	32 years
Marriage Place	St Georges Church, Mackay St, Thames
Folio	5695
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 October 1918
Officiating Minister	A. J. Beck, Church of England

15 October 1918

Archibald John McIntosh
Ruby Mary Cecelia McMahon

Archibald John McIntosh
Ruby Mary Cecelia McMahon
💍 1918/1664

Widower 6 June 1918
Spinster

Saddler
Domestic duties

23
19

Thames
Thames

7 years
15 years

Registrar's Office Mary Street Thames

5696

Andrew Manfred McMahon (Father)

15 October 1918

E. H. Potts, Deputy Registrar

No	38
Date of Notice	15 October 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald John McIntosh	Ruby Mary Cecelia McMahon
	💍 1918/1664
Condition	Widower 6 June 1918	Spinster
Profession	Saddler	Domestic duties
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	7 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Mary Street Thames
Folio	5696
Consent	Andrew Manfred McMahon (Father)
Date of Certificate	15 October 1918
Officiating Minister	E. H. Potts, Deputy Registrar

30 October 1918

Arthur Heagney
Teruwai Stella More

Arthur Heagney
Terewai Stella More
💍 1918/1665

Bachelor
Spinster

Drainer
Domestic duties

29
21

Turua
Turua

4 years
21 years

Registrar's Office Mary Street Thames

5697

30 October 1918

E. H. Potts, Deputy Registrar

No	39
Date of Notice	30 October 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Heagney	Teruwai Stella More
BDM Match (97%)	Arthur Heagney	Terewai Stella More
	💍 1918/1665
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Drainer	Domestic duties
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Turua	Turua
Length of Residence	4 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Mary Street Thames
Folio	5697
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 October 1918
Officiating Minister	E. H. Potts, Deputy Registrar

11 November 1918

Robert Wadham Benjamin Fitz-William
Louisa Martha Rachel Duffy

Robert Wadham Benjamin Fitz-William
Louisa Martha Rachel Dufty
💍 1918/3288

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Engineer
Domestic duties

29
20

Thames
Thames

6 days
6 days

Church of England Mackay Street Thames

5698

Joseph Duffy (Father)

11 November 1918

A. J. Beck, Church of England

No	40
Date of Notice	11 November 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Wadham Benjamin Fitz-William	Louisa Martha Rachel Duffy
BDM Match (98%)	Robert Wadham Benjamin Fitz-William	Louisa Martha Rachel Dufty
	💍 1918/3288
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Engineer	Domestic duties
Age	29	20
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	6 days	6 days
Marriage Place	Church of England Mackay Street Thames
Folio	5698
Consent	Joseph Duffy (Father)
Date of Certificate	11 November 1918
Officiating Minister	A. J. Beck, Church of England

7 December 1918

Reginald Lemual Kelyon Alexander
Elsie Innes

Reginald Lemuel Keyon Alexander
Elsie Innes
💍 1918/1666

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

24
23

Thames
Wharepoa

12 years
23 years

In the house of Mr A Innes Wharepoa

5699

7 December 1918

J. Milne, Presbyterian

No	41
Date of Notice	7 December 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reginald Lemual Kelyon Alexander	Elsie Innes
BDM Match (97%)	Reginald Lemuel Keyon Alexander	Elsie Innes
	💍 1918/1666
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Thames	Wharepoa
Length of Residence	12 years	23 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr A Innes Wharepoa
Folio	5699
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 December 1918
Officiating Minister	J. Milne, Presbyterian

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).