Intentions to Marry, 1923 Rangiriri to Whangamomona

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840514, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1923 is bound in eight volumes (a to h) with continuous page numbers. Each volume contains a different set of districts, going from north to south.

1923c contains pages 895-1334, covering districts from Rangiriri to Whangamomona

Page 1012

District of Thames Quarter ending 30 September 1923 Registrar H. R. Bush

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

26 July 1923

William James Verran
Elsie Moyle

William James Verran
Elsie Moyle
💍 1923/4236

Victor Dawson Milne
Elsie Moyle
💍 1923/7025

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Tailoress

30
27

Thames
Thames

30 years
27 years

Methodist Church, Thames

6511

26 July 1923

Rev. Ashcroft, Methodist

No	41
Date of Notice	26 July 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Verran	Elsie Moyle
	💍 1923/4236
BDM Match (60%)	Victor Dawson Milne	Elsie Moyle
	💍 1923/7025
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Tailoress
Age	30	27
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	30 years	27 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Thames
Folio	6511
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 July 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. Ashcroft, Methodist

4 August 1923

James Thrupp
Isabella Minnie Ausford

James Thrupp
Isabella Minnie Ansford
💍 1923/4237

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

23
18

Turua
Turua

23 years
18 years

St. George's Church, Thames

6512

Charles Alfred Ausford, father

4 August 1923

A. J. Beck, Church of England

No	42
Date of Notice	4 August 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Thrupp	Isabella Minnie Ausford
BDM Match (98%)	James Thrupp	Isabella Minnie Ansford
	💍 1923/4237
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	23	18
Dwelling Place	Turua	Turua
Length of Residence	23 years	18 years
Marriage Place	St. George's Church, Thames
Folio	6512
Consent	Charles Alfred Ausford, father
Date of Certificate	4 August 1923
Officiating Minister	A. J. Beck, Church of England

6 August 1923

Thomas Cummings
Sarah Dickson

Thomas Cummings
Sarah Dickson
💍 1923/4238

Bachelor
Spinster

Timber Clerk
Domestic Duties

44
28

Thames
Thames

5 years
20 years

Church of England, Thames

6513

6 August 1923

Rev. Beck, Church of England

No	43
Date of Notice	6 August 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Cummings	Sarah Dickson
	💍 1923/4238
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Timber Clerk	Domestic Duties
Age	44	28
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	5 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Thames
Folio	6513
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 August 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. Beck, Church of England

6 August 1923

Walter Olief Lomas
Clare Elizabeth Brien

Walter Olief Lomas
Clara Elizabeth Brien
💍 1923/4239

Bachelor
Spinster

Driver
Housemaid

25
22

Thames
Thames

25 years
11 years

Residence of A. Lomas, Beach Road, Thames

6514

6 August 1923

Rev. Lambert, Baptist

No	44
Date of Notice	6 August 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Olief Lomas	Clare Elizabeth Brien
BDM Match (98%)	Walter Olief Lomas	Clara Elizabeth Brien
	💍 1923/4239
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Driver	Housemaid
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	25 years	11 years
Marriage Place	Residence of A. Lomas, Beach Road, Thames
Folio	6514
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 August 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. Lambert, Baptist

8 August 1923

Eric James Williams
Laura Mary McIntosh

Eric James Williams
Laura Mary McIntosh
💍 1923/4240

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

24
18

Hopai
Hopai

4 years
13 years

Registry Office, Thames

6515

Adeline Mary McIntosh, Mother

8 August 1923

H. R. Bush, Registrar

No	45
Date of Notice	8 August 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Eric James Williams	Laura Mary McIntosh
	💍 1923/4240
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	24	18
Dwelling Place	Hopai	Hopai
Length of Residence	4 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Registry Office, Thames
Folio	6515
Consent	Adeline Mary McIntosh, Mother
Date of Certificate	8 August 1923
Officiating Minister	H. R. Bush, 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).