Intentions to Marry, 1905 Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840427, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1905 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay (1905a), Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1905b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1905c).

Page 147

District of Stratford Quarter ending 31 December 1905 Registrar S. James

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

15 November 1905

William James Gray
Margaret Gorkill

William James Gray
Margaret Corkill
💍 1905/3163

Widower
Spinster

Farmer

41
38

Okato
Stratford

30 years
2 years

Anglican Church, Stratford

05/5661

15 November 1905

Rev. G. A. B. Watson, Church of England

No	45
Date of Notice	15 November 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Gray	Margaret Gorkill
BDM Match (97%)	William James Gray	Margaret Corkill
	💍 1905/3163
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	41	38
Dwelling Place	Okato	Stratford
Length of Residence	30 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, Stratford
Folio	05/5661
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 November 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. A. B. Watson, Church of England

25 November 1905

Joseph Roguski
Louisa Andresen

Joseph Roguski
Louisa Andresen
💍 1905/3170

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

25
17

Midhirst
Midhirst

1 year
1 year

Roman Catholic Church, Stratford

05/5668

Mary Katrina Andresen, Mother

25 November 1905

Rev. Father P. Treacy, Roman Catholic

No	46
Date of Notice	25 November 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Roguski	Louisa Andresen
	💍 1905/3170
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	25	17
Dwelling Place	Midhirst	Midhirst
Length of Residence	1 year	1 year
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Stratford
Folio	05/5668
Consent	Mary Katrina Andresen, Mother
Date of Certificate	25 November 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father P. Treacy, Roman Catholic

25 November 1905

William Darcy Davies
Margaret Kennedy

William Darcy Davies
Margaret Kennedy
💍 1905/3161

Bachelor
Spinster

Waggoner

23
22

Loko
Loko

7 months
2 years

The Manse, Stratford

05/5659

25 November 1905

Rev. J. M. Thomson, Presbyterian

No	47
Date of Notice	25 November 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Darcy Davies	Margaret Kennedy
	💍 1905/3161
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Waggoner
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Loko	Loko
Length of Residence	7 months	2 years
Marriage Place	The Manse, Stratford
Folio	05/5659
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 November 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Thomson, Presbyterian

9 December 1905

John Gascoyne Weightman
Gertrude Ruff

John Gascoigne Weightman
Gertrude Ruff
💍 1905/3166

Bachelor
Spinster

Decorator

26
19

Feilding
Ngaire

12 months
19 years

Residence of A. Ruff, Finnerly Road, Ngaire

05/5664

Arthur Ruff, Father

9 December 1905

Rev. J. M. Thomson, Presbyterian

No	48
Date of Notice	9 December 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Gascoyne Weightman	Gertrude Ruff
BDM Match (96%)	John Gascoigne Weightman	Gertrude Ruff
	💍 1905/3166
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Decorator
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Feilding	Ngaire
Length of Residence	12 months	19 years
Marriage Place	Residence of A. Ruff, Finnerly Road, Ngaire
Folio	05/5664
Consent	Arthur Ruff, Father
Date of Certificate	9 December 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Thomson, Presbyterian

16 December 1905

George Arms
Annie Catherine Hall

George Arms
Annie Catherine Hall
💍 1905/3172

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

35
21

Midhirst
Midhirst

5 years
18 months

Church of England, Midhirst

05/5669

16 December 1905

Rev. G. A. B. Watson, Church of England

No	49
Date of Notice	16 December 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Arms	Annie Catherine Hall
	💍 1905/3172
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	35	21
Dwelling Place	Midhirst	Midhirst
Length of Residence	5 years	18 months
Marriage Place	Church of England, Midhirst
Folio	05/5669
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 December 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. A. B. Watson, Church of England

22 December 1905

Alexander Tulloch Kebbell
Elizabeth Mary Neillie

Alexander Tulloch Kabbell
Elizabeth Mary Neillie
💍 1905/3167

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Clerk

22
20

Stratford
Stratford

3 years
2 years

Residence of B. Hardy, Pembroke Road, Stratford

05/5665

Mary Neillie, Mother

22 December 1905

Rev. G. A. B. Watson, Church of England

No	50
Date of Notice	22 December 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Tulloch Kebbell	Elizabeth Mary Neillie
BDM Match (98%)	Alexander Tulloch Kabbell	Elizabeth Mary Neillie
	💍 1905/3167
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Clerk
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Stratford	Stratford
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of B. Hardy, Pembroke Road, Stratford
Folio	05/5665
Consent	Mary Neillie, Mother
Date of Certificate	22 December 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. A. B. Watson, Church of England

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 1903. 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).