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 813

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 March 1905

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

117

18 February 1905

Peter Mitchell
Sarah Elizabeth Browne

Peter Mitchell
Sarah Elizabeth Brown
💍 1905/5539

Bachelor
Spinster

Lawyer

29
27

Auckland
Auckland

3 days
24 years

Church of England Woodside

05/77

18 February 1905

Rev M. Kirkbride, Church of England

No	117
Date of Notice	18 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Mitchell	Sarah Elizabeth Browne
BDM Match (98%)	Peter Mitchell	Sarah Elizabeth Brown
	💍 1905/5539
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Lawyer
Age	29	27
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 days	24 years
Marriage Place	Church of England Woodside
Folio	05/77
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev M. Kirkbride, Church of England

118

18 February 1905

Harold Henry Brook
Daisy Isabel Burgess

Harold Henry Brook
Daisy Isabell Burgess
💍 1905/70

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

28
25

Auckland
Auckland

20 days
12 days

Presbyterian Church Edendale

05/124

18 February 1905

Rev J. M. Fraser, Presbyterian

No	118
Date of Notice	18 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Henry Brook	Daisy Isabel Burgess
BDM Match (98%)	Harold Henry Brook	Daisy Isabell Burgess
	💍 1905/70
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	20 days	12 days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Edendale
Folio	05/124
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev J. M. Fraser, Presbyterian

119

18 February 1905

William James Hunter
Maude Valetta Matthews

William James Hunter
Maud Valetta Matthews
💍 1905/5490

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

27
26

Auckland
Auckland

4 days
26 years

All Saints Church Ponsonby

05/70

20 February 1905

Ven. Archdeacon Calder, Church of England

No	119
Date of Notice	18 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Hunter	Maude Valetta Matthews
BDM Match (98%)	William James Hunter	Maud Valetta Matthews
	💍 1905/5490
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 days	26 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church Ponsonby
Folio	05/70
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1905
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon Calder, Church of England

120

20 February 1905

Peter Houlahan
Mary Kathleen Murray

Peter Houlahan
Mary Kathleen Murray
💍 1905/5595

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Employee

29
20

Auckland
Auckland

28 days
20 days

Roman Catholic Church Ellerslie

05/157

John Murray Father

20 February 1905

Rev J. Duffy, Roman Catholic

No	120
Date of Notice	20 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Houlahan	Mary Kathleen Murray
	💍 1905/5595
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employee
Age	29	20
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	28 days	20 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Ellerslie
Folio	05/157
Consent	John Murray Father
Date of Certificate	20 February 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Duffy, Roman Catholic

121

20 February 1905

John Hatcher
Clara Edith Sanders

John Hatcher
Clara Edith Sanders
💍 1905/5500

Widower
Spinster

Gentleman

61
37

Howick
Christchurch

50 days
3 days

Church of England Howick

05/62

20 February 1905

Rev. R. D. Boyes, Church of England

No	121
Date of Notice	20 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Hatcher	Clara Edith Sanders
	💍 1905/5500
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Gentleman
Age	61	37
Dwelling Place	Howick	Christchurch
Length of Residence	50 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Church of England Howick
Folio	05/62
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. D. Boyes, Church of England

122

20 February 1905

Alexander Wilkie
Edith Pelham

Alexander Wilkie
Edith Pelham
💍 1905/5496

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

27
26

Auckland
Auckland

4 days
26 years

S. Matthews Church Auckland

05/58

20 February 1905

Rev H. E. Gillam, Church of England

No	122
Date of Notice	20 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Wilkie	Edith Pelham
	💍 1905/5496
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 days	26 years
Marriage Place	S. Matthews Church Auckland
Folio	05/58
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev H. E. Gillam, Church of England

123

20 February 1905

George William Sharp
Mary Way

George William Sharp
Mary Way
💍 1905/6620

Bachelor
Widow

Salesman

24
24

Auckland
Auckland

3 years
20 days

Primitive Methodist Church Auckland

05/1784

20 February 1905

Rev R. Hall, Prim Methodist

No	123
Date of Notice	20 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George William Sharp	Mary Way
	💍 1905/6620
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Salesman
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 years	20 days
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church Auckland
Folio	05/1784
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev R. Hall, Prim 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).