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 302

District of Thames Quarter ending 31 December 1905 Registrar William H. Gipps

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

4 October 1905

William John Peck
Nora Mary Ryan

William John Peek
Nora Mary Ryan
💍 1905/3681

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Domestic duties

26 years
21 years

Thames
Thames

3 days
2 months

Registrar's Office, Thames

05/6161

4 October 1905

William H. Potts, Registrar

No	46
Date of Notice	4 October 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Peck	Nora Mary Ryan
BDM Match (97%)	William John Peek	Nora Mary Ryan
	💍 1905/3681
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Domestic duties
Age	26 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	2 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Thames
Folio	05/6161
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 October 1905
Officiating Minister	William H. Potts, Registrar

21 October 1905

Alfred Henderson
Laura Annie Adamson

Alfred Henderson
Laura Annie Adamson
💍 1905/3067

Bachelor
Spinster

Bushman
Domestic duties

23 years
22 years

Thames
Thames

1 day
22 years

In the house of Mrs. Adamson, Thames

05/5562

24 October 1905

A. J. Thompson, Presbyterian

No	47
Date of Notice	21 October 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Henderson	Laura Annie Adamson
	💍 1905/3067
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bushman	Domestic duties
Age	23 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	1 day	22 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs. Adamson, Thames
Folio	05/5562
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 October 1905
Officiating Minister	A. J. Thompson, Presbyterian

24 October 1905

Edwin Cyprian Brown
Eva Rosina Wells

Edwin Cyrus Brown
Eva Rosina Wells
💍 1905/3065

Bachelor
Spinster

Cycle Dealer
Drapers Assistant

24 years
25 years

Thames
Thames

24 years
25 years

Baptist Church, Thames

05/5560

24 October 1905

J. A. Williams, Baptist

No	48
Date of Notice	24 October 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin Cyprian Brown	Eva Rosina Wells
BDM Match (89%)	Edwin Cyrus Brown	Eva Rosina Wells
	💍 1905/3065
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cycle Dealer	Drapers Assistant
Age	24 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	24 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church, Thames
Folio	05/5560
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 October 1905
Officiating Minister	J. A. Williams, Baptist

1 November 1905

Cecil Robert Lynden Bell
Marion Nina Banks

Cecil Robert Lynden Bell
Marion Mina Banks
💍 1905/3068

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Station Master
Domestic duties

25 years
24 years

Thames
Thames

4 days
24 years

Church of England, Thames

05/5563

1 November 1905

Dr. O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	49
Date of Notice	1 November 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cecil Robert Lynden Bell	Marion Nina Banks
BDM Match (97%)	Cecil Robert Lynden Bell	Marion Mina Banks
	💍 1905/3068
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Station Master	Domestic duties
Age	25 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	4 days	24 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Thames
Folio	05/5563
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 November 1905
Officiating Minister	Dr. O'Callaghan, Church of England

6 November 1905

Samuel Graham
Maude Gilbert Artha

Samuel Graham
Maud Gilbert Artha
💍 1905/3073

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic duties

23 years
21 years

Thames
Thames

23 years
21 years

In the house of Mr. Samuel Artha, Thames

05/5568

6 November 1905

Rev. S. Henderson, Primitive Methodist

No	50
Date of Notice	6 November 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Graham	Maude Gilbert Artha
BDM Match (97%)	Samuel Graham	Maud Gilbert Artha
	💍 1905/3073
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic duties
Age	23 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	23 years	21 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. Samuel Artha, Thames
Folio	05/5568
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 November 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Henderson, Primitive Methodist

6 November 1905

David Andrew Sharp
Annie Campbell Munro

David Andrew Sharp
Annie Campbell Munro
💍 1905/3076

Bachelor
Spinster

Master Mariner
Domestic duties

36 years
31 years

Thames
Thames

1 day
1 day

Residence of Mr. G. Martin, Parawai

05/5570

9 November 1905

Rev. John H. Hayward, Presbyterian

No	51
Date of Notice	6 November 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Andrew Sharp	Annie Campbell Munro
	💍 1905/3076
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Master Mariner	Domestic duties
Age	36 years	31 years
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	1 day	1 day
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. G. Martin, Parawai
Folio	05/5570
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 November 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. John H. Hayward, Presbyterian

8 November 1905

Michael Kenny
Ethel Ryley

Michael Kenny
Ethel May Riley
💍 1905/3080

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Domestic duties

24 years
21 years

Thames
Thames

24 years
21 years

Roman Catholic Church, Thames

05/5574

8 November 1905

Right Rev. Monseignor O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

No	52
Date of Notice	8 November 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Kenny	Ethel Ryley
BDM Match (83%)	Michael Kenny	Ethel May Riley
	💍 1905/3080
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Domestic duties
Age	24 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	24 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Thames
Folio	05/5574
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 November 1905
Officiating Minister	Right Rev. Monseignor O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

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).