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 155

District of Stratford Quarter ending 30 June 1905 Registrar S. H. 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

11 April 1905

John William Ridley
Lizzie Harriet Bell

John William Ridley
Lizzie Harriet Bell
💍 1905/6795

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Employee

27
25

Aramoho
Stratford

4 months
6 months

The residence of Mrs C. H. Bell, Broadway, Stratford

05/2033

11 April 1905

Rev. J. W. Griffin, Wesleyan

No	14
Date of Notice	11 April 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Ridley	Lizzie Harriet Bell
	💍 1905/6795
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employee
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Aramoho	Stratford
Length of Residence	4 months	6 months
Marriage Place	The residence of Mrs C. H. Bell, Broadway, Stratford
Folio	05/2033
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 April 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Griffin, Wesleyan

15 April 1905

Joseph Manning
Helena Marie Gatton

Joseph Manning
Helena Marie Gatton
💍 1905/5199

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

28
20

Strathmore
Strathmore

6 years
7 years

The residence of J. S. Gatton, Lachore Road, Strathmore

05/2023

15 April 1905

Rev. A. Armstrong, Primitive Methodist

No	15
Date of Notice	15 April 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Manning	Helena Marie Gatton
	💍 1905/5199
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	Strathmore	Strathmore
Length of Residence	6 years	7 years
Marriage Place	The residence of J. S. Gatton, Lachore Road, Strathmore
Folio	05/2023
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 April 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Armstrong, Primitive Methodist

17 April 1905

Edward Hercules Robinson
Edna Sarah Shepherd

Edward Hercules Robinson
Edna Sarah Shepherd
💍 1905/5200

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper

24
23

Inglewood
Stratford

12 months
3 years

The residence of R. H. Robinson, Mountain Road, Stratford

05/2022

17 April 1905

Rev. J. Glover, Primitive Methodist

No	16
Date of Notice	17 April 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Hercules Robinson	Edna Sarah Shepherd
	💍 1905/5200
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Inglewood	Stratford
Length of Residence	12 months	3 years
Marriage Place	The residence of R. H. Robinson, Mountain Road, Stratford
Folio	05/2022
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 April 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Glover, Primitive Methodist

17 April 1905

Arthur Edward Copping
Kate Elizabeth Bayley

Arthur Edward Copping
Kate Elizabeth Bayley
💍 1905/7019

Widower
Spinster

Journalist

39
37

Stratford
Canterbury

8 months
Since birth

The Residence of Wm A. Rouse, 82 Wallace Street, Wellington

05/2415

17 April 1905

Rev. J. Gibson Smith, Presbyterian

No	17
Date of Notice	17 April 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Edward Copping	Kate Elizabeth Bayley
	💍 1905/7019
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Journalist
Age	39	37
Dwelling Place	Stratford	Canterbury
Length of Residence	8 months	Since birth
Marriage Place	The Residence of Wm A. Rouse, 82 Wallace Street, Wellington
Folio	05/2415
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 April 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Gibson Smith, Presbyterian

19 April 1905

Joseph Dombroski
Barbara Potroz

Joseph Dombroski
Barbara Potroz
💍 1905/5205

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

21
17

Inglewood
Midhurst

21 years
17 years

Roman Catholic Church, Stratford

05/2028

A. Potroz, father of bride

19 April 1905

Rev. P. Treacy, Roman Catholic

No	18
Date of Notice	19 April 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Dombroski	Barbara Potroz
	💍 1905/5205
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	21	17
Dwelling Place	Inglewood	Midhurst
Length of Residence	21 years	17 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Stratford
Folio	05/2028
Consent	A. Potroz, father of bride
Date of Certificate	19 April 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Treacy, Roman Catholic

20 April 1905

Walter Wickham
Aimee Darling Morison

Walter Wickham
Aimee Darling Morison
💍 1905/7079

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

29
22

Ngaire
Ngaire

6 years
22 years

The residence of Wm Morison, Finnally Road, Ngaire

05/1979

20 April 1905

Rev. J. Johnston, Presbyterian

No	19
Date of Notice	20 April 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Wickham	Aimee Darling Morison
	💍 1905/7079
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Ngaire	Ngaire
Length of Residence	6 years	22 years
Marriage Place	The residence of Wm Morison, Finnally Road, Ngaire
Folio	05/1979
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 April 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Johnston, 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 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).