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 109

District of Hastings Quarter ending 31 March 1905 Registrar Robert Brathwaite

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 January 1905

Elijah George Horton
Minnie Peters

Elijah George Horton
Minnie Peters
💍 1905/5057

Widower
Spinster

Coachmaker
Domestic

31
25

Hastings
Hastings

18 months
25 years

Wesleyan Church Hastings

05/1269

4 January 1905

Rev. J. G. Carr

No	1
Date of Notice	4 January 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Elijah George Horton	Minnie Peters
	💍 1905/5057
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Coachmaker	Domestic
Age	31	25
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	18 months	25 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church Hastings
Folio	05/1269
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 January 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. Carr

7 January 1905

George Hokianga
Make Teaho

George Hokianga
Mako Teaho
💍 1905/104

Bachelor
Spinster

Shearer

22
21

Hastings
Hastings

3 months
3 months

Registrar's Office Hastings

05/421

7 January 1905

Robert Brathwaite, Registrar

No	2
Date of Notice	7 January 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Hokianga	Make Teaho
BDM Match (95%)	George Hokianga	Mako Teaho
	💍 1905/104
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shearer
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 months	3 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Hastings
Folio	05/421
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 January 1905
Officiating Minister	Robert Brathwaite, Registrar

10 February 1905

Herbert Henry Ricketts
Katherine Ellen Mary Bold

Herbert Henry Rickett
Catherine Ellen Mary Bold
💍 1905/106

Bachelor
Spinster

Journalist

32
29

Napier
Hastings

6 months
20 years

Presbyterian Church Hastings

05/424

10 February 1905

Rev. A. J. Comrie

No	3
Date of Notice	10 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Henry Ricketts	Katherine Ellen Mary Bold
BDM Match (96%)	Herbert Henry Rickett	Catherine Ellen Mary Bold
	💍 1905/106
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Journalist
Age	32	29
Dwelling Place	Napier	Hastings
Length of Residence	6 months	20 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Hastings
Folio	05/424
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. J. Comrie

16 February 1905

Henry Lewis Schaeffer
Ellen Kate Barrett

Henry Lewis Schaeffer
Ellen Kate Barrett
💍 1905/339

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Dressmaker

23
20

Hastings
Napier

23 years
20 years

Registrar's Office Napier

05/476

16 February 1905

Registrar at Napier

No	4
Date of Notice	16 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Lewis Schaeffer	Ellen Kate Barrett
	💍 1905/339
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Dressmaker
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Napier
Length of Residence	23 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Napier
Folio	05/476
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1905
Officiating Minister	Registrar at Napier

20 February 1905

Clement Arthur Hirtzel
Jessie Elliott

Clement Arthur Hirtzel
Jessie Elliott
💍 1905/87

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

29
24

Hastings
Hastings

3 days
24 years

Presbyterian Church Hastings

05/425

20 February 1905

Rev. A. J. Comrie

No	5
Date of Notice	20 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Clement Arthur Hirtzel	Jessie Elliott
	💍 1905/87
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 days	24 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Hastings
Folio	05/425
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. J. Comrie

21 February 1905

Richard Randoll Slade
Lucy Taylor

Richard Randoll Slade
Lucy Taylor
💍 1905/338

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

26
23

Havelock
Havelock

4 months at J. W. Slade's
4 months house Havelock

House Havelock

05/422

21 February 1905

Rev. Alexander Whyte

No	6
Date of Notice	21 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Randoll Slade	Lucy Taylor
	💍 1905/338
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Havelock	Havelock
Length of Residence	4 months at J. W. Slade's	4 months house Havelock
Marriage Place	House Havelock
Folio	05/422
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alexander Whyte

6 March 1905

William Wilson Taylor
Ethel Florence Beswick

William Wilson Taylor
Ethel Florence Beswick
💍 1905/105

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic

22
28

Havelock
Havelock

5 months in W. Rapley's
3 months house Havelock

House Havelock

05/423

6 March 1905

Rev. Alexander Whyte

No	7
Date of Notice	6 March 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Wilson Taylor	Ethel Florence Beswick
	💍 1905/105
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic
Age	22	28
Dwelling Place	Havelock	Havelock
Length of Residence	5 months in W. Rapley's	3 months house Havelock
Marriage Place	House Havelock
Folio	05/423
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alexander Whyte

29 March 1905

Richard Green Vaughan
Gertrude Cullens

Richard Green Vaughan
Gertrude Cullen
💍 1905/5218

Widower
Widow

Farmer
Domestic

59
49

Hastings
Havelock

3 days
9 years

St. Luke's Church Havelock

05/2068

29 March 1905

Rev. P. A. Gardener

No	8
Date of Notice	29 March 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Green Vaughan	Gertrude Cullens
BDM Match (97%)	Richard Green Vaughan	Gertrude Cullen
	💍 1905/5218
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	59	49
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Havelock
Length of Residence	3 days	9 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church Havelock
Folio	05/2068
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 March 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. A. Gardener

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).