Intentions to Marry, 1905 Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840428, 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 344

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 March 1905 Registrar Gilbert Graham Hodgkins

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

141

25 February 1905

Herbert Stott
Matilda Ann Speer

Herbert Stott
Matilda Ann Speer
💍 1905/4925

Bachelor
Spinster

Company Manager

28
24

Wellington
Wellington

3 days
3 days

St. James Church, Wellington South

05/721

25 February 1905

Rev. W. Shirer

No	141
Date of Notice	25 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Stott	Matilda Ann Speer
	💍 1905/4925
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Company Manager
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St. James Church, Wellington South
Folio	05/721
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 February 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Shirer

142

27 February 1905

William George Greenough
Anna Marie Johanna Bunckenburg

William George Greenough
Anna Marie Johanna Bunckenburg
💍 1905/4924

Bachelor
Spinster

Saddler

26
30

Lower Hutt
Wellington

2 years
16 years

Presbyterian Manse, 25 Pine Street, Wellington

05/743

27 February 1905

Rev. J. K. Elliott

No	142
Date of Notice	27 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William George Greenough	Anna Marie Johanna Bunckenburg
	💍 1905/4924
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler
Age	26	30
Dwelling Place	Lower Hutt	Wellington
Length of Residence	2 years	16 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, 25 Pine Street, Wellington
Folio	05/743
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. K. Elliott

143

27 February 1905

William Christopher Somers
Mary Clara Waters

William Christopher Somers
Mary Clara Waters
💍 1905/5886

Bachelor
Spinster

Shipping Agent

38
28

Wellington
Wellington

3 days
Life

St. Peter's Church, Willis Street, Wellington

05/687

27 February 1905

Rev. G. P. Davys

No	143
Date of Notice	27 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Christopher Somers	Mary Clara Waters
	💍 1905/5886
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shipping Agent
Age	38	28
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 days	Life
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church, Willis Street, Wellington
Folio	05/687
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. P. Davys

144

27 February 1905

Francis Edward East
Ethel Louisa Davey

Francis Edward East
Ethel Louisa Davey
💍 1905/4923

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

24
24

Wellington
Wellington

3 days
6 weeks

Residence of Mr. F. J. East, Roseneath, Wellington

05/742

27 February 1905

Rev. J. K. Elliott

No	144
Date of Notice	27 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Edward East	Ethel Louisa Davey
	💍 1905/4923
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 days	6 weeks
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. F. J. East, Roseneath, Wellington
Folio	05/742
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. K. Elliott

145

27 February 1905

Frank George Hawthorne
Maud Florence Martelli

Frank George Hawthorne
Maud Florence Martelli
💍 1905/4859

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

26
20

Wellington
Wellington

18 years
20 years

Residence of Mr. Martelli, 14 Brook Street, Wellington

05/709

Emily Martelli, Mother

27 February 1905

Rev. J. Gibson Smith

No	145
Date of Notice	27 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank George Hawthorne	Maud Florence Martelli
	💍 1905/4859
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	18 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Martelli, 14 Brook Street, Wellington
Folio	05/709
Consent	Emily Martelli, Mother
Date of Certificate	27 February 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Gibson Smith

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).