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 394

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30 June 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

385

31 May 1905

George Albert Minifie
Catherine Alice Heaton Fraser

George Albert Minifir
Catherine Alice Heaton Fraser
💍 1905/7035

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser

22
22

Wellington
Wellington

Life
Life

Residence of Mr. Brigden, 260 Adelaide Road, Wellington

05/2407

31 May 1905

Rev. I. K. Elliott

No	385
Date of Notice	31 May 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Albert Minifie	Catherine Alice Heaton Fraser
BDM Match (98%)	George Albert Minifir	Catherine Alice Heaton Fraser
	💍 1905/7035
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Brigden, 260 Adelaide Road, Wellington
Folio	05/2407
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. K. Elliott

386

1 June 1905

James McGoldrick
Katherine Coffey

James McGoldrick
Katherine Coffey
💍 1905/6916

Bachelor
Spinster

Farrier

30
24

Wellington
Wellington

10 years
2 years

St. Mary of the Angels Church, Boulcott Street, Wellington

05/2436

1 June 1905

Rev. J. McNamara

No	386
Date of Notice	1 June 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James McGoldrick	Katherine Coffey
	💍 1905/6916
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farrier
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	10 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary of the Angels Church, Boulcott Street, Wellington
Folio	05/2436
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 June 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McNamara

387

2 June 1905

Reginald Herbert Webb
Frances Annie Holmden

Reginald Herbert Webb
Frances Annie Holmden
💍 1905/6736

Bachelor
Spinster

Solicitor

25
26

Wellington
Bulls

1 year
6 years

St. Andrews Church, Bulls

05/2421

1 June 1905

Rev. L. A. Isaacson

No	387
Date of Notice	2 June 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reginald Herbert Webb	Frances Annie Holmden
	💍 1905/6736
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Solicitor
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Bulls
Length of Residence	1 year	6 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church, Bulls
Folio	05/2421
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 June 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. A. Isaacson

388

2 June 1905

Randolph Stanley Draper
Leah May Dring

Rudolph Stanley Draper
Leah May Driny
💍 1905/7017

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

22
20

Wellington
Wellington

3 years
4 years

Residence of Mr. Scott, 39A Thorndon Quay, Wellington

05/2405

Susan Scott, Mother

2 June 1905

Rev. J. K. Elliott

No	388
Date of Notice	2 June 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Randolph Stanley Draper	Leah May Dring
BDM Match (92%)	Rudolph Stanley Draper	Leah May Driny
	💍 1905/7017
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Scott, 39A Thorndon Quay, Wellington
Folio	05/2405
Consent	Susan Scott, Mother
Date of Certificate	2 June 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. K. Elliott

389

2 June 1905

Robert John Thompson
Ida Louisa Guilbert Gardner

Robert John Thompson
Ida Louisa Guilbert Gardner
💍 1905/652

Widower
Spinster

Commission Agent

40
38

Wellington
Christchurch

16 years
2 years

Residence of Mr. Gardner, Te Maru Station Road, Lower Riccarton, Christchurch

05/2932

2 June 1905

Rev. J. McKenzie

No	389
Date of Notice	2 June 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert John Thompson	Ida Louisa Guilbert Gardner
	💍 1905/652
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Commission Agent
Age	40	38
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Christchurch
Length of Residence	16 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Gardner, Te Maru Station Road, Lower Riccarton, Christchurch
Folio	05/2932
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McKenzie

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 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).