Intentions to Marry, 1906 Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840430, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1906 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay (1906a), Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1906b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1906c).

Page 049

District of AUCKLAND Quarter ending 30 June 1906 Registrar Edmund Humphrey Lyons

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

243

9 April 1906

Leo Sylvester Leahy
Mabel Alice Mary de Ruez

Leo Sylvester Leahy
Mabel Alice Mary Le Ruez
💍 1906/383

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter

26
22

Auckland
Auckland

9 months
22 years

St Benedicts Church

06/1710

9 April 1906

Rev. G. H. Gillan, Roman Catholic

No	243
Date of Notice	9 April 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leo Sylvester Leahy	Mabel Alice Mary de Ruez
BDM Match (98%)	Leo Sylvester Leahy	Mabel Alice Mary Le Ruez
	💍 1906/383
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	9 months	22 years
Marriage Place	St Benedicts Church
Folio	06/1710
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. H. Gillan, Roman Catholic

244

9 April 1906

James Henry Howe
Mary Ann Pelham

James Henry Howe
Mary Ann Pelham
💍 1906/282

Bachelor
Spinster

Trainer

38
35

Auckland
Auckland

5 years
35 years

St Matthews Church

06/1583

9 April 1906

Rev. W. E. Gillam, Church of England

No	244
Date of Notice	9 April 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Henry Howe	Mary Ann Pelham
	💍 1906/282
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Trainer
Age	38	35
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	5 years	35 years
Marriage Place	St Matthews Church
Folio	06/1583
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. E. Gillam, Church of England

245

9 April 1906

Geoffrey Trevithick
Winifred Eveline Garland

Geoffrey Trevithick
Winifred Eveline Garland
💍 1906/270

Bachelor
Spinster

Electrical Engineer

29
29

Auckland
Mt Eden

1 day
29 years

St Barnabas Church, Hawera

06/1595

9 April 1906

Rev. E. J. McFarland, Church of England

No	245
Date of Notice	9 April 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Geoffrey Trevithick	Winifred Eveline Garland
	💍 1906/270
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Electrical Engineer
Age	29	29
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Mt Eden
Length of Residence	1 day	29 years
Marriage Place	St Barnabas Church, Hawera
Folio	06/1595
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. J. McFarland, Church of England

246

10 April 1906

Edward Charles Thompson
Sarah Agnes Williamson

Edward Charles Thompson
Sarah Aps Williamson
💍 1906/525

Bachelor
Spinster

Paper-mill Hand

20
19

Auckland
Riverhead

20 years
16 years

House of father of Bride

06/1854

William Williamson, father

10 April 1906

Mr. J. P. Bathgate, Presbyterian

No	246
Date of Notice	10 April 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Charles Thompson	Sarah Agnes Williamson
BDM Match (93%)	Edward Charles Thompson	Sarah Aps Williamson
	💍 1906/525
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Paper-mill Hand
Age	20	19
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Riverhead
Length of Residence	20 years	16 years
Marriage Place	House of father of Bride
Folio	06/1854
Consent	William Williamson, father
Date of Certificate	10 April 1906
Officiating Minister	Mr. J. P. Bathgate, Presbyterian

247

10 April 1906

William Henry Hagan
Lilley Mary Andersen

William Henry Hagan
Lilley Mary Andersen
💍 1906/3174

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer

50
40

Auckland
Whitaker Place

30 years
16 years

House of Rev. J. Clark

06/2854

10 April 1906

Rev. J. Clark, Baptist

No	247
Date of Notice	10 April 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Hagan	Lilley Mary Andersen
	💍 1906/3174
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer
Age	50	40
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Whitaker Place
Length of Residence	30 years	16 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. J. Clark
Folio	06/2854
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 April 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Clark, Baptist

248

10 April 1906

Alfred John Bonella
Mary Jane Ruth Jones

Alfred John Bonella
Mary Jane Ruth Jones
💍 1906/3060

Bachelor
Spinster

Millhand

35
34

Auckland
Parnell

35 years
34 years

House of Mr. D. Townsend, Stanley St.

06/2855

10 April 1906

Rev. J. Clark, Baptist

No	248
Date of Notice	10 April 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred John Bonella	Mary Jane Ruth Jones
	💍 1906/3060
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Millhand
Age	35	34
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Parnell
Length of Residence	35 years	34 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. D. Townsend, Stanley St.
Folio	06/2855
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 April 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Clark, Baptist

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).