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 157

District of AUCKLAND Quarter ending 31 December 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

817

30 October 1906

Harry James Simmonds
Ivy Annie Van Brakle

Harry James Simmonds
Ivy Annie Van Brakle
💍 1906/5802

Bachelor
Spinster

Master Mariner

40
25

Auckland
Auckland

12 years
10 years

St. James Manse, Auckland

06/5666

30 October 1906

Rev. R. L. Walker, Presbyterian

No	817
Date of Notice	30 October 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry James Simmonds	Ivy Annie Van Brakle
	💍 1906/5802
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Master Mariner
Age	40	25
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	12 years	10 years
Marriage Place	St. James Manse, Auckland
Folio	06/5666
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 October 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. L. Walker, Presbyterian

818

30 October 1906

Lewis Alfred Hardgrave
Winifred Josephine Mary Mortimer

Lewis Alfred Hardgrave
Winifred Josephine Mary Mortimer
💍 1906/5791

Bachelor
Spinster

Machinist

22
20

Auckland
Vincent St.

4 years
2 years

House of Mother of Bride, Vincent St.

06/5655

Sarah Ann Simpson, Mother

30 October 1906

Rev. R. Sommerville, Presbyterian

No	818
Date of Notice	30 October 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lewis Alfred Hardgrave	Winifred Josephine Mary Mortimer
	💍 1906/5791
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Machinist
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Vincent St.
Length of Residence	4 years	2 years
Marriage Place	House of Mother of Bride, Vincent St.
Folio	06/5655
Consent	Sarah Ann Simpson, Mother
Date of Certificate	30 October 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Sommerville, Presbyterian

819

30 October 1906

Henry James Lowe
Miriam Beatrice Devereux

Henry James Lowe
Miriam Beatrice Devereux
💍 1906/7635

Bachelor
Spinster

Land Surveyor

42
27

Auckland
Epsom

3 days
27 years

Church of England, Epsom

06/6531

30 October 1906

Rev. Y. W. Walker, Church of England

No	819
Date of Notice	30 October 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry James Lowe	Miriam Beatrice Devereux
	💍 1906/7635
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Land Surveyor
Age	42	27
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Epsom
Length of Residence	3 days	27 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Epsom
Folio	06/6531
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 October 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. Y. W. Walker, Church of England

820

30 October 1906

Walter Oswald Burgess
Emma Jane Woodward

Walter Oswald Burgess
Emma Jane Woodward
💍 1906/4744

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder

28
24

Auckland
Mount Eden

4 days
24 years

Congregational Church, Mount Eden

06/5728

30 October 1906

Rev. W. Day, Congregational Independent

No	820
Date of Notice	30 October 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Oswald Burgess	Emma Jane Woodward
	💍 1906/4744
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Mount Eden
Length of Residence	4 days	24 years
Marriage Place	Congregational Church, Mount Eden
Folio	06/5728
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 October 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Day, Congregational Independent

821

30 October 1906

Douglas Benjamin Bruce
Rosalind Lucy Piggott

Douglas Benjamin Bruce
Rosalind Lucy Piggott
💍 1906/5752

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver

30
30

Auckland
Remuera

1.5 years
30 years

St. Mark's Church, Remuera

06/5590

30 October 1906

Rev. W. Beatty, Church of England

No	821
Date of Notice	30 October 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Douglas Benjamin Bruce	Rosalind Lucy Piggott
	💍 1906/5752
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver
Age	30	30
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Remuera
Length of Residence	1.5 years	30 years
Marriage Place	St. Mark's Church, Remuera
Folio	06/5590
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 October 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Beatty, Church of England

822

31 October 1906

George Edward Hill
Frances Sarah Hutchinson

George Edward Hill
Frances Sarah Hutchinson
💍 1906/5765

Widower
Widow

Factory Manager

34
36

Auckland
Onehunga

4 days
36 years

St. Peter's Church, Onehunga

06/5628

31 October 1906

Rev. J. Haselden, Church of England

No	822
Date of Notice	31 October 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Edward Hill	Frances Sarah Hutchinson
	💍 1906/5765
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Factory Manager
Age	34	36
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Onehunga
Length of Residence	4 days	36 years
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church, Onehunga
Folio	06/5628
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 October 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Haselden, Church of England

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).