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 023

District of AUCKLAND Quarter ending 31 March 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

5 February 1906

Alfred Kennedy
Minnie Meekan

Alfried Kennedy
Minnie Meekan
💍 1906/1586

Widower
Widow

Boot Operator

36
33

Auckland

6 years
25 years

House of Bridegroom, Hobson St

06/173

5 February 1906

Rev. J. Wilkins, Congregational

No	82
Date of Notice	5 February 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Kennedy	Minnie Meekan
BDM Match (97%)	Alfried Kennedy	Minnie Meekan
	💍 1906/1586
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Boot Operator
Age	36	33
Dwelling Place	Auckland
Length of Residence	6 years	25 years
Marriage Place	House of Bridegroom, Hobson St
Folio	06/173
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Wilkins, Congregational

5 February 1906

William Bressell
May Vestrum Macduff

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber

28
27

Auckland

2 years

House of Miss Teasdale, Hobson St

06/90

5 February 1906

Rev. R. L. Walker, Presbyterian

No	83
Date of Notice	5 February 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Bressell	May Vestrum Macduff
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Auckland
Length of Residence	2 years
Marriage Place	House of Miss Teasdale, Hobson St
Folio	06/90
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. L. Walker, Presbyterian

5 February 1906

Herbert Barraclough
Rachel Pauline Levy

Herbert Barraclough
Rachel Pauline Levy
💍 1906/124

Bachelor
Spinster

Medical Practitioner

36
25

Auckland

10 days
15 years

St. Luke's Church, Mt. Albert

06/58

5 February 1906

Rev. W. St. Wilson, Church of England

No	84
Date of Notice	5 February 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Barraclough	Rachel Pauline Levy
	💍 1906/124
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Medical Practitioner
Age	36	25
Dwelling Place	Auckland
Length of Residence	10 days	15 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church, Mt. Albert
Folio	06/58
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. St. Wilson, Church of England

6 February 1906

Walter Laurie Ratcliffe
Jeannie Campbell Dunn

Walter Laurie Ratcliffe
Jeannie Campbell Dunn
💍 1906/1593

Bachelor
Spinster

Warehouseman

24
20

Auckland
Auckland

10 years
20 years

Baptist Tabernacle

06/157

Isabella Dunn, Mother

6 February 1906

Rev. J. Clark, Baptist

No	85
Date of Notice	6 February 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Laurie Ratcliffe	Jeannie Campbell Dunn
	💍 1906/1593
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warehouseman
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	10 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Tabernacle
Folio	06/157
Consent	Isabella Dunn, Mother
Date of Certificate	6 February 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Clark, Baptist

6 February 1906

John William Hall
Claudia Mary Hardie

John William Hall
Claudia Mary Hardie
💍 1906/1511

Bachelor
Spinster

Merchant

41
32

Auckland

41 years
32 years

St. Luke's Church, Remuera

06/99

6 February 1906

Rev. G. B. Munro, Presbyterian

No	86
Date of Notice	6 February 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Hall	Claudia Mary Hardie
	💍 1906/1511
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Merchant
Age	41	32
Dwelling Place	Auckland
Length of Residence	41 years	32 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church, Remuera
Folio	06/99
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. B. Munro, Presbyterian

6 February 1906

Alfred Bomber
Mary Ann Dolbear

Alfred Bomber
Mary Ann Dolbear
💍 1906/1459

Bachelor
Widow

Storeman

40
44

Auckland

23 years
21 years

House of Bride, Victoria St West

06/144

6 February 1906

Rev. W. S. Potter, Methodist

No	87
Date of Notice	6 February 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Bomber	Mary Ann Dolbear
	💍 1906/1459
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Storeman
Age	40	44
Dwelling Place	Auckland
Length of Residence	23 years	21 years
Marriage Place	House of Bride, Victoria St West
Folio	06/144
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Potter, Methodist

6 February 1906

Henry Greep
Florence Isabel Josdick

Henry Harvey Greep
Florence Isabell Fosdick
💍 1906/2891

Bachelor
Spinster

Machine Driver

29
28

Auckland

24 years
28 years

Methodist Church, Arch Hill

06/2635

6 February 1906

Rev. W. Grigg, Methodist

No	88
Date of Notice	6 February 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Greep	Florence Isabel Josdick
BDM Match (76%)	Henry Harvey Greep	Florence Isabell Fosdick
	💍 1906/2891
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Machine Driver
Age	29	28
Dwelling Place	Auckland
Length of Residence	24 years	28 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Arch Hill
Folio	06/2635
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Grigg, Methodist

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).