Intentions to Marry, 1907 Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840433, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1907 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay (1907a), Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1907b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1907c).

Page 015

District of AUCKLAND Quarter ending 31 March 1907 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

10 January 1907

Henry George Stephen Shepherd
Helen Catherine McIntyre

Henry George Stephen Shepherd
Helen Catherine McIntyre
💍 1907/84

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

32
21

Auckland
Auckland

3 days
3

St David's Church, Auckland

07/52

10 January 1907

Rev. W. B. Dixon, Presbyterian

No	34
Date of Notice	10 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry George Stephen Shepherd	Helen Catherine McIntyre
	💍 1907/84
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	32	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 days	3
Marriage Place	St David's Church, Auckland
Folio	07/52
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. B. Dixon, Presbyterian

10 January 1907

Stanley Bowrey
Bessie Poad

Stanley Bowrey
Bessie Poad
💍 1907/74

Bachelor
Spinster

Creamery Manager

27
29

Auckland
Mangere Bridge

3 years
12

Church of England, Mangere Bridge

07/60

10 January 1907

Rev. M. Kirkbride, Church of England

No	38
Date of Notice	10 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stanley Bowrey	Bessie Poad
	💍 1907/74
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Creamery Manager
Age	27	29
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Mangere Bridge
Length of Residence	3 years	12
Marriage Place	Church of England, Mangere Bridge
Folio	07/60
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Kirkbride, Church of England

11 January 1907

Sydney Robert Mainland
Grace Victoria Smith

Sydney Robert Mainland
Grace Victoria Smith
💍 1907/141

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter

25
25

Auckland
Auckland

4 years
7

House of Mr. A. Polsen, Yorky Street, Auckland

07/104

11 January 1907

Rev. J. B. Sneyd, Baptist

No	39
Date of Notice	11 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney Robert Mainland	Grace Victoria Smith
	💍 1907/141
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 years	7
Marriage Place	House of Mr. A. Polsen, Yorky Street, Auckland
Folio	07/104
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Sneyd, Baptist

12 January 1907

Donald MacPherson
Ellen Grace Davis

Donald Macpherson
Ellen Grace Davis
💍 1907/159

Widower
Divorcee

Miner

37
36

Auckland
Auckland

3 days
3

St. James' Manse, Auckland

07/153

12 January 1907

Rev. R. L. Walker, Presbyterian

No	40
Date of Notice	12 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald MacPherson	Ellen Grace Davis
BDM Match (97%)	Donald Macpherson	Ellen Grace Davis
	💍 1907/159
Condition	Widower	Divorcee
Profession	Miner
Age	37	36
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 days	3
Marriage Place	St. James' Manse, Auckland
Folio	07/153
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. L. Walker, Presbyterian

14 January 1907

James Henry John Piggott
Fanny Swinnerton Rigby

James Henry John Piggott
Fanny Summerton Rigby
💍 1907/176

Bachelor
Widow

Contractor

36
35

Auckland
Auckland

2 weeks
3

Registrar's Office, Auckland

07/190

14 January 1907

E. H. Lyons, Registrar

No	41
Date of Notice	14 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Henry John Piggott	Fanny Swinnerton Rigby
BDM Match (91%)	James Henry John Piggott	Fanny Summerton Rigby
	💍 1907/176
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Contractor
Age	36	35
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	2 weeks	3
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Auckland
Folio	07/190
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 January 1907
Officiating Minister	E. H. Lyons, Registrar

14 January 1907

John Henry Wilson
Helen Ross Pendrich

John Henry Wilson
Helen Ross Pendrich
💍 1907/177

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer

29
35

Auckland
Auckland

10 days
1 month

Registrar's Office, Auckland

07/191

14 January 1907

E. H. Lyons, Registrar

No	42
Date of Notice	14 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Wilson	Helen Ross Pendrich
	💍 1907/177
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer
Age	29	35
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	10 days	1 month
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Auckland
Folio	07/191
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 January 1907
Officiating Minister	E. H. Lyons, Registrar

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).