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 034

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

145

23 February 1907

George Phillip Joseph Bracewell
Jane Rean

George Phillip Joseph Bracewell
Jane Kean
💍 1907/67

Bachelor
Spinster

Machinist

25
21

Auckland
Auckland

25 years
21 years

Church of England Ellerslie

07/4

23 February 1907

Rev F.W. Walker Church of England

No	145
Date of Notice	23 February 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Phillip Joseph Bracewell	Jane Rean
BDM Match (94%)	George Phillip Joseph Bracewell	Jane Kean
	💍 1907/67
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Machinist
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	25 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Church of England Ellerslie
Folio	07/4
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev F.W. Walker Church of England

146

23 February 1907

John Ernest Parker
Ocenia Victoria Sainty

John Ernest Parker
Ocenia Victoria Saintly
💍 1907/87

Bachelor
Spinster

Machinist

27
24

Auckland
Devonport

27 years
24 years

House of father of Bride Devonport

07/72

23 February 1907

Rev J.E. Bertram Presbyterian

No	146
Date of Notice	23 February 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Ernest Parker	Ocenia Victoria Sainty
BDM Match (98%)	John Ernest Parker	Ocenia Victoria Saintly
	💍 1907/87
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Machinist
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Devonport
Length of Residence	27 years	24 years
Marriage Place	House of father of Bride Devonport
Folio	07/72
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev J.E. Bertram Presbyterian

147

23 February 1907

John Anthony Thorsensen
Charlotte Adeline Latchmore

John Anthony Thorstensen
Charlotte Adeline Latchmore
💍 1907/77

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

29
26

Auckland
Auckland

2 years
2 years

House of Mr Davidson Hobson St. Auckland

07/63

23 February 1907

Rev J. Wilkins, Congregational Independent

No	147
Date of Notice	23 February 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Anthony Thorsensen	Charlotte Adeline Latchmore
BDM Match (98%)	John Anthony Thorstensen	Charlotte Adeline Latchmore
	💍 1907/77
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	29	26
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr Davidson Hobson St. Auckland
Folio	07/63
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Wilkins, Congregational Independent

148

23 February 1907

William Mercer Bethell
Mary Luther

William Mercer Bethell
Mary Luther
💍 1907/120

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

27
25

Auckland
Newmarket

25 years
25 years

Roman Catholic Convent Chapel Newmarket

07/83

23 February 1907

Rev F. Buckley Roman Catholic

No	148
Date of Notice	23 February 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Mercer Bethell	Mary Luther
	💍 1907/120
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Newmarket
Length of Residence	25 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Convent Chapel Newmarket
Folio	07/83
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev F. Buckley Roman Catholic

149

23 February 1907

Albert Edward Prince
Elizabeth Ann Walker

Albert Edward Prince
Elizabeth Ann Walker
💍 1907/142

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter

26
24

Auckland
Auckland

26 years
24 years

House of father of bride Norfolk St. Ponsonby

07/105

23 February 1907

Rev. R. Sommerville Presbyterian

No	149
Date of Notice	23 February 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Edward Prince	Elizabeth Ann Walker
	💍 1907/142
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	26 years	24 years
Marriage Place	House of father of bride Norfolk St. Ponsonby
Folio	07/105
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Sommerville Presbyterian

150

25 February 1907

Herbert Harry Ward
Florence Isabel Elizabeth Porthous

Herbert Harry Ward
Florence Isabel Elizabeth Porthous
💍 1907/133

Bachelor
Spinster

Motorman

25
23

Auckland
Ponsonby

3 years
4 days

House of Mrs C. Crawford Bulwer St. Ponsonby

07/120

25 February 1907

Rev G.W.J. Spence Methodist

No	150
Date of Notice	25 February 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Harry Ward	Florence Isabel Elizabeth Porthous
	💍 1907/133
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motorman
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Ponsonby
Length of Residence	3 years	4 days
Marriage Place	House of Mrs C. Crawford Bulwer St. Ponsonby
Folio	07/120
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 February 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev G.W.J. Spence Methodist

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).