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 050

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

241

25 March 1907

Albert Willerton
Annie Marian Bridge

Albert Willerston
Annie Marion Bridge
💍 1907/2012

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

29
24

Auckland
Auckland

28 years
24 years

Methodist Church, Grafton Road

07/2118

25 March 1907

Rev. G. W. J. Spence, Methodist

No	241
Date of Notice	25 March 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Willerton	Annie Marian Bridge
BDM Match (94%)	Albert Willerston	Annie Marion Bridge
	💍 1907/2012
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	28 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Grafton Road
Folio	07/2118
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. W. J. Spence, Methodist

242

26 March 1907

Samuel Stringer
Lily Rogers

Samuel Stringer
Lily Rogers
💍 1907/50

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver

26
21

Auckland
Grey Lynn

22 years
21 years

House of Mother of Bride

07/11

26 March 1907

Rev. J. Lusford, Methodist

No	242
Date of Notice	26 March 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Stringer	Lily Rogers
	💍 1907/50
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Grey Lynn
Length of Residence	22 years	21 years
Marriage Place	House of Mother of Bride
Folio	07/11
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 March 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Lusford, Methodist

243

26 March 1907

John Charles Hollingsworth
Cecelia Annie Dent

John Charles Hollingsworth
Cecelia Annie Dent
💍 1907/1962

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

45
41

Auckland
Auckland

45 years
30 years

St. Matthew's Church, Auckland

07/2067

26 March 1907

Rev. W. E. Gillam, Church of England

No	243
Date of Notice	26 March 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Charles Hollingsworth	Cecelia Annie Dent
	💍 1907/1962
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	45	41
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	45 years	30 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church, Auckland
Folio	07/2067
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 March 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. E. Gillam, Church of England

244

26 March 1907

David Balmain Bruce
Jeannie Dean

David Balmain Bruce
Jeanie Dean
💍 1907/89

Bachelor
Spinster

Insurance Agent

45
22

Auckland
Remuera

2 years
22 years

St. Mark's Church, Remuera

07/74

26 March 1907

Rev. W. Beatty, Church of England

No	244
Date of Notice	26 March 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Balmain Bruce	Jeannie Dean
BDM Match (96%)	David Balmain Bruce	Jeanie Dean
	💍 1907/89
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Insurance Agent
Age	45	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Remuera
Length of Residence	2 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Mark's Church, Remuera
Folio	07/74
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 March 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Beatty, Church of England

245

26 March 1907

Charles Robert Spragg
Hetty Spragg

Charles Robert Spragg
Hetty Spragg
💍 1907/80

Bachelor
Spinster

Government Clerk Inspector

27
24

Wellington
Auckland

24 years
24 years

House of Father of Bride, Mt. Albert

07/66

26 March 1907

Rev. J. Wilkins, Congregational Independent

No	245
Date of Notice	26 March 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Robert Spragg	Hetty Spragg
	💍 1907/80
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Government Clerk Inspector
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Auckland
Length of Residence	24 years	24 years
Marriage Place	House of Father of Bride, Mt. Albert
Folio	07/66
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 March 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Wilkins, Congregational Independent

246

26 March 1907

George Butler Fenton
Madeline Daisy Prewett Baker

George Butler Fenton
Madeline Daisy Prewett Baker
💍 1907/58

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

33
30

Auckland
Devonport

33 years
12 years

House of Mother of Bride

07/19

26 March 1907

Rev. S. Griffiths, Congregational Independent

No	246
Date of Notice	26 March 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Butler Fenton	Madeline Daisy Prewett Baker
	💍 1907/58
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	33	30
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Devonport
Length of Residence	33 years	12 years
Marriage Place	House of Mother of Bride
Folio	07/19
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 March 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Griffiths, Congregational Independent

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).