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 062

District of AUCKLAND Quarter ending 30 June 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

304

6 April 1907

William James Peters
Isabella Littler

William James Peters
Isabella Littler
💍 1907/2258

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter

21
20

Auckland
Auckland

12 months
18 months

Church of England Mangere

07/2374

Samuel Littler Father

6 April 1907

Rev. M. Kirkbride Church of England

No	304
Date of Notice	6 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Peters	Isabella Littler
	💍 1907/2258
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	12 months	18 months
Marriage Place	Church of England Mangere
Folio	07/2374
Consent	Samuel Littler Father
Date of Certificate	6 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Kirkbride Church of England

305

6 April 1907

Alfred Norman Strange
Agnes May Lombard

Alfred Norman Strange
Agnes May Lombard
💍 1907/2278

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

22
24

Auckland
Auckland

4 years
8 years

House of father of Bride Remuera

07/2405

6 April 1907

Rev. R. J. Macnicol Presbyterian

No	305
Date of Notice	6 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Norman Strange	Agnes May Lombard
	💍 1907/2278
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 years	8 years
Marriage Place	House of father of Bride Remuera
Folio	07/2405
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Macnicol Presbyterian

306

6 April 1907

William Henry Porritt
Mary Butler

William Henry Poritt
Mary Butler
💍 1907/2291

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

30
26

Auckland
Auckland

16 years
7 years

House of father of Bridegroom Mount Albert

07/2419

6 April 1907

Rev. A MacLean Presbyterian

No	306
Date of Notice	6 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Porritt	Mary Butler
BDM Match (98%)	William Henry Poritt	Mary Butler
	💍 1907/2291
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	30	26
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	16 years	7 years
Marriage Place	House of father of Bridegroom Mount Albert
Folio	07/2419
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. A MacLean Presbyterian

307

6 April 1907

Joseph Brennan
Ellen Donovan

Joseph Brennan
Ellen Donovan
💍 1907/2251

Widower
Widow

Watchman

48
39

Auckland
Auckland

26 years
28 years

St Benedict's Church, Auckland

07/2379

6 April 1907

Rev. G. H. Gillan Roman Catholic

No	307
Date of Notice	6 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Brennan	Ellen Donovan
	💍 1907/2251
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Watchman
Age	48	39
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	26 years	28 years
Marriage Place	St Benedict's Church, Auckland
Folio	07/2379
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. H. Gillan Roman Catholic

308

6 April 1907

Thomas Albert Purcell
Vida May Loder

Thomas Albert Purcell
Vida May Loder
💍 1907/2188

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter

20
19

Auckland
Auckland

7 years
3 years

House of Rev. M. Walker Wellington Street

07/2314

Richard Loder Father, Elizabeth M Purcell Mother

6 April 1907

Rev. M. Walker Church of Our Father

No	308
Date of Notice	6 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Albert Purcell	Vida May Loder
	💍 1907/2188
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	20	19
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	7 years	3 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. M. Walker Wellington Street
Folio	07/2314
Consent	Richard Loder Father, Elizabeth M Purcell Mother
Date of Certificate	6 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Walker Church of Our Father

309

6 April 1907

Henry George Lumsden
Martha Julia Wilson

Henry George Lumsden
Martha Julia Wilson
💍 1907/2307

Bachelor
Spinster

Stationer

42
37

Auckland
Auckland

22 years
37 years

Congregational Church Beresford Street

07/2411

6 April 1907

Rev. J. Wilkins Congregational Independent

No	309
Date of Notice	6 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry George Lumsden	Martha Julia Wilson
	💍 1907/2307
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stationer
Age	42	37
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	22 years	37 years
Marriage Place	Congregational Church Beresford Street
Folio	07/2411
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Wilkins 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).