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 119

District of Auckland Quarter ending 30 September 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

634

15 July 1907

Cecil Arnold Vause
Jessie Maud Rowland

Cecil Arnold Vause
Jessie Maud Rowland
💍 1907/3421

Bachelor
Spinster

Master Mariner

23
19

Auckland
Auckland

3 weeks
3 weeks

Registrars Office, Auckland

07/4341

Henry Fuller Rowland, father

15 July 1907

E. H. Lyons, Registrar

No	634
Date of Notice	15 July 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cecil Arnold Vause	Jessie Maud Rowland
	💍 1907/3421
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Master Mariner
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 weeks	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Auckland
Folio	07/4341
Consent	Henry Fuller Rowland, father
Date of Certificate	15 July 1907
Officiating Minister	E. H. Lyons, Registrar

635

15 July 1907

Spencer Frank Browne
Mary Jane Burke

Spencer Frank Browne
Mary Jane Burke
💍 1907/5036

Bachelor
Spinster

Tram Conductor

22
22

Auckland
Auckland

12 months
22 years

House of Mr Jaggs Kingsland

07/4589

15 July 1907

Rev. W. Day, Congregational Independent

No	635
Date of Notice	15 July 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Spencer Frank Browne	Mary Jane Burke
	💍 1907/5036
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tram Conductor
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	12 months	22 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr Jaggs Kingsland
Folio	07/4589
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 July 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Day, Congregational Independent

636

15 July 1907

Albert George Wigg
Annie Claydon

Albert George Wigg
Annie Claydon
💍 1907/4956

Bachelor
Spinster

Laundryman

28
24

Auckland
Auckland

26 years
24 years

House of Rev. R. L. Walker, Presbyterian

07/4448

15 July 1907

Rev. R. L. Walker, Presbyterian

No	636
Date of Notice	15 July 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert George Wigg	Annie Claydon
	💍 1907/4956
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laundryman
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	26 years	24 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. R. L. Walker, Presbyterian
Folio	07/4448
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 July 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. L. Walker, Presbyterian

637

15 July 1907

James Bailey
Mary Isabella Richardson

James Bailey
Mary Isabella Richardson
💍 1907/5013

Bachelor
Widow

Dealer

48
46

Auckland
Auckland

10 years
2 years

House of Rev. M. Walker, Wellington Street

07/4531

15 July 1907

Rev. M. Walker, Church of Our Father

No	637
Date of Notice	15 July 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Bailey	Mary Isabella Richardson
	💍 1907/5013
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Dealer
Age	48	46
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	10 years	2 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. M. Walker, Wellington Street
Folio	07/4531
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 July 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Walker, Church of Our Father

638

15 July 1907

Jacob Williamson
Jane Reynolds

Jacob Williamson
Jane Reynolds
💍 1907/5014

Widower
Widow

Fruiterer

51
35

Auckland
Auckland

2 weeks
7 weeks

House of Rev. M. Walker, Wellington Street

07/4532

15 July 1907

Rev. M. Walker, Church of Our Father

No	638
Date of Notice	15 July 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jacob Williamson	Jane Reynolds
	💍 1907/5014
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Fruiterer
Age	51	35
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	2 weeks	7 weeks
Marriage Place	House of Rev. M. Walker, Wellington Street
Folio	07/4532
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 July 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Walker, Church of Our Father

639

15 July 1907

James Watters
Barbara Virginia Meaney

James Watters
Barbara Virginia Meaney
💍 1907/4987

Bachelor
Spinster

Constable

29
25

Auckland
Auckland

19 months
7 years

St. Patrick's Cathedral, Auckland

07/4478

15 July 1907

Rev. H. F. Holbrook, Roman Catholic

No	639
Date of Notice	15 July 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Watters	Barbara Virginia Meaney
	💍 1907/4987
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Constable
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	19 months	7 years
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Cathedral, Auckland
Folio	07/4478
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 July 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. F. Holbrook, Roman Catholic

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).