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 288

District of Thames Quarter ending 30 June 1907 Registrar William Henry Potts

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

27 May 1907

John Henry Prescott
Matilda Patton

John Henry Prescott
Matilda Patton
💍 1907/2413

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

23
18

Thames
Puketiku, Thames

23 years
8 years

In the house of Mr Laycock, Barkin Hill Thames

07/2542

John Patton, father

27 May 1907

Right Rev. Monsignor O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

No	28
Date of Notice	27 May 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Prescott	Matilda Patton
	💍 1907/2413
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	23	18
Dwelling Place	Thames	Puketiku, Thames
Length of Residence	23 years	8 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr Laycock, Barkin Hill Thames
Folio	07/2542
Consent	John Patton, father
Date of Certificate	27 May 1907
Officiating Minister	Right Rev. Monsignor O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

29 May 1907

Alfred Smith
Ethel May Vida Henderson

Alfred Smith
Ethel May Vida Henderson
💍 1907/2421

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic duties

25
25

Thames
Thames

25 years
25 years

In the house of Mr D. Henderson, June Thames

07/2549

29 May 1907

E. H. Taylor, Church of Christ

No	29
Date of Notice	29 May 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Smith	Ethel May Vida Henderson
	💍 1907/2421
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic duties
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	25 years	25 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr D. Henderson, June Thames
Folio	07/2549
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 May 1907
Officiating Minister	E. H. Taylor, Church of Christ

30 May 1907

John Charles Shirley
Elizabeth Jamima Thompson

John Charles Sherley
Elizabeth Jaminna Thompson
💍 1907/2448

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer
Domestic duties

27
24

Waihi
Thames

8 months
12 years

07/2557

30 May 1907

Registrar, Waihi

No	30
Date of Notice	30 May 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Charles Shirley	Elizabeth Jamima Thompson
BDM Match (94%)	John Charles Sherley	Elizabeth Jaminna Thompson
	💍 1907/2448
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer	Domestic duties
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Waihi	Thames
Length of Residence	8 months	12 years
Marriage Place
Folio	07/2557
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1907
Officiating Minister	Registrar, Waihi

12 June 1907

Harold Bowie Stubbing
Hilda Gillan

Harold Bowie Stubbing
Hilda Gillan
💍 1907/4199

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic duties

27
20

Puriri
Puriri

1 year
20 years

In the house of Mrs J. T. Brown, Puriri

07/3351

Mary Ann Gillan, mother

12 June 1907

Rev. S. Henderson, Primitive Methodist

No	31
Date of Notice	12 June 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Bowie Stubbing	Hilda Gillan
	💍 1907/4199
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic duties
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Puriri	Puriri
Length of Residence	1 year	20 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs J. T. Brown, Puriri
Folio	07/3351
Consent	Mary Ann Gillan, mother
Date of Certificate	12 June 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Henderson, Primitive Methodist

15 June 1907

Arthur Jones
Sarah Alice McMahon

Arthur Jones
Sarah Alice McMahon
💍 1907/2420

Bachelor
Spinster

County Foreman
Domestic duties

30
22

Tapu
Tapu

30 years
22 years

In the School House, Tapu

07/2548

15 June 1907

E. H. Taylor, Church of Christ

No	32
Date of Notice	15 June 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Jones	Sarah Alice McMahon
	💍 1907/2420
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	County Foreman	Domestic duties
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Tapu	Tapu
Length of Residence	30 years	22 years
Marriage Place	In the School House, Tapu
Folio	07/2548
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 June 1907
Officiating Minister	E. H. Taylor, Church of Christ

17 June 1907

Edwin Thomas Boamley
Adeline Maud Melrose

Edwin Thomas Bramley
Adeline Maud Melhose
💍 1907/2432

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic duties

30
28

Thames
Thames

6 months
28 years

In the house of Mrs Melrose, Thames

07/2537

17 June 1907

Rev. R. Wylie, Presbyterian

No	33
Date of Notice	17 June 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin Thomas Boamley	Adeline Maud Melrose
BDM Match (95%)	Edwin Thomas Bramley	Adeline Maud Melhose
	💍 1907/2432
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic duties
Age	30	28
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	6 months	28 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs Melrose, Thames
Folio	07/2537
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 June 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Wylie, Presbyterian

18 June 1907

William Paul
Margaret Sarah Purnell

William Paul
Margaret Sarah Purnell
💍 1907/4200

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

29
25

Thames
Thames

3 days
25 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Thames

07/3352

18 June 1907

Rev. S. Henderson, Primitive Methodist

No	34
Date of Notice	18 June 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Paul	Margaret Sarah Purnell
	💍 1907/4200
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	25 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Thames
Folio	07/3352
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 June 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Henderson, Primitive 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).