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 786

District of Stratford Quarter ending 30 September 1907 Registrar St. James

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

19 August 1907

Michael Behl
Anna Theresia Klenner

Michael Behl
Anna Thersia Klenner
💍 1907/3613

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

37
30

Kaponga
Inglewood

1 year
20 years

Roman Catholic Church, Stratford

07/4808

19 August 1907

Rev. Father P. Treacy, Roman Catholic

No	40
Date of Notice	19 August 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Behl	Anna Theresia Klenner
BDM Match (98%)	Michael Behl	Anna Thersia Klenner
	💍 1907/3613
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	37	30
Dwelling Place	Kaponga	Inglewood
Length of Residence	1 year	20 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Stratford
Folio	07/4808
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 August 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father P. Treacy, Roman Catholic

20 August 1907

David Boyd McKee
Mary Wilhelmina Mehrtens

David Boyd McKee
Mary Wilhelmina Mehrtens
💍 1907/3631

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

36
26

Lepperton
Ngaire

33 years
5 months

Residence of Robert Mehrtens, Cheal Road, Ngaire

07/4823

20 August 1907

Rev. W. S. Bowie, Wesleyan

No	41
Date of Notice	20 August 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Boyd McKee	Mary Wilhelmina Mehrtens
	💍 1907/3631
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	36	26
Dwelling Place	Lepperton	Ngaire
Length of Residence	33 years	5 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Robert Mehrtens, Cheal Road, Ngaire
Folio	07/4823
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 August 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bowie, Wesleyan

24 August 1907

Samuel John Small
Sarah Kennedy

Samuel John Small
Sarah Kennedy
💍 1907/3609

Bachelor
Spinster

Bridge Builder

38
26

Midhirst
Toko

25 years
2 years

Residence of Mrs. Kennedy, Standish Road, Toko

07/4805

24 August 1907

Rev. J. Millar Thomson, Presbyterian

No	42
Date of Notice	24 August 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel John Small	Sarah Kennedy
	💍 1907/3609
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bridge Builder
Age	38	26
Dwelling Place	Midhirst	Toko
Length of Residence	25 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Kennedy, Standish Road, Toko
Folio	07/4805
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 August 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Millar Thomson, Presbyterian

27 August 1907

Ernest Edward Coldwell
Mabel Nash

Ernest Edward Coldwell
Mabel Nash
💍 1907/3610

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

26
22

Cardiff
Stratford

5 years
22 years

Residence of Alex. Stewart, Miranda Street, Stratford

07/4806

27 August 1907

Rev. J. Millar Thomson, Presbyterian

No	43
Date of Notice	27 August 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Edward Coldwell	Mabel Nash
	💍 1907/3610
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Cardiff	Stratford
Length of Residence	5 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Alex. Stewart, Miranda Street, Stratford
Folio	07/4806
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 August 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Millar Thomson, Presbyterian

2 September 1907

Josiah Menneer
Elsie Salentine Tarrant

Josiah Mennear
Elsie Valentine
💍 1907/3617

Bachelor
Widow

Optician

44
45

Wellington
Wanganui

18 months
34 years

Office of the Registrar at Stratford

07/4813

2 September 1907

St. James, Registrar

No	44
Date of Notice	2 September 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Josiah Menneer	Elsie Salentine Tarrant
BDM Match (77%)	Josiah Mennear	Elsie Valentine
	💍 1907/3617
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Optician
Age	44	45
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wanganui
Length of Residence	18 months	34 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar at Stratford
Folio	07/4813
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 September 1907
Officiating Minister	St. James, Registrar

11 September 1907

Geoffrey Hicks
Helen Iris Morison

Geoffrey Hicks Tarrant
Helen Iris Morison
💍 1907/3614

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

27
23

Taihape
Ngaire

7 months
23 years

Residence of Wm. Morison, Finnerty Road, Ngaire

07/4809

11 September 1907

Rev. James Johnston, Presbyterian

No	45
Date of Notice	11 September 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Geoffrey Hicks	Helen Iris Morison
BDM Match (82%)	Geoffrey Hicks Tarrant	Helen Iris Morison
	💍 1907/3614
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Taihape	Ngaire
Length of Residence	7 months	23 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Wm. Morison, Finnerty Road, Ngaire
Folio	07/4809
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 September 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Johnston, Presbyterian

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).