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 287

District of Thames Quarter ending 30 June 1907 Registrar William H. 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

17 April 1907

George Zaninovich
Emily Mills

George Zaninovich
Emily Mills
💍 1907/2412

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

26
19

Thames
Thames

2 months
5 weeks

At the Registrar's Office, Thames

07/2541

Sarah Ann Mills, mother

17 April 1907

William H. Potts, Registrar

No	21
Date of Notice	17 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Zaninovich	Emily Mills
	💍 1907/2412
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	2 months	5 weeks
Marriage Place	At the Registrar's Office, Thames
Folio	07/2541
Consent	Sarah Ann Mills, mother
Date of Certificate	17 April 1907
Officiating Minister	William H. Potts, Registrar

19 April 1907

Edward Ernest Hilson
Violet May Strong

Edward Ernest Wilson
Violet May Strong
💍 1907/2409

Bachelor
Spinster

Fisherman
Domestic duties

26
20

Thames
Thames

26 years
20 years

In the Methodist Church of Australasia, Thames

07/2538

Alfred Strong, father

19 April 1907

Rev. J. Blight, Methodist Church of Australasia

No	22
Date of Notice	19 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Ernest Hilson	Violet May Strong
BDM Match (98%)	Edward Ernest Wilson	Violet May Strong
	💍 1907/2409
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fisherman	Domestic duties
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	26 years	20 years
Marriage Place	In the Methodist Church of Australasia, Thames
Folio	07/2538
Consent	Alfred Strong, father
Date of Certificate	19 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Blight, Methodist Church of Australasia

2 May 1907

Leonard Garfield Roberts
Catherine Harriett Rae

Leonard Garfield Roberts
Catherine Harriett Rae
💍 1907/2410

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic duties

23
23

Wharepoa
Thames

3 days
6 years

In the house of Mrs Rae

07/2539

Father Broomfield

2 May 1907

Roman Catholic

No	23
Date of Notice	2 May 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Garfield Roberts	Catherine Harriett Rae
	💍 1907/2410
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic duties
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Wharepoa	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	6 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs Rae
Folio	07/2539
Consent	Father Broomfield
Date of Certificate	2 May 1907
Officiating Minister	Roman Catholic

7 May 1907

John Gibb
Mary Bell Wilson

John Gibb
Mary Bell Wilson
💍 1907/4197

Widower (July 1898)
Spinster

Turncock
Domestic duties

63
33

Thames
Thames

37 years
4 years

In the house of Mr J. Gibb, Thames

07/3349

7 May 1907

Rev. S. Henderson, Primitive Methodist

No	24
Date of Notice	7 May 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Gibb	Mary Bell Wilson
	💍 1907/4197
Condition	Widower (July 1898)	Spinster
Profession	Turncock	Domestic duties
Age	63	33
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	37 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr J. Gibb, Thames
Folio	07/3349
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 May 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Henderson, Primitive Methodist

13 May 1907

Arthur Redfern Cole
Caroline Bond

Arthur Redfern Cole
Caroline Bond
💍 1907/4198

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Domestic duties

21
17

Thames
Thames

21 years
17 years

In the house of J. Bond, Thames

07/3350

John Bond, father

13 May 1907

Rev. S. Henderson, Primitive Methodist

No	25
Date of Notice	13 May 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Redfern Cole	Caroline Bond
	💍 1907/4198
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Domestic duties
Age	21	17
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	21 years	17 years
Marriage Place	In the house of J. Bond, Thames
Folio	07/3350
Consent	John Bond, father
Date of Certificate	13 May 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Henderson, Primitive Methodist

22 May 1907

John Andrew Stewart
Anna Christina Olson

John Andrew Stewart
Anna Christina Olson
💍 1907/2416

Bachelor
Spinster

Mill hand
Domestic duties

21
18

Turua
Turua

6 years
2 years

Church of England, Thames

07/2545

Kathleen Olson, mother

22 May 1907

Dr. O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	26
Date of Notice	22 May 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Andrew Stewart	Anna Christina Olson
	💍 1907/2416
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mill hand	Domestic duties
Age	21	18
Dwelling Place	Turua	Turua
Length of Residence	6 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Thames
Folio	07/2545
Consent	Kathleen Olson, mother
Date of Certificate	22 May 1907
Officiating Minister	Dr. O'Callaghan, Church of England

27 May 1907

Arthur Clark
Grace Catherine Delia Cox

Arthur Clark
Grace Catherine Delia Cox
💍 1907/2417

Bachelor
Spinster

Mill hand
Domestic duties

24
23

Ngopu
Ngopu

18 months
10 years

In the house of Mr Cox, Ngopu

07/2546

27 May 1907

Dr. O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	27
Date of Notice	27 May 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Clark	Grace Catherine Delia Cox
	💍 1907/2417
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mill hand	Domestic duties
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Ngopu	Ngopu
Length of Residence	18 months	10 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr Cox, Ngopu
Folio	07/2546
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 May 1907
Officiating Minister	Dr. O'Callaghan, Church of England

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).