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 104

District of AUCKLAND Quarter ending 30 June 1907

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

550

18 June 1907

James Richard Spearing
Esther Joughin

James Richard Spearing
Esther Joughin
💍 1907/2658

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

23
20

Auckland
Auckland

4 days
6 weeks

House of Mr. E. H. Bennett, Brook Square, Ponsonby

07/2798

Elizabeth Joughin, Mother

18 June 1907

Rev. A. M. Caldwell, Presbyterian

No	550
Date of Notice	18 June 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Richard Spearing	Esther Joughin
	💍 1907/2658
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 days	6 weeks
Marriage Place	House of Mr. E. H. Bennett, Brook Square, Ponsonby
Folio	07/2798
Consent	Elizabeth Joughin, Mother
Date of Certificate	18 June 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. M. Caldwell, Presbyterian

551

19 June 1907

Henry Berryman
Stella Elizabeth Annie Taylor

Henry Berryman
Stella Elizabeth Annie Taylor
💍 1907/2285

Bachelor
Spinster

Sugar worker

21
21

Auckland
Auckland

21 years
16 years

House of Rev. J. Clark, Whitaker Lane

07/2389

19 June 1907

Rev. J. Clark, Baptist

No	551
Date of Notice	19 June 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Berryman	Stella Elizabeth Annie Taylor
	💍 1907/2285
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sugar worker
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	21 years	16 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. J. Clark, Whitaker Lane
Folio	07/2389
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 June 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Clark, Baptist

552

19 June 1907

Francis Leopold Townsend
Lucy Hannah Hawkins

Francis Leopold Townsend
Lucy Hannah Hawkins
💍 1907/4630

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

26
24

Auckland
Auckland

6 years
24 yrs

Church of England, Northcote

07/4015

19 June 1907

Rev. A. F. Smith, Church of England

No	552
Date of Notice	19 June 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Leopold Townsend	Lucy Hannah Hawkins
	💍 1907/4630
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	6 years	24 yrs
Marriage Place	Church of England, Northcote
Folio	07/4015
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 June 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. F. Smith, Church of England

553

19 June 1907

Oscar Paul Agathon Worm
Helena Malvina McBurney

Oscar Paul Agathon Worm
Helena Malvina McBurney
💍 1907/2205

Bachelor
Spinster

Saw Doctor

33
24

Auckland
Auckland

1 1/2 years
7 years

House of Mr. Chas. Collins, Gibraltar Crescent, Parnell

07/2333

19 June 1907

Rev. R. L. Walker, Presbyterian

No	553
Date of Notice	19 June 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Oscar Paul Agathon Worm	Helena Malvina McBurney
	💍 1907/2205
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saw Doctor
Age	33	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	1 1/2 years	7 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Chas. Collins, Gibraltar Crescent, Parnell
Folio	07/2333
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 June 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. L. Walker, Presbyterian

554

20 June 1907

Donald Francis MacCormick
Margaret Gillies Aitken Richmond

Donald Francis MacCormick
Margaret Gillies Aitken Richmond
💍 1907/4819

Bachelor
Spinster

Banker

37
23

Auckland

3 years
23 years

House of Mother of Bride Mount Eden

07/4235

20 June 1907

Rev. W. Gillies, Presbyterian

No	554
Date of Notice	20 June 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald Francis MacCormick	Margaret Gillies Aitken Richmond
	💍 1907/4819
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Banker
Age	37	23
Dwelling Place	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 years	23 years
Marriage Place	House of Mother of Bride Mount Eden
Folio	07/4235
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 June 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Gillies, Presbyterian

555

21 June 1907

John Morrison
Marcella Esther Fraser

John Morrison
Marcella Esther Fraser
💍 1907/2134

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman

31
29

Auckland
Auckland

6 years
17 years

St. Andrew's Church, Alten Road

07/2260

21 June 1907

Rev. W. Thompson, Presbyterian

No	555
Date of Notice	21 June 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Morrison	Marcella Esther Fraser
	💍 1907/2134
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman
Age	31	29
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	6 years	17 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Church, Alten Road
Folio	07/2260
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 June 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Thompson, 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).