Intentions to Marry, 1907 Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840434, 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 049

District of Eketehuna Quarter ending 30 June 1907 Registrar William Nicholas Tregonning

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

8 April 1907

Thomas Henry Groves
Margaret Louise Graham

Thomas Henry Groves
Margaret Louise Graham
💍 1907/3219

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
School Teacher

44
38

Tawataia, Eketehuna
Palmerston North

20 years
14 days

All Saints Anglican Church, Palmerston North

07/3511

8 April 1907

Rev. Charles C. Harper

No	38
Date of Notice	8 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Henry Groves	Margaret Louise Graham
	💍 1907/3219
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	School Teacher
Age	44	38
Dwelling Place	Tawataia, Eketehuna	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	20 years	14 days
Marriage Place	All Saints Anglican Church, Palmerston North
Folio	07/3511
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. Charles C. Harper

10 April 1907

Felix McGarry
Freda Parsons

Felix McGarry
Freda Parsons
💍 1907/4722

Widower
Spinster

Baker
Home Duties

37
22

Eketehuna
Eketahuna

2 years
22 years

At the residence of Mr. Thomas Parsons Rongokokako

07/4111

10 April 1907

Rev. John McKenna

No	39
Date of Notice	10 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Felix McGarry	Freda Parsons
	💍 1907/4722
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Home Duties
Age	37	22
Dwelling Place	Eketehuna	Eketahuna
Length of Residence	2 years	22 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of Mr. Thomas Parsons Rongokokako
Folio	07/4111
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. John McKenna

18 April 1907

John Carter
Jane Koce

John Carter
Jane Koce
💍 1907/2610

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Home Duties

26
21

Alfredton
Pleckville

3 years
21 years

At the Methodist Church, Eketehuna

07/2749

18 April 1907

Rev. George I. Marshall

No	40
Date of Notice	18 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Carter	Jane Koce
	💍 1907/2610
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Home Duties
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Alfredton	Pleckville
Length of Residence	3 years	21 years
Marriage Place	At the Methodist Church, Eketehuna
Folio	07/2749
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. George I. Marshall

18 June 1907

Robert McGarry
Annie Amelia Josephine Smith

Robert McGarry
Annie Amelia Josephine Smith
💍 1907/4724

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Home Duties

28
18

Eketehuna
Eketehuna

3 1/2 years
10 years

At the residence of Joseph Smith Eketahuna

07/4112

Joseph Smith, father

18 June 1907

Rev. John J. Kelly

No	41
Date of Notice	18 June 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert McGarry	Annie Amelia Josephine Smith
	💍 1907/4724
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Home Duties
Age	28	18
Dwelling Place	Eketehuna	Eketehuna
Length of Residence	3 1/2 years	10 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of Joseph Smith Eketahuna
Folio	07/4112
Consent	Joseph Smith, father
Date of Certificate	18 June 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. John J. Kelly

25 June 1907

Daniel Nicol
Hester May Herbert

Daniel Nicol
Hester May Herbert
💍 1907/2609

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Home Duties

27
20

Rongomai
Rongomai

1 1/2 years
7 years

At the residence of W. James Edwards, Rongomai

07/2748

Mary Ann & Elizabeth Edwards, mother

25 June 1907

Rev. A. W. H. Compton

No	42
Date of Notice	25 June 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel Nicol	Hester May Herbert
	💍 1907/2609
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Home Duties
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Rongomai	Rongomai
Length of Residence	1 1/2 years	7 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of W. James Edwards, Rongomai
Folio	07/2748
Consent	Mary Ann & Elizabeth Edwards, mother
Date of Certificate	25 June 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. W. H. Compton

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).