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 478

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 December 1907 Registrar Gilbert Graham Hodghins

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

771

7 October 1907

Stanley Bland Byrne
Ethel Barton

Byrne Stanley Bland
Ethel Barton
💍 1907/7263

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver

26
20

Wellington
Wellington

7 yrs.
20 yrs.

St-Thomas' Church Wellington South

07/6904

Herbert Barton (Father)

7 October 1907

Rev. J. Walter

No	771
Date of Notice	7 October 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stanley Bland Byrne	Ethel Barton
BDM Match (68%)	Byrne Stanley Bland	Ethel Barton
	💍 1907/7263
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	7 yrs.	20 yrs.
Marriage Place	St-Thomas' Church Wellington South
Folio	07/6904
Consent	Herbert Barton (Father)
Date of Certificate	7 October 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Walter

772

8 October 1907

William Nicol
Letitia Jeanie Olsen

William Nicol
Letitia Jeanie Olsen
💍 1907/7229

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

26
21

Pahautanui
Pahautanui

life
8 mos.

Registrar's Office Wellington

07/6837

8 October 1907

Deputy Registrar

No	772
Date of Notice	8 October 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Nicol	Letitia Jeanie Olsen
	💍 1907/7229
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Pahautanui	Pahautanui
Length of Residence	life	8 mos.
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Wellington
Folio	07/6837
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 October 1907
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar

773

8 October 1907

John Fernons Emery
Ella Mary King Stevens

John Flemons Emery
Ella Mary King Stevens
💍 1907/6394

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman

25
25

Wellington
Wellington

1 1/2 yrs
4 dys

Anglican Church Kilbirnie

07/6948

8 October 1907

Rev. J. A. McNickle

No	773
Date of Notice	8 October 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Fernons Emery	Ella Mary King Stevens
BDM Match (92%)	John Flemons Emery	Ella Mary King Stevens
	💍 1907/6394
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	1 1/2 yrs	4 dys
Marriage Place	Anglican Church Kilbirnie
Folio	07/6948
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 October 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. McNickle

774

8 October 1907

Charles Frederick Dorezat
Margaret Crombie

Charles Frederick Derizac
Margaret Crombie
💍 1907/7337

Bachelor
Spinster

Inspector Public Health Department

30
27

Wellington
Wellington

4 dys
6 wks.

Roman Catholic Church Buckle Street Wellington

07/7039

8 October 1907

Rev. T. O'Shea

No	774
Date of Notice	8 October 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Frederick Dorezat	Margaret Crombie
BDM Match (94%)	Charles Frederick Derizac	Margaret Crombie
	💍 1907/7337
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Inspector Public Health Department
Age	30	27
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	4 dys	6 wks.
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Buckle Street Wellington
Folio	07/7039
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 October 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. O'Shea

775

8 October 1907

Clarence Henry Bould
Paulina May

Clarence Henry Bould
Pauline May
💍 1907/7362

Bachelor
Spinster

Warehouse Assistant

27
32

Johnsonville
Johnsonville

life
21 yrs.

Residence of Mrs May Johnsonville

07/7064

8 October 1907

Rev. C. Eaton

No	775
Date of Notice	8 October 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Clarence Henry Bould	Paulina May
BDM Match (95%)	Clarence Henry Bould	Pauline May
	💍 1907/7362
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warehouse Assistant
Age	27	32
Dwelling Place	Johnsonville	Johnsonville
Length of Residence	life	21 yrs.
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs May Johnsonville
Folio	07/7064
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 October 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Eaton

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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 1903. 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).