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 498

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

871

15 November 1907

Alfred Ernest Games
Ella Mary Aston

Alfred Ernest Eames
Elia Mary Aston
💍 1907/7295

Widower
Spinster

Pharmacist

41
31

Wellington
Wellington

3 years
6 years

St. Peter's Church

07/6935

15 November 1907

Rev. C. W. S. Maclaverty

No	871
Date of Notice	15 November 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Ernest Games	Ella Mary Aston
BDM Match (94%)	Alfred Ernest Eames	Elia Mary Aston
	💍 1907/7295
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Pharmacist
Age	41	31
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 years	6 years
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church
Folio	07/6935
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 November 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. W. S. Maclaverty

872

15 November 1907

Henry George Gray
Grace Goodger

Henry George Gray
Grace Goodger
💍 1907/6421

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker

22
24

Wellington
Wellington

22 years
16 years

St. James' Manse, Wellington South

07/6975

15 November 1907

Rev. W. Shirer

No	872
Date of Notice	15 November 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry George Gray	Grace Goodger
	💍 1907/6421
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	22 years	16 years
Marriage Place	St. James' Manse, Wellington South
Folio	07/6975
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 November 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Shirer

873

15 November 1907

John McIlwham
Annie Adams

John McIlwham
Annie Adams
💍 1907/7400

Divorced (Decree absolute 14 November 1907)
Widow (19 November 1902)

Night Watchman

52
43

Wellington
Wellington

10 years
25 years

Residence of Mrs. Adams, 192 Taranaki Street

07/7080

15 November 1907

Rev. J. Dawson

No	873
Date of Notice	15 November 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McIlwham	Annie Adams
	💍 1907/7400
Condition	Divorced (Decree absolute 14 November 1907)	Widow (19 November 1902)
Profession	Night Watchman
Age	52	43
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	10 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Adams, 192 Taranaki Street
Folio	07/7080
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 November 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Dawson

874

16 November 1907

James Skeddon Young
Edith Elizabeth Esther Greig

James Skeddon Young
Edith Esther Greig
💍 1907/6405

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver

28
25

Wellington
Wellington

4 years
2 years

Kent Terrace Presbyterian Church

07/6958

16 November 1907

Rev. J. Paterson

No	874
Date of Notice	16 November 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Skeddon Young	Edith Elizabeth Esther Greig
BDM Match (82%)	James Skeddon Young	Edith Esther Greig
	💍 1907/6405
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	4 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Kent Terrace Presbyterian Church
Folio	07/6958
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 November 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson

875

16 November 1907

Lachlan Walter Livingstone
Ellen Evelyn Prosher

Lachlan Walter Livingstone
Ellen Evelyn Bosher
💍 1907/7399

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

34
27

Wellington
Wellington

3 years
Life

Residence of Mr. T. Matson, 113 Taranaki Street

07/7079

16 November 1907

Rev. J. Dawson

No	875
Date of Notice	16 November 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lachlan Walter Livingstone	Ellen Evelyn Prosher
BDM Match (95%)	Lachlan Walter Livingstone	Ellen Evelyn Bosher
	💍 1907/7399
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	34	27
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 years	Life
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. T. Matson, 113 Taranaki Street
Folio	07/7079
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 November 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Dawson

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 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).