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 268

District of Wanganui Quarter ending 31 March 1907 Registrar Chas. E. Hylton

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

11 January 1907

David Henshaw
Elizabeth Amelia Vaughan

David Henshaw
Elizabeth Amelia Vaughan
💍 1907/619

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic Help

40
37

Wanganui
Wanganui

3 days
6 years

Residence of Mr R. Croton, 42 Alexander St, Wanganui

07/706

11 January 1907

A. Dewdney, Baptist

No	7
Date of Notice	11 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Henshaw	Elizabeth Amelia Vaughan
	💍 1907/619
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic Help
Age	40	37
Dwelling Place	Wanganui	Wanganui
Length of Residence	3 days	6 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr R. Croton, 42 Alexander St, Wanganui
Folio	07/706
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 January 1907
Officiating Minister	A. Dewdney, Baptist

11 January 1907

Joseph Gilbertson
Primmie Maude Mugford

Joseph Gilbertson
Minnie Maude Mugford
💍 1907/622

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor
Machinist

24
21

Wanganui
Wanganui

8 weeks
3 weeks

Residence of Mr Gilbertson, 11 Argyle St, Wanganui

07/709

11 January 1907

A. Morton, Presbyterian

No	8
Date of Notice	11 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Gilbertson	Primmie Maude Mugford
BDM Match (91%)	Joseph Gilbertson	Minnie Maude Mugford
	💍 1907/622
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor	Machinist
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Wanganui	Wanganui
Length of Residence	8 weeks	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr Gilbertson, 11 Argyle St, Wanganui
Folio	07/709
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 January 1907
Officiating Minister	A. Morton, Presbyterian

14 January 1907

John Henry Evindelborn
Margaret Warren

John Henry Windelborn
Margaret Warren
💍 1907/1772

Bachelor
Spinster

Livery Stable Keeper
Domestic Help

36
30

Wanganui
Wanganui

2 years 6 months
5 years

Roman Catholic Presbytery, Wanganui

07/1892

14 January 1907

M. Grogan, Roman Catholic

No	9
Date of Notice	14 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Evindelborn	Margaret Warren
BDM Match (95%)	John Henry Windelborn	Margaret Warren
	💍 1907/1772
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Livery Stable Keeper	Domestic Help
Age	36	30
Dwelling Place	Wanganui	Wanganui
Length of Residence	2 years 6 months	5 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Presbytery, Wanganui
Folio	07/1892
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 January 1907
Officiating Minister	M. Grogan, Roman Catholic

16 January 1907

Frederick Laurence Spurdle
Clara Christie

Frederick Laurence Spurdle
Clara Christie
💍 1907/648

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer

37
30

Wanganui
Wanganui

35 years
4 years

Residence of Mr H. Christie, Ingestre Street, Wanganui

07/714

16 January 1907

J. G. Chapman, Wesleyan

No	10
Date of Notice	16 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Laurence Spurdle	Clara Christie
	💍 1907/648
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer
Age	37	30
Dwelling Place	Wanganui	Wanganui
Length of Residence	35 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr H. Christie, Ingestre Street, Wanganui
Folio	07/714
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 January 1907
Officiating Minister	J. G. Chapman, Wesleyan

16 January 1907

Robert Chapman Harrison
Elizabeth Gertrude Sharratt

Robert Chapman Harrison
Elizabeth Gertrude Sharratt
💍 1907/1959

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer

35
35

Tokomaru
Wanganui

12 months
6 months

St Johns Church of England

07/2082

16 January 1907

R. Hermon, Church of England

No	11
Date of Notice	16 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Chapman Harrison	Elizabeth Gertrude Sharratt
	💍 1907/1959
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	35	35
Dwelling Place	Tokomaru	Wanganui
Length of Residence	12 months	6 months
Marriage Place	St Johns Church of England
Folio	07/2082
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 January 1907
Officiating Minister	R. Hermon, 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 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).