Intentions to Marry, 1908 Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840436, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1908 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay (1908a), Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1908b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1908c).

Page 099

District of Auckland Quarter ending 30 June 1908 Registrar Edmund Humphrey Lyons

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

463

4 May 1908

Alfred Edward Howell
Katherine Robinson

Alfred Edward Howell
Catherine Robinson
💍 1908/1978

Widower
Spinster

Stonemason

30
21

Auckland
Auckland

18 years
21 years

House of Rev. M. Walker, Wellington St.

08/2095

7 May 1908

Rev. M. Walker, Church of Our Father

No	463
Date of Notice	4 May 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Edward Howell	Katherine Robinson
BDM Match (97%)	Alfred Edward Howell	Catherine Robinson
	💍 1908/1978
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Stonemason
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	18 years	21 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. M. Walker, Wellington St.
Folio	08/2095
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 May 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Walker, Church of Our Father

464

4 May 1908

Henry Durham Brown
Elizabeth Evelyn Humphries

Henry Durham Brown
Elizabeth Evelyn Humphries
💍 1908/1986

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

24
20

Auckland
Auckland

4 years
20 years

Methodist Church, Arch Hill

08/2080

A. C. Humphries, father of bride

7 May 1908

Rev. W. Scotter, Methodist

No	464
Date of Notice	4 May 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Durham Brown	Elizabeth Evelyn Humphries
	💍 1908/1986
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Arch Hill
Folio	08/2080
Consent	A. C. Humphries, father of bride
Date of Certificate	7 May 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Scotter, Methodist

465

5 May 1908

Ernest Barrington Snow
Agnes Harrop

Ernest Barrington Snow
Agnes Harrop
💍 1908/1870

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

21
24

Auckland
Auckland

3 days
24 years

St. Mary's Cathedral, Parnell

08/1934

8 May 1908

Canon G. MacMurray, Church of England

No	465
Date of Notice	5 May 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Barrington Snow	Agnes Harrop
	💍 1908/1870
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	21	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 days	24 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Cathedral, Parnell
Folio	08/1934
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 May 1908
Officiating Minister	Canon G. MacMurray, Church of England

466

5 May 1908

Francis Guinn
Elizabeth McBarron

Francis Quinn
Elizabeth McCarron
💍 1908/5946

Bachelor
Widow

Mechanic

40
33

Auckland
Auckland

3 months
5 years

St. Patrick's Cathedral, Auckland

08/4487

8 May 1908

Rev. H. Y. Holbrook, Roman Catholic

No	466
Date of Notice	5 May 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Guinn	Elizabeth McBarron
BDM Match (93%)	Francis Quinn	Elizabeth McCarron
	💍 1908/5946
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Mechanic
Age	40	33
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 months	5 years
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Cathedral, Auckland
Folio	08/4487
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 May 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Y. Holbrook, Roman Catholic

467

5 May 1908

Henry Ernest Chamberlin
Estelle Alexandra Goodfellow

Henry Ernest Chamberlin
Estelle Alexander Goodfellow
💍 1908/1927

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

23
23

Auckland
Auckland

3 days
15 years

House of Mother of Bride, Epsom

08/2017

Mother of Bride

8 May 1908

Rev. W. Trotter, Presbyterian

No	467
Date of Notice	5 May 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Ernest Chamberlin	Estelle Alexandra Goodfellow
BDM Match (96%)	Henry Ernest Chamberlin	Estelle Alexander Goodfellow
	💍 1908/1927
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 days	15 years
Marriage Place	House of Mother of Bride, Epsom
Folio	08/2017
Consent	Mother of Bride
Date of Certificate	8 May 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Trotter, Presbyterian

468

5 May 1908

Charles Coleman Bascombe
Sarah Eva Lucinda Morrison

Charles Coleman Bascombe
Sarah Eva Lucinda Morrison
💍 1908/1875

Bachelor
Spinster

Master Mariner

29
31

Auckland
Auckland

2 weeks
31 years

House of Mother of Bride, Ellerslie

08/1965

Mother of Bride

8 May 1908

Rev. J. W. Walker, Church of England

No	468
Date of Notice	5 May 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Coleman Bascombe	Sarah Eva Lucinda Morrison
	💍 1908/1875
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Master Mariner
Age	29	31
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	2 weeks	31 years
Marriage Place	House of Mother of Bride, Ellerslie
Folio	08/1965
Consent	Mother of Bride
Date of Certificate	8 May 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Walker, 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 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).