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 345

District of Hamilton Quarter ending 30 September 1908 Registrar Jas. J. Bond

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

3 July 1908

William John Salisburg
Edith Amelda Blackburn

William John Salesbury
Edith Amelda Blackburn
💍 1908/6774

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman N.Z. Railways
Home duties

24
22

Hamilton
Hamilton

3 days
6 weeks

St. Marys Roman Catholic Church, Hamilton

08/5364

3 July 1908

Rev. Joseph Broke Darby

No	43
Date of Notice	3 July 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Salisburg	Edith Amelda Blackburn
BDM Match (95%)	William John Salesbury	Edith Amelda Blackburn
	💍 1908/6774
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman N.Z. Railways	Home duties
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Hamilton
Length of Residence	3 days	6 weeks
Marriage Place	St. Marys Roman Catholic Church, Hamilton
Folio	08/5364
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 July 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. Joseph Broke Darby

1 July 1908

George Rewell Gordon Arber
Dulcie Kennedy

George Newell Gordon Arber
Dulcie Kennedy
💍 1908/7547

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Home duties

28
25

Hamilton
Napier

12 months
25 years

St. Johns Cathedral, Napier

08/6139

1 July 1908

Rev. Canon Frank Mayne M.A.

No	44
Date of Notice	1 July 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Rewell Gordon Arber	Dulcie Kennedy
BDM Match (98%)	George Newell Gordon Arber	Dulcie Kennedy
	💍 1908/7547
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Home duties
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Napier
Length of Residence	12 months	25 years
Marriage Place	St. Johns Cathedral, Napier
Folio	08/6139
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 July 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. Canon Frank Mayne M.A.

3 July 1908

John Edward Hart
Kathleen Treanor

John Edward Harl
Kathleen Treanor
💍 1908/6775

Bachelor
Spinster

Coachdriver
Waitress

25
22

Hamilton
Hamilton

3 days
1 week

St. Marys Roman Catholic Church, Hamilton

08/5365

3 July 1908

Rev. Joseph Broke Darby

No	45
Date of Notice	3 July 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Edward Hart	Kathleen Treanor
BDM Match (97%)	John Edward Harl	Kathleen Treanor
	💍 1908/6775
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coachdriver	Waitress
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Hamilton
Length of Residence	3 days	1 week
Marriage Place	St. Marys Roman Catholic Church, Hamilton
Folio	08/5365
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 July 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. Joseph Broke Darby

4 July 1908

William Walter Sutcliffe
Emily Long

William Walter Sutcliffe
Emily Long
💍 1908/6200

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Home duties

28
19

Matangi
Matangi

3 years
3 years

At the residence of Mrs. Margaret Long, Matangi

08/4746

Margaret Long, mother

14 July 1908

Rev. E. M. Cowie

No	46
Date of Notice	4 July 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Walter Sutcliffe	Emily Long
	💍 1908/6200
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Home duties
Age	28	19
Dwelling Place	Matangi	Matangi
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of Mrs. Margaret Long, Matangi
Folio	08/4746
Consent	Margaret Long, mother
Date of Certificate	14 July 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. M. Cowie

20 July 1908

Freddy Sharp Holmes
Nellie Brook

Freddy Sharp Holmes
Nellie Crook
💍 1908/6096

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Home duties

26
21

Hamilton
Frankton

3 days
9 months

In the house of Mr. Jepson, Te Kapa

08/4639

20 July 1908

Rev. Archibald Armstrong

No	47
Date of Notice	20 July 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Freddy Sharp Holmes	Nellie Brook
BDM Match (96%)	Freddy Sharp Holmes	Nellie Crook
	💍 1908/6096
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Home duties
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Frankton
Length of Residence	3 days	9 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. Jepson, Te Kapa
Folio	08/4639
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 July 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. Archibald Armstrong

20 July 1908

John Wesley Madill
Florence Mary Root Bagnall

John Wesley Madill
Florence Mary Root Bagnall
💍 1908/6202

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Home duties

35
21

Hamilton
Rukuhia

4 years
4 years

In the Public Schoolhouse, Rukuhia

08/4748

20 July 1908

Rev. E. M. Cowie

No	48
Date of Notice	20 July 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Wesley Madill	Florence Mary Root Bagnall
	💍 1908/6202
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Home duties
Age	35	21
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Rukuhia
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In the Public Schoolhouse, Rukuhia
Folio	08/4748
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 July 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. M. Cowie

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).