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 671

District of Thames Quarter ending 31 December 1908 Registrar William H Potts

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

1 October 1908

John Corbett
Joahana Donlon

John Corbett
Johanna Donlon
💍 1908/8026

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

31
28

Hikutara
Hikutara

10 years
15 days

St. Francis Roman Catholic Church, Willoughby St, Thames

08/6657

1 October 1908

Rev. J. Broomfield, Roman Catholic

No	39
Date of Notice	1 October 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Corbett	Joahana Donlon
BDM Match (93%)	John Corbett	Johanna Donlon
	💍 1908/8026
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	31	28
Dwelling Place	Hikutara	Hikutara
Length of Residence	10 years	15 days
Marriage Place	St. Francis Roman Catholic Church, Willoughby St, Thames
Folio	08/6657
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 October 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Broomfield, Roman Catholic

7 October 1908

John Curham
Violet Fisher

John Curham
Violet Fisher
💍 1908/8027

Bachelor
Spinster

Bushman
Domestic duties

20
17

Thames
Thames

6 years
17 years

Registrar's Office, Thames

08/6652

Sarah Curham, mother; Joel Fisher, father

7 October 1908

William H. Potts, Registrar

No	40
Date of Notice	7 October 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Curham	Violet Fisher
	💍 1908/8027
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bushman	Domestic duties
Age	20	17
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	6 years	17 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Thames
Folio	08/6652
Consent	Sarah Curham, mother; Joel Fisher, father
Date of Certificate	7 October 1908
Officiating Minister	William H. Potts, Registrar

8 October 1908

Samuel Stewart
Janie Glasgow

Samuel Stewart
Janie Glasgow
💍 1908/8028

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic duties

35
30

Thames
Thames

10 years
30 years

In the house of Mr Glasgow, Tarain, Thames

08/6653

8 October 1908

Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

No	41
Date of Notice	8 October 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Stewart	Janie Glasgow
	💍 1908/8028
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic duties
Age	35	30
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	10 years	30 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr Glasgow, Tarain, Thames
Folio	08/6653
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 October 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

24 October 1908

Robert Lyon Miller
May St. Clair Macduff

Robert Lyon Miller
May St Clair Macduff
💍 1908/8036

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Officer
Domestic duties

31
23

Thames
Thames

2 days
23 years

St. James Presbyterian Church, Pollen St, Thames

08/6654

26 October 1908

Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

No	42
Date of Notice	24 October 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Lyon Miller	May St. Clair Macduff
BDM Match (98%)	Robert Lyon Miller	May St Clair Macduff
	💍 1908/8036
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Officer	Domestic duties
Age	31	23
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	2 days	23 years
Marriage Place	St. James Presbyterian Church, Pollen St, Thames
Folio	08/6654
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 October 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

3 November 1908

Philip Hall
Violet Tierney

Philip Hall
Violet Tierney
💍 1908/8047

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Milliner

29
27

Thames
Thames

3 days
27 years

Church of England, Mackay St, Thames

08/6655

4 November 1908

Dr. O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	43
Date of Notice	3 November 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Philip Hall	Violet Tierney
	💍 1908/8047
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Milliner
Age	29	27
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	27 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Mackay St, Thames
Folio	08/6655
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 November 1908
Officiating Minister	Dr. O'Callaghan, Church of England

16 November 1908

Arthur Cyril Scandrett
Ellen Twohill

Arthur Cyril Scandrett
Ellen Tivohill
💍 1908/8050

Bachelor
Spinster

Meat Inspector
Domestic duties

28
33

Thames
Thames

8 months
33 years

In the house of Mrs K. Twohill, Pollen St, Thames

08/6656

16 November 1908

Right Rev. Monsignor O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

No	44
Date of Notice	16 November 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Cyril Scandrett	Ellen Twohill
BDM Match (93%)	Arthur Cyril Scandrett	Ellen Tivohill
	💍 1908/8050
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Meat Inspector	Domestic duties
Age	28	33
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	8 months	33 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs K. Twohill, Pollen St, Thames
Folio	08/6656
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 November 1908
Officiating Minister	Right Rev. Monsignor O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

20 November 1908

George Albert Avery
Edith Fanny Clark

George Albert Avery
Edith Fanny Clark
💍 1908/8051

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

19
18

Hikutara
Omahu

1 week
16 years

In the house of Mrs Clark, Omahu

08/6657

Sarah Elizabeth Avery, mother; Henry John Clark, father

20 November 1908

Rev. Dr. O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	45
Date of Notice	20 November 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Albert Avery	Edith Fanny Clark
	💍 1908/8051
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	19	18
Dwelling Place	Hikutara	Omahu
Length of Residence	1 week	16 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs Clark, Omahu
Folio	08/6657
Consent	Sarah Elizabeth Avery, mother; Henry John Clark, father
Date of Certificate	20 November 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. Dr. O'Callaghan, 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).