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 673

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

16 December 1908

John Comer
Maggie Craig

John Corner
Maggie Craig
💍 1908/8025

Bachelor
Spinster

Machinist
Dressmaker

22
28

Thames
Thames

22 years
28 years

In the house of Mr. Craig, Davy St., Thames

08/6650

16 December 1908

Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

No	52
Date of Notice	16 December 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Comer	Maggie Craig
BDM Match (91%)	John Corner	Maggie Craig
	💍 1908/8025
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Machinist	Dressmaker
Age	22	28
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	22 years	28 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. Craig, Davy St., Thames
Folio	08/6650
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 December 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

19 December 1908

Percival Leonard Jenkin
Ethel Nancy Jane Leatham

Percival Leonard Jenkin
Ethel Nancy Jane Leatham
💍 1908/8023

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Dressmaker

25
20

Thames
Thames

25 years
20 years

Wesleyan Church, Pollen St., Thames

08/6648

Elizabeth Campbell, mother

19 December 1908

Rev. J. Blight, Methodist Church of Australasia

No	53
Date of Notice	19 December 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percival Leonard Jenkin	Ethel Nancy Jane Leatham
	💍 1908/8023
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Dressmaker
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	25 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Pollen St., Thames
Folio	08/6648
Consent	Elizabeth Campbell, mother
Date of Certificate	19 December 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Blight, Methodist Church of Australasia

22 December 1908

James William Arbury
Joanna Moyle

James William Arbury
Joanna Moyle
💍 1908/8024

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
Domestic duties

25
24

Thames
Thames

25 years
24 years

Methodist Church of Australasia, Pollen St., Thames

08/6649

22 December 1908

Rev. J. Blight, Methodist Church of Australasia

No	54
Date of Notice	22 December 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James William Arbury	Joanna Moyle
	💍 1908/8024
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Domestic duties
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	25 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church of Australasia, Pollen St., Thames
Folio	08/6649
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 December 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Blight, Methodist Church of Australasia

24 December 1908

George Washington Dennis Junior
Beatrice Mara Townsend

George Washington Dennis
Beatrice Maia Townsend
💍 1908/8037

Bachelor
Spinster

Battery Employee
Domestic duties

23
23

Thames
Thames

1 day
23 years

Church of England, Mackay St., Thames

08/6663

28 December 1908

Dr. O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	55
Date of Notice	24 December 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Washington Dennis Junior	Beatrice Mara Townsend
BDM Match (86%)	George Washington Dennis	Beatrice Maia Townsend
	💍 1908/8037
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Battery Employee	Domestic duties
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	1 day	23 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Mackay St., Thames
Folio	08/6663
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 December 1908
Officiating Minister	Dr. O'Callaghan, Church of England

29 December 1908

James Grant Junr.
Emily Bennett
Widowed 22nd Jan 1902

James Grant
Emily Bennett
💍 1908/8038

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Domestic duties

36
34

Thames
Thames

1 year
1 year

Roman Catholic Church, Thames

08/6664

29 December 1908

Right Rev. Monsignor O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

No	56
Date of Notice	29 December 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Grant Junr.	Emily Bennett Widowed 22nd Jan 1902
BDM Match (82%)	James Grant	Emily Bennett
	💍 1908/8038
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	36	34
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	1 year	1 year
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Thames
Folio	08/6664
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 December 1908
Officiating Minister	Right Rev. Monsignor O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

29 December 1908

Thomas William George Howard Hammond
Eva Maud Bennett

Thomas William George Howard Hammond
Eva Maud Bennett
💍 1909/753

Bachelor
Spinster

School Teacher
Domestic duties

39
26

Thames
Thames

39 years
26 years

Presbyterian Church, Tararu, Thames

09/624

29 December 1908

Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

No	57
Date of Notice	29 December 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas William George Howard Hammond	Eva Maud Bennett
	💍 1909/753
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	School Teacher	Domestic duties
Age	39	26
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	39 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Tararu, Thames
Folio	09/624
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 December 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

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).