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 322

District of Gisborne Quarter ending 31 December 1908 Registrar Henry Ewart Hill

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

1972

16 October 1908

Edward Spanklyn Sarten
Hoeni Whorlaetenga or Thompson
formerly Hoeni Jones

Edward Franklyn Sarten
Heni Thompson
💍 1908/7953

Widower
Widow

Carpenter
Aboriginal native woman

48
61

Gisborne Poverty Bay
Gisborne Poverty Bay

27 years
All life

At the office of the Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

08/6575

16 October 1908

Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

No	1972
Date of Notice	16 October 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Spanklyn Sarten	Hoeni Whorlaetenga or Thompson formerly Hoeni Jones
BDM Match (67%)	Edward Franklyn Sarten	Heni Thompson
	💍 1908/7953
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Carpenter	Aboriginal native woman
Age	48	61
Dwelling Place	Gisborne Poverty Bay	Gisborne Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	27 years	All life
Marriage Place	At the office of the Registrar of Marriages Gisborne
Folio	08/6575
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 October 1908
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

1973

17 October 1908

Reginald Bertram Burgess
Georgia Mena Bruce

Reginald Bertram Burgess
Georgina Mena Bruce
💍 1908/7944

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer
Domestic Duties

33
21

Ormond Poverty Bay
Ormond Gisborne

6 years
All life

At the Ormond Presbyterian Church

08/6567

17 October 1908

Rev. E. W. Walker Presbyterian Minister

No	1973
Date of Notice	17 October 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reginald Bertram Burgess	Georgia Mena Bruce
BDM Match (97%)	Reginald Bertram Burgess	Georgina Mena Bruce
	💍 1908/7944
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer	Domestic Duties
Age	33	21
Dwelling Place	Ormond Poverty Bay	Ormond Gisborne
Length of Residence	6 years	All life
Marriage Place	At the Ormond Presbyterian Church
Folio	08/6567
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 October 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. W. Walker Presbyterian Minister

1974

19 October 1908

Arthur Burnett Semmens
Muriel Symons

Arthur Burnett Semmens
Muriel Symons
💍 1908/7954

Bachelor
Spinster

Station hand
Domestic Servant

22
23

Tangaikau Poverty Bay
Tangaikau Poverty Bay

About 5 years
1 year

At the office of the Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

08/6576

19 October 1908

Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

No	1974
Date of Notice	19 October 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Burnett Semmens	Muriel Symons
	💍 1908/7954
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Station hand	Domestic Servant
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Tangaikau Poverty Bay	Tangaikau Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	About 5 years	1 year
Marriage Place	At the office of the Registrar of Marriages Gisborne
Folio	08/6576
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 October 1908
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

1975

22 October 1908

Charles John Stokes
Annette Frances Jeffreys

Charles John Stokes
Annette Frances Jeffreys
💍 1908/7916

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer
Domestic Duties

31
27

Wainui Poverty Bay
Wainui Poverty Bay

1 year
2 months

At the Holy Trinity Church Gisborne

08/6539

22 October 1908

Rev. Leslie V. Thomas Church of England

No	1975
Date of Notice	22 October 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles John Stokes	Annette Frances Jeffreys
	💍 1908/7916
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer	Domestic Duties
Age	31	27
Dwelling Place	Wainui Poverty Bay	Wainui Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	1 year	2 months
Marriage Place	At the Holy Trinity Church Gisborne
Folio	08/6539
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 October 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. Leslie V. Thomas Church of England

1976

27 October 1908

David Wright Lindsey
Anne Elizabeth Charlesworth

David Wright Lindsey
Amy Elizabeth Charleworth
💍 1908/7945

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic Duties

23
23

Gisborne
Gisborne

6 months
6 months

At the private residence of Mrs. Bloomfield Childers Road Gisborne

08/6568

27 October 1908

Rev. George Vickens Adjutant Salvation Army, Gisborne

No	1976
Date of Notice	27 October 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Wright Lindsey	Anne Elizabeth Charlesworth
BDM Match (93%)	David Wright Lindsey	Amy Elizabeth Charleworth
	💍 1908/7945
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic Duties
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	6 months	6 months
Marriage Place	At the private residence of Mrs. Bloomfield Childers Road Gisborne
Folio	08/6568
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 October 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Vickens Adjutant Salvation Army, Gisborne

1977

27 October 1908

Henry Edmund Innes
Louisa May McGonigal

Henry Edmund Innes
Louisa May McGonigal
💍 1908/7917

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

26
18

Gisborne
Poverty Bay

5 months
18 years

Holy Trinity Church Gisborne Poverty Bay

08/6570

Patrick McGonigal (Father)

27 October 1908

Rev. G. Dawson Thomas Church of England

No	1977
Date of Notice	27 October 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Edmund Innes	Louisa May McGonigal
	💍 1908/7917
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	18
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	5 months	18 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church Gisborne Poverty Bay
Folio	08/6570
Consent	Patrick McGonigal (Father)
Date of Certificate	27 October 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Dawson Thomas 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).