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 140

District of Auckland Quarter ending 30 September 1908

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

402

14 July 1908

John Milburn
Emily Morris

John Milburn
Emily Morris
💍 1908/5959

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter

20
19

Auckland
Auckland

20 years
19 years

St. Benedict's Church

08/4499

James Milburn, father; Harry Morris, father

14 July 1908

Rev. G. H. Killan, Roman Catholic

No	402
Date of Notice	14 July 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Milburn	Emily Morris
	💍 1908/5959
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter
Age	20	19
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	20 years	19 years
Marriage Place	St. Benedict's Church
Folio	08/4499
Consent	James Milburn, father; Harry Morris, father
Date of Certificate	14 July 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. H. Killan, Roman Catholic

403

14 July 1908

Thomas Bernard McDonnell
Norah Constance McMurdo

Norman Bernard McDonnell
Norah Constance McMurdo
💍 1908/5860

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

21
20

Auckland
Remuera

6 years
3 days

St. Marks Church

08/4399

Henry McMurdo, father

14 July 1908

Rev. W. E. Connolly, Church of England

No	403
Date of Notice	14 July 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Bernard McDonnell	Norah Constance McMurdo
BDM Match (92%)	Norman Bernard McDonnell	Norah Constance McMurdo
	💍 1908/5860
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Remuera
Length of Residence	6 years	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Marks Church
Folio	08/4399
Consent	Henry McMurdo, father
Date of Certificate	14 July 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. E. Connolly, Church of England

404

14 July 1908

Fred Bracey
Amelia May Dunn

Fred Bracey
Amelia May Dunn
💍 1908/6009

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

27
27

Auckland
Kingsland

3 days
20 years

House of Rev. N. H. Moore

08/4530

14 July 1908

Rev. W. S. Potter, Primitive Methodist

No	404
Date of Notice	14 July 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Fred Bracey	Amelia May Dunn
	💍 1908/6009
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Kingsland
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. N. H. Moore
Folio	08/4530
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Potter, Primitive Methodist

405

14 July 1908

William Herbert Lilley
Agnes Bella Pauling

William Herbert Lilley
Agnes Beta Pauling
💍 1908/6029

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

25
31

Auckland
Wellington Street

25 years
6 years

House of Rev. M. Walker, Wellington Street

08/4571

14 July 1908

Rev. M. Walker, Church of Our Father

No	405
Date of Notice	14 July 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Herbert Lilley	Agnes Bella Pauling
BDM Match (95%)	William Herbert Lilley	Agnes Beta Pauling
	💍 1908/6029
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	25	31
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Wellington Street
Length of Residence	25 years	6 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. M. Walker, Wellington Street
Folio	08/4571
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Walker, Church of Our Father

406

14 July 1908

Berthold Charles Richard Matzke
Florence Alice Cooke

Berthold Charles Richard Matzke
Florence Alice Cooke
💍 1908/6010

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman

28
31

Auckland
Alexandra Street

5 years
4 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Alexandra Street

08/4551

14 July 1908

Rev. W. S. Potter, Primitive Methodist

No	406
Date of Notice	14 July 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Berthold Charles Richard Matzke	Florence Alice Cooke
	💍 1908/6010
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman
Age	28	31
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Alexandra Street
Length of Residence	5 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Alexandra Street
Folio	08/4551
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Potter, Primitive Methodist

407

14 July 1908

David Barnachan
Emily Jane Whales

David Carnachan
Emily Jane Smales
💍 1908/6031

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

40
33

Auckland
Wellington Street

5 years
11 years

House of Rev. M. Walker, Wellington Street

08/4572

14 July 1908

Rev. M. Walker, Church of Our Father

No	407
Date of Notice	14 July 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Barnachan	Emily Jane Whales
BDM Match (91%)	David Carnachan	Emily Jane Smales
	💍 1908/6031
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	40	33
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Wellington Street
Length of Residence	5 years	11 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. M. Walker, Wellington Street
Folio	08/4572
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Walker, Church of Our Father

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).