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 098

District of Auckland Quarter ending 30 June 1908 Registrar R. H. Hyons

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

457

30 April 1908

Frederick William Smith
Christina Brimer Yorke

Frederick William Smith
Christina Brimer Yorke
💍 1908/1977

Bachelor
Spinster

Produce dealer

45
30

Auckland
Wellington St.

32 years
5 years

House of Rev. M. Walker

08/2093

30 April 1908

Rev. M. Walker, Church of Our Father

No	457
Date of Notice	30 April 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick William Smith	Christina Brimer Yorke
	💍 1908/1977
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Produce dealer
Age	45	30
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Wellington St.
Length of Residence	32 years	5 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. M. Walker
Folio	08/2093
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 April 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Walker, Church of Our Father

458

30 April 1908

John Bishop Grant
Queenie Sarah Bryers

John Bishop Grant
Queenie Sarah Bryers
💍 1908/1805

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer

32
28

Auckland
Auckland

3 days
2 weeks

Registrar's Office, Auckland

08/1869

30 April 1908

R. H. Hyons, Registrar

No	458
Date of Notice	30 April 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Bishop Grant	Queenie Sarah Bryers
	💍 1908/1805
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	32	28
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 days	2 weeks
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Auckland
Folio	08/1869
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 April 1908
Officiating Minister	R. H. Hyons, Registrar

459

1 May 1908

C. T. Shepherd
Louisa Harriet Tyzack

Orr Shepherd
Louisa Harriet Tyzack
💍 1908/1806

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

23
20

Auckland
Auckland

14 years
4 years

Registrar's Office, Auckland

08/1870

Rose Victoria Tyzack, Mother

1 May 1908

R. H. Hyons, Registrar

No	459
Date of Notice	1 May 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	C. T. Shepherd	Louisa Harriet Tyzack
BDM Match (82%)	Orr Shepherd	Louisa Harriet Tyzack
	💍 1908/1806
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	14 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Auckland
Folio	08/1870
Consent	Rose Victoria Tyzack, Mother
Date of Certificate	1 May 1908
Officiating Minister	R. H. Hyons, Registrar

460

2 May 1908

Richard Joseph Baines
Joy Blanche Webb

Richard Joseph Caines
Ivy Blanche Webb
💍 1908/3697

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

25
24

Auckland
Onehunga

3 days
24 years

St. Peter's Church, Onehunga

08/1964

2 May 1908

Canon H. P. H. Hapelden, Church of England

No	460
Date of Notice	2 May 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Joseph Baines	Joy Blanche Webb
BDM Match (91%)	Richard Joseph Caines	Ivy Blanche Webb
	💍 1908/3697
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Onehunga
Length of Residence	3 days	24 years
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church, Onehunga
Folio	08/1964
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 May 1908
Officiating Minister	Canon H. P. H. Hapelden, Church of England

461

2 May 1908

Andrew McCallum
Pearl Johnstone

Andrew Macallum
Pearl Johnstone
💍 1908/3703

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman

29
22

Auckland
Wellington St.

1 1/2 years
22 years

House of Rev. M. Walker

08/2094

2 May 1908

Rev. M. Walker, Church of Our Father

No	461
Date of Notice	2 May 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew McCallum	Pearl Johnstone
BDM Match (93%)	Andrew Macallum	Pearl Johnstone
	💍 1908/3703
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Wellington St.
Length of Residence	1 1/2 years	22 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. M. Walker
Folio	08/2094
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 May 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Walker, Church of Our Father

462

4 May 1908

Samuel Stewart Freeborn
Ethel May Laver

Samuel Stewart Freeborn
Ethel May Laver
💍 1908/1960

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

31
30

Auckland
Grafton Road

3 days
30 years

Methodist Church, Grafton Road

08/2015

4 May 1908

Rev. W. B. Oliver, Methodist

No	462
Date of Notice	4 May 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Stewart Freeborn	Ethel May Laver
	💍 1908/1960
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	31	30
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Grafton Road
Length of Residence	3 days	30 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Grafton Road
Folio	08/2015
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 May 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. B. Oliver, Methodist

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).