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 031

District of AUCKLAND Quarter ending 31 March 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

127

12 February 1908

Robert John Grant Walsh
May Helen John Bull

Robert John Grant Walsh
May Wren
💍 1908/244

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser

26
19

Auckland
Auckland

25 years
19 years

Roman Catholic Church, Otahuhu

08/192

Catherine Wren, Mother

12 February 1908

Rev. J. Buckley, Roman Catholic

No	127
Date of Notice	12 February 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert John Grant Walsh	May Helen John Bull
BDM Match (66%)	Robert John Grant Walsh	May Wren
	💍 1908/244
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	25 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Otahuhu
Folio	08/192
Consent	Catherine Wren, Mother
Date of Certificate	12 February 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Buckley, Roman Catholic

128

13 February 1908

John Bull Bowden
Claud Elaine Mackin

John Bull Bowden
Maud Elaine Mackin
💍 1908/61

Widower
Widow

Receiving Clerk

45
31

Auckland
Auckland

9 years
3 years

Registrar's Office, Auckland

08/120

13 February 1908

J. Culhan, Deputy Registrar

No	128
Date of Notice	13 February 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Bull Bowden	Claud Elaine Mackin
BDM Match (95%)	John Bull Bowden	Maud Elaine Mackin
	💍 1908/61
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Receiving Clerk
Age	45	31
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	9 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Auckland
Folio	08/120
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1908
Officiating Minister	J. Culhan, Deputy Registrar

129

13 February 1908

Henry Edward Sparkes
Elsie May Greenwood

Henry Edward Sparkes
Elsie May Greenwood
💍 1908/162

Bachelor
Spinster

Barber

21
17

Auckland
Auckland

21 years
17 years

House of father of bride, Onehunga

08/127

Mary Greenwood, Mother

13 February 1908

Rev. J. Haselden, Church of England

No	129
Date of Notice	13 February 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Edward Sparkes	Elsie May Greenwood
	💍 1908/162
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barber
Age	21	17
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	21 years	17 years
Marriage Place	House of father of bride, Onehunga
Folio	08/127
Consent	Mary Greenwood, Mother
Date of Certificate	13 February 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Haselden, Church of England

130

13 February 1908

Frederick Lee
Matilda Birch

Frederick Lee
Matilda Birch
💍 1908/258

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

29
22

Auckland
Auckland

1 year
2 years

House of Rev. M. Walker, Wellington Street

08/234

13 February 1908

Rev. M. Walker, Church of Our Father

No	130
Date of Notice	13 February 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Lee	Matilda Birch
	💍 1908/258
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	1 year	2 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. M. Walker, Wellington Street
Folio	08/234
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Walker, Church of Our Father

131

14 February 1908

Samuel Isaac Knipe
Edna Lapman

Samuel Isaac Knipe
Edna Launane
💍 1908/148

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer's Assistant

21
29

Auckland
Auckland

21 years
3 years

St. Matthew's Church, Auckland

08/105

14 February 1908

Rev. W. R. Gillam, Church of England

No	131
Date of Notice	14 February 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Isaac Knipe	Edna Lapman
BDM Match (88%)	Samuel Isaac Knipe	Edna Launane
	💍 1908/148
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer's Assistant
Age	21	29
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	21 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church, Auckland
Folio	08/105
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. R. Gillam, Church of England

132

14 February 1908

Alfred Bradshaw Batt
Edith Jenkin

Alfred Bradshaw Babb
Edith Jenkin
💍 1908/316

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener

40
34

Auckland
Auckland

29 years
26 years

House of Mr. J. Peterson, Pratt St., Auckland

08/270

14 February 1908

Rev. G. Clement, Primitive Methodist

No	132
Date of Notice	14 February 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Bradshaw Batt	Edith Jenkin
BDM Match (95%)	Alfred Bradshaw Babb	Edith Jenkin
	💍 1908/316
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener
Age	40	34
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	29 years	26 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. J. Peterson, Pratt St., Auckland
Folio	08/270
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Clement, Primitive 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).