Intentions to Marry, 1908 Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840437, 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 057

District of Featherston Quarter ending 31 March 1908 Registrar John Young

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

13 January 1908

William Joseph McGuire
Agnes Baron

William Joseph McGuire
Agnes Baron
💍 1908/662

Bachelor
Spinster

Groom
Housemaid

30
26

Martinborough
Featherston

5 years
1 year 10 months

Church of England, Martinborough, Featherston

08/666

13 January 1908

Rev. T. J. Smith

No	1
Date of Notice	13 January 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Joseph McGuire	Agnes Baron
	💍 1908/662
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Groom	Housemaid
Age	30	26
Dwelling Place	Martinborough	Featherston
Length of Residence	5 years	1 year 10 months
Marriage Place	Church of England, Martinborough, Featherston
Folio	08/666
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. J. Smith

31 January 1908

James Purves
Martha Elizabeth Davis

James Purves
Martha Elizabeth Davis
💍 1908/660

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

26
23

South Featherston
South Featherston

5 weeks
5 weeks

Mr. Wm. Brown's Private residence, South Featherston

08/664

31 January 1908

Rev. T. J. Smith

No	2
Date of Notice	31 January 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Purves	Martha Elizabeth Davis
	💍 1908/660
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	South Featherston	South Featherston
Length of Residence	5 weeks	5 weeks
Marriage Place	Mr. Wm. Brown's Private residence, South Featherston
Folio	08/664
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 January 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. J. Smith

15 February 1908

James Gammie
Margaret McLeod

James Gammie
Margaret McLeod
💍 1908/726

Bachelor
Spinster

Ploughman
Domestic

36
40

Featherston
Martinborough

3 months
40 years

Presbyterian Church, Martinborough

08/707

15 February 1908

Rev. James McCaw

No	3
Date of Notice	15 February 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Gammie	Margaret McLeod
	💍 1908/726
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ploughman	Domestic
Age	36	40
Dwelling Place	Featherston	Martinborough
Length of Residence	3 months	40 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Martinborough
Folio	08/707
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. James McCaw

24 February 1908

Alfred William Renwick
Emily Jane Mellish

Alfred William Renwick
Emily Jane Mellish
💍 1908/663

Bachelor
Spinster

Ploughman
Domestic

29
29

Pigeon Bush
Featherston

15 years
29 years

Church of England, Featherston

08/667

24 February 1908

Rev. T. J. Smith

No	4
Date of Notice	24 February 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred William Renwick	Emily Jane Mellish
	💍 1908/663
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ploughman	Domestic
Age	29	29
Dwelling Place	Pigeon Bush	Featherston
Length of Residence	15 years	29 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Featherston
Folio	08/667
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. J. Smith

2 March 1908

Francis George Henderson
Kathleen Regan

Francis George Henderson
Kathline Regan
💍 1908/661

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

27
19

Featherston
Featherston

6 months
19 years

Roman Catholic Church, Featherston

08/665

Daniel Regan, father

2 March 1908

Rev. James Bowie

No	6
Date of Notice	2 March 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis George Henderson	Kathleen Regan
BDM Match (89%)	Francis George Henderson	Kathline Regan
	💍 1908/661
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	27	19
Dwelling Place	Featherston	Featherston
Length of Residence	6 months	19 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Featherston
Folio	08/665
Consent	Daniel Regan, father
Date of Certificate	2 March 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Bowie

3 March 1908

Arthur Edwin Dohnt
Naomi Olive Tyler

Arthur Edwin Dohul
Naomi Olive Tyler
💍 1908/665

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

29
19

Martinborough
South Featherston

8 weeks
3 years 9 months

Private residence of Mr. Wm. Tyler, South Featherston

08/669

Wm. Tyler, father

3 March 1908

Mr. Thomas Rowe

No	7
Date of Notice	3 March 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Edwin Dohnt	Naomi Olive Tyler
BDM Match (94%)	Arthur Edwin Dohul	Naomi Olive Tyler
	💍 1908/665
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	29	19
Dwelling Place	Martinborough	South Featherston
Length of Residence	8 weeks	3 years 9 months
Marriage Place	Private residence of Mr. Wm. Tyler, South Featherston
Folio	08/669
Consent	Wm. Tyler, father
Date of Certificate	3 March 1908
Officiating Minister	Mr. Thomas Rowe

16 March 1908

Alfred Robins Thomas
Maud Beatrice Everitt

Alfred Robins Thomas
Maud Beatrice Everitt
💍 1908/664

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic

24
24

Featherston
Featherston

4 years
5 years

Church of England, Featherston

08/668

16 March 1908

Rev. T. J. Smith

No	8
Date of Notice	16 March 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Robins Thomas	Maud Beatrice Everitt
	💍 1908/664
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Featherston	Featherston
Length of Residence	4 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Featherston
Folio	08/668
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 March 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. J. Smith

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).