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 709

District of Reefton Quarter ending 31 December 1908 Registrar Henry Smith

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

3 October 1908

Terrence Hughes
Emma Cochrane

Terence Hughes
Emma Cochrane
💍 1908/3483

Bachelor
Widow

Miner
Boarding House Keeper

26
28

Globe Hill
Globe Hill

2 1/2 years
5 years

Roman Catholic Church

08/8287

3 October 1908

Rev. A. Galerne

No	25
Date of Notice	3 October 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Terrence Hughes	Emma Cochrane
BDM Match (97%)	Terence Hughes	Emma Cochrane
	💍 1908/3483
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Miner	Boarding House Keeper
Age	26	28
Dwelling Place	Globe Hill	Globe Hill
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church
Folio	08/8287
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 October 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Galerne

6 October 1908

George Albert Johnson
Agnes Anderson

George Albert Johnson
Agnes Anderson
💍 1908/2689

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Domestic Duties

30
26

Nelson
Reefton

3 days
26 years

Wesley Church

08/7414

6 October 1908

Rev. J. W. Newbold

No	26
Date of Notice	6 October 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Albert Johnson	Agnes Anderson
	💍 1908/2689
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Domestic Duties
Age	30	26
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Reefton
Length of Residence	3 days	26 years
Marriage Place	Wesley Church
Folio	08/7414
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 October 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Newbold

12 October 1908

John Douglas Andrews
Agnes Morton Richmond

John Douglas Andrew
Agnes Morton Richmond
💍 1908/2678

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic Duties

27
21

Globe Hill
Reefton

2 years 4 months
3 days

Residence of Wm. McArthur, Victory Street, Reefton

08/7416

12 October 1908

Rev. David Calder

No	27
Date of Notice	12 October 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Douglas Andrews	Agnes Morton Richmond
BDM Match (98%)	John Douglas Andrew	Agnes Morton Richmond
	💍 1908/2678
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic Duties
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Globe Hill	Reefton
Length of Residence	2 years 4 months	3 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Wm. McArthur, Victory Street, Reefton
Folio	08/7416
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 October 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. David Calder

2 November 1908

George Ellison Absalom
Elizabeth Maud Roberts

George Ellison Absalom
Elizabeth Maud Roberts
💍 1908/2677

Bachelor
Spinster

Amalgamator
Domestic Duties

26
24

Reefton
Reefton

25 years
24 years

Wesley Church

08/7415

2 November 1908

Rev. J. W. Newbold

No	28
Date of Notice	2 November 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Ellison Absalom	Elizabeth Maud Roberts
	💍 1908/2677
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Amalgamator	Domestic Duties
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Reefton	Reefton
Length of Residence	25 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Wesley Church
Folio	08/7415
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 November 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Newbold

7 November 1908

Fred Hooper
Margaret Louisa Wardling

Fred Hooper
Margaret Louisa Mardling
💍 1908/2679

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic Duties

24
30

Globe Hill
Reefton

11 months
5 weeks

Residence of Thos. Nelson, Coal Street, Reefton

08/7417

7 November 1908

Rev. David Calder

No	29
Date of Notice	7 November 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Fred Hooper	Margaret Louisa Wardling
BDM Match (98%)	Fred Hooper	Margaret Louisa Mardling
	💍 1908/2679
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic Duties
Age	24	30
Dwelling Place	Globe Hill	Reefton
Length of Residence	11 months	5 weeks
Marriage Place	Residence of Thos. Nelson, Coal Street, Reefton
Folio	08/7417
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 November 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. David Calder

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).