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 077

District of Feilding Quarter ending 31 December 1908 Registrar C. C. Halliday

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

364

29 October 1908

David Cameron
Evelyn Mary Elizabeth Down

David Cameron
Evelyn Mary Elizabeth Down
💍 1908/8249

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman

28
26

Taihape
Feilding

3 days
12 months

Wesleyan Church, Feilding

08/6883

29 October 1908

Rev. C. E. Beecroft

No	364
Date of Notice	29 October 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Cameron	Evelyn Mary Elizabeth Down
	💍 1908/8249
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	Taihape	Feilding
Length of Residence	3 days	12 months
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Feilding
Folio	08/6883
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 October 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Beecroft

365

4 November 1908

William John Hughes
Clara Emma Welhelmene Tallke

William John Hughes
Clara Emma Welhelmere Tollke
💍 1908/8255

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Surfaceman

27
18

Geraldine
Feilding

3 days
6 months

Residence of Mrs E. A. H. Tallke Kimbolton Road Feilding

08/6888

Rudolph Henry Tallke, father

4 November 1908

Rev. Edward Walker

No	365
Date of Notice	4 November 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Hughes	Clara Emma Welhelmene Tallke
BDM Match (96%)	William John Hughes	Clara Emma Welhelmere Tollke
	💍 1908/8255
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Surfaceman
Age	27	18
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Feilding
Length of Residence	3 days	6 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs E. A. H. Tallke Kimbolton Road Feilding
Folio	08/6888
Consent	Rudolph Henry Tallke, father
Date of Certificate	4 November 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. Edward Walker

366

12 November 1908

Duncan Thomas Couper
Catherine Jane Tompkins
Maiden Name Cockburn

Duncan Thomas Couper
Catherine Jane Tompkins
💍 1908/8247

Bachelor
Widow

Mechanical Fitter

26
35

Feilding
Feilding

17 months
15 months

Wesleyan Church, Feilding

08/6881

12 November 1908

Rev. C. E. Beecroft

No	366
Date of Notice	12 November 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Duncan Thomas Couper	Catherine Jane Tompkins Maiden Name Cockburn
	💍 1908/8247
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Mechanical Fitter
Age	26	35
Dwelling Place	Feilding	Feilding
Length of Residence	17 months	15 months
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Feilding
Folio	08/6881
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 November 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Beecroft

367

14 November 1908

William Browning Watson
Ivy May Wratt

William Browning Watson
Ivy May Wrett
💍 1908/8246

Bachelor
Spinster

Cycle Agent

28
23

Feilding
Taonui

3 years
23 years

Baptist Church, Feilding

08/6880

14 November 1908

Rev. E. Swinerd

No	367
Date of Notice	14 November 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Browning Watson	Ivy May Wratt
BDM Match (96%)	William Browning Watson	Ivy May Wrett
	💍 1908/8246
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cycle Agent
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Feilding	Taonui
Length of Residence	3 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church, Feilding
Folio	08/6880
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 November 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Swinerd

368

23 November 1908

Abner George Hickford
Margaret Anne Stephens
Maiden Name Jones

Abner George Hickford
Margaret Annie Stephens
💍 1908/3938

Widower
Widow

Farmer

55
47

Rongotea
Feilding

3 days
3 days

Church of England, Feilding

08/6892

23 November 1908

Rev. A. S. Innes Jones

No	368
Date of Notice	23 November 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Abner George Hickford	Margaret Anne Stephens Maiden Name Jones
BDM Match (98%)	Abner George Hickford	Margaret Annie Stephens
	💍 1908/3938
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	55	47
Dwelling Place	Rongotea	Feilding
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Church of England, Feilding
Folio	08/6892
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 November 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. S. Innes Jones

369

14 December 1908

George Crombie Meston
Flora Ellen Taylor

George Crombie Meston
Flora Ellen Taylor
💍 1908/8256

Bachelor
Spinster

Creamery Manager

34
29

Aokautere
Makino

3 days
25 years

Residence of James Henry Taylor, Makino Road

08/6889

14 December 1908

Rev. George Budd

No	369
Date of Notice	14 December 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Crombie Meston	Flora Ellen Taylor
	💍 1908/8256
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Creamery Manager
Age	34	29
Dwelling Place	Aokautere	Makino
Length of Residence	3 days	25 years
Marriage Place	Residence of James Henry Taylor, Makino Road
Folio	08/6889
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 December 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Budd

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).