Intentions to Marry, 1909 Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840439, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1909 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay (1909a), Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1909b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1909c).

Page 093

District of Auckland Quarter ending 30 June 1909 Registrar Thomas Culpan

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

518

11 May 1909

Thomas Scanlan
Violet Louisa Scott

Thomas Scanlan Keating
Violet Louisa Scott
💍 1909/2702

Thomas Quaid
Eliza Louisa Scott
💍 1909/5625

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper

30
28

Auckland
Auckland

5 years
22 years

St. Patrick's Cathedral

09/3908

11 May 1909

Rev. G. Wright, Roman Catholic

No	518
Date of Notice	11 May 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Scanlan	Violet Louisa Scott
BDM Match (82%)	Thomas Scanlan Keating	Violet Louisa Scott
	💍 1909/2702
BDM Match (63%)	Thomas Quaid	Eliza Louisa Scott
	💍 1909/5625
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	30	28
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	5 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Cathedral
Folio	09/3908
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 May 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Wright, Roman Catholic

519

11 May 1909

Tony Petrie
Sarah Ina Lamb

Tony Petrie
Sarah Ina Lamb
💍 1909/7473

Bachelor
Widow

Broker

25
34

Auckland
Auckland

1 year
3 years

Residence of Mr. J. Petrie, 2 Vincent Street, Auckland

09/2016

11 May 1909

Rev. M. Walker, Church of Our Father

No	519
Date of Notice	11 May 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Tony Petrie	Sarah Ina Lamb
	💍 1909/7473
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Broker
Age	25	34
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	1 year	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. J. Petrie, 2 Vincent Street, Auckland
Folio	09/2016
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 May 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Walker, Church of Our Father

520

11 May 1909

Stanley Troughton Bell
Alice Maude Wright

Stanley Houghton Bell
Alice Maud Wright
💍 1909/7447

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

32
31

Auckland
Auckland

3 years
20 years

House of Mr. J. Wright, Hamilton Road, Auckland

09/1984

11 May 1909

Rev. A. North, Baptist

No	520
Date of Notice	11 May 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stanley Troughton Bell	Alice Maude Wright
BDM Match (93%)	Stanley Houghton Bell	Alice Maud Wright
	💍 1909/7447
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	32	31
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 years	20 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. J. Wright, Hamilton Road, Auckland
Folio	09/1984
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 May 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. North, Baptist

521

11 May 1909

Charles Henry Box
Mary Jane Sheed

Charles Henry Cox
Mary Jane Steed
💍 1909/7422

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

28
24

Remuera
Parnell

2 months
12 years

Knox Presbyterian Church

09/1908

11 May 1909

Rev. J. M. Simpson, Presbyterian

No	521
Date of Notice	11 May 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Box	Mary Jane Sheed
BDM Match (94%)	Charles Henry Cox	Mary Jane Steed
	💍 1909/7422
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Remuera	Parnell
Length of Residence	2 months	12 years
Marriage Place	Knox Presbyterian Church
Folio	09/1908
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 May 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Simpson, Presbyterian

522

12 May 1909

James Andrew McDonald
Eleanora Louisa Gribble

James Andrew McDonald
Eleanor Louisa Gribble
💍 1909/6922

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman

30
24

Auckland
Mount Roskill

10 months
15 years

Residence of Mr. J. Gribble, George Street, Mount Roskill

09/1961

12 May 1909

Rev. J. Wilson, Methodist

No	522
Date of Notice	12 May 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Andrew McDonald	Eleanora Louisa Gribble
BDM Match (98%)	James Andrew McDonald	Eleanor Louisa Gribble
	💍 1909/6922
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Mount Roskill
Length of Residence	10 months	15 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. J. Gribble, George Street, Mount Roskill
Folio	09/1961
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 May 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Wilson, Methodist

523

13 May 1909

Alfred Ponsford Dryden
Catherine Annie Brennan

Alfred Ponsford Dryden
Catherine Annie Brennan
💍 1909/2689

Bachelor
Spinster

Assistant Postmaster

46
35

Auckland
Auckland

4 years
4 years

St. Benedict's Church, Auckland

09/3919

13 May 1909

Right Rev. Mons. Gillan, Roman Catholic

No	523
Date of Notice	13 May 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Ponsford Dryden	Catherine Annie Brennan
	💍 1909/2689
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Assistant Postmaster
Age	46	35
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Benedict's Church, Auckland
Folio	09/3919
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 May 1909
Officiating Minister	Right Rev. Mons. Gillan, Roman Catholic

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).