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 300

District of Gisborne Quarter ending 30 June 1909 Registrar Henry Ewart Hill

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

2063

3 May 1909

John James Keane
Margaret Ann Wi Cashin

John James Keane
Margaret Ann McCashin
💍 1909/7489

Bachelor
Spinster

Road Overseer, Cook County Council
Domestic Duties

32 years
30 years

Gisborne, Poverty Bay
Gisborne, Poverty Bay

About 2 1/2 years
About 4 years

At the Roman Catholic Church, Gisborne, Poverty Bay

09/2050

3 May 1909

Rev. Thomas Gane, Roman Catholic

No	2063
Date of Notice	3 May 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John James Keane	Margaret Ann Wi Cashin
BDM Match (93%)	John James Keane	Margaret Ann McCashin
	💍 1909/7489
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Road Overseer, Cook County Council	Domestic Duties
Age	32 years	30 years
Dwelling Place	Gisborne, Poverty Bay	Gisborne, Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	About 2 1/2 years	About 4 years
Marriage Place	At the Roman Catholic Church, Gisborne, Poverty Bay
Folio	09/2050
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 May 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas Gane, Roman Catholic

2064

8 May 1909

Himiore Hativa Hoti
Hoarata Peneha

Himiona Katipa Noti
Harata Peneha
💍 1909/7502

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Maori, Domestic Duties

35 years
34 years

Waituhi, Repongaere, Poverty Bay
Waituhi, Gisborne

About 30 years
About 30 years

At the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

09/2062

8 May 1909

Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

No	2064
Date of Notice	8 May 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Himiore Hativa Hoti	Hoarata Peneha
BDM Match (83%)	Himiona Katipa Noti	Harata Peneha
	💍 1909/7502
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Maori, Domestic Duties
Age	35 years	34 years
Dwelling Place	Waituhi, Repongaere, Poverty Bay	Waituhi, Gisborne
Length of Residence	About 30 years	About 30 years
Marriage Place	At the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne
Folio	09/2062
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 May 1909
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

2065

10 May 1909

Joseph Healey
Annie Millar

Joseph Healey
Annie Millar
💍 1909/7503

Bachelor
Divorced, 15 June 1897

Woodturner
Tailoress

34 years
33 years

Gisborne, Poverty Bay
Gisborne

About 3 years
About 2 years

At the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

09/2063

10 May 1909

Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

No	2065
Date of Notice	10 May 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Healey	Annie Millar
	💍 1909/7503
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced, 15 June 1897
Profession	Woodturner	Tailoress
Age	34 years	33 years
Dwelling Place	Gisborne, Poverty Bay	Gisborne
Length of Residence	About 3 years	About 2 years
Marriage Place	At the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne
Folio	09/2063
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 May 1909
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

2066

12 May 1909

Henry Nelson Wright
Mabel Florence Wilson

Henry Nelson Wright
Mabel Florence Wilson
💍 1909/2913

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk in Holy Orders
Domestic Duties

28 years
26 years

Gisborne, Poverty Bay
Gisborne, Poverty Bay

About 4 days
About 2 years

At Holy Trinity Church, Gisborne, Poverty Bay

09/4061

12 May 1909

Herbert William Williams, Church of England

No	2066
Date of Notice	12 May 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Nelson Wright	Mabel Florence Wilson
	💍 1909/2913
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk in Holy Orders	Domestic Duties
Age	28 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Gisborne, Poverty Bay	Gisborne, Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	About 4 days	About 2 years
Marriage Place	At Holy Trinity Church, Gisborne, Poverty Bay
Folio	09/4061
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 May 1909
Officiating Minister	Herbert William Williams, Church of England

2067

10 May 1909

Arthur Richardson
Lillian Olive Reynolds

Arthur Richardson
Lillian Olive Reynolds
💍 1909/3452

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer
Domestic Duties

35 years
32 years

Tarewa, Poverty Bay
Tarewa, Poverty Bay

23 years
About 20 years

At the Private Residence of the Bride's Parents, Tarewa, Poverty Bay

09/443

10 May 1909

Rev. Howard Thomas Rawnsley, Church of England (Wairoa)

No	2067
Date of Notice	10 May 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Richardson	Lillian Olive Reynolds
	💍 1909/3452
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer	Domestic Duties
Age	35 years	32 years
Dwelling Place	Tarewa, Poverty Bay	Tarewa, Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	23 years	About 20 years
Marriage Place	At the Private Residence of the Bride's Parents, Tarewa, Poverty Bay
Folio	09/443
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 May 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Howard Thomas Rawnsley, Church of England (Wairoa)

2068

13 May 1909

Oswald Alex Burns
Rosetta Margaret Beere

Oswald Alex Burns
Rosetta Margaret Beere
💍 1909/2914

Bachelor
Spinster

Survey Draughtsman
Domestic Duties

22 years
26 years

Gisborne, Poverty Bay
Gisborne, Poverty Bay

About 16 months
About 20 years

At Holy Trinity Church, Gisborne, Poverty Bay

09/4062

13 May 1909

Rev. Frederick William Chatterton, Church of England

No	2068
Date of Notice	13 May 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Oswald Alex Burns	Rosetta Margaret Beere
	💍 1909/2914
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Survey Draughtsman	Domestic Duties
Age	22 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Gisborne, Poverty Bay	Gisborne, Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	About 16 months	About 20 years
Marriage Place	At Holy Trinity Church, Gisborne, Poverty Bay
Folio	09/4062
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 May 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Frederick William Chatterton, Church of England

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).