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 317

District of Gisborne Quarter ending 31 December 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

2148

13 October 1909

Henry Fulford Humphrey
Jemima Wright

Henry Fulford Humfrey
Jemima Wright
💍 1909/4659

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

35 years
25

Motu, Poverty Bay
Motu, Poverty Bay

About 10 years
About 2 years

At the Presbyterian Church, Gisborne

09/6093

13 October 1909

Rev. William Grant, Presbyterian Minister

No	2148
Date of Notice	13 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Fulford Humphrey	Jemima Wright
BDM Match (95%)	Henry Fulford Humfrey	Jemima Wright
	💍 1909/4659
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	35 years	25
Dwelling Place	Motu, Poverty Bay	Motu, Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	About 10 years	About 2 years
Marriage Place	At the Presbyterian Church, Gisborne
Folio	09/6093
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Grant, Presbyterian Minister

2149

13 October 1909

Victor Fiori
Norah Annie Gill

Victor Fiori
Norah Annie Gill
💍 1909/7781

Bachelor
Spinster

Cook
Housemaid

24 years
26

Gisborne, Poverty Bay
Gisborne

About 19 months
About 5 weeks

At the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

09/6083

13 October 1909

Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

No	2149
Date of Notice	13 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Victor Fiori	Norah Annie Gill
	💍 1909/7781
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cook	Housemaid
Age	24 years	26
Dwelling Place	Gisborne, Poverty Bay	Gisborne
Length of Residence	About 19 months	About 5 weeks
Marriage Place	At the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne
Folio	09/6083
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1909
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

2150

15 October 1909

Ernest Nicholas Kent
Francis Louisa Cowley

Ernest Nicholas Kent
Frances Louisa Coombs
💍 1909/7782

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Home Duties

25 years
24

Gisborne, Poverty Bay
Gisborne

About 2 years
About 4 days

At the Methodist Church, Bright Street, Gisborne

09/6087

15 October 1909

Rev. John A. Cochrane, Methodist Minister

No	2150
Date of Notice	15 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Nicholas Kent	Francis Louisa Cowley
BDM Match (88%)	Ernest Nicholas Kent	Frances Louisa Coombs
	💍 1909/7782
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Home Duties
Age	25 years	24
Dwelling Place	Gisborne, Poverty Bay	Gisborne
Length of Residence	About 2 years	About 4 days
Marriage Place	At the Methodist Church, Bright Street, Gisborne
Folio	09/6087
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 October 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. John A. Cochrane, Methodist Minister

2151

18 October 1909

John Mahoney
Lena Florence Cowles

John Mahoney
Lena Florence Vowles
💍 1909/4731

Bachelor
Spinster

Compositor
Home Duties

36 years
21

Gisborne, Poverty Bay
Gisborne, Poverty Bay

6 years
About 8 years

At private residence of the Bride's parents, Clifford Street, Whataupoko, Poverty Bay

09/6088

18 October 1909

Rev. John A. Cochrane, Methodist Minister

No	2151
Date of Notice	18 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Mahoney	Lena Florence Cowles
BDM Match (98%)	John Mahoney	Lena Florence Vowles
	💍 1909/4731
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Compositor	Home Duties
Age	36 years	21
Dwelling Place	Gisborne, Poverty Bay	Gisborne, Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	6 years	About 8 years
Marriage Place	At private residence of the Bride's parents, Clifford Street, Whataupoko, Poverty Bay
Folio	09/6088
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 October 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. John A. Cochrane, Methodist Minister

2152

22 October 1909

Amos Joseph Sutton
Margaret Etta Wootton

Amos Joseph Sutton
Margaret Ella Wootton
💍 1909/4643

Widower
Spinster

Carrier
Domestic Duties

33 years
39

Gisborne, Poverty Bay
Gisborne, Ormond Road

About 14 years
About 18 months

At the private residence of W. & Wootton

09/6101

22 October 1909

Rev. William Gamble, Baptist Minister

No	2152
Date of Notice	22 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Amos Joseph Sutton	Margaret Etta Wootton
BDM Match (95%)	Amos Joseph Sutton	Margaret Ella Wootton
	💍 1909/4643
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Domestic Duties
Age	33 years	39
Dwelling Place	Gisborne, Poverty Bay	Gisborne, Ormond Road
Length of Residence	About 14 years	About 18 months
Marriage Place	At the private residence of W. & Wootton
Folio	09/6101
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 October 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Gamble, Baptist Minister

2153

24 October 1909

Ernest Waller Merrall
Daisy McHead

Ernest Walton Merrall
Daisy McLeod
💍 1909/4728

Bachelor
Spinster

Woolclasser
Domestic Duties

29
24

Gisborne, Poverty Bay
Gisborne, Poverty Bay

7 years
5 years

At the Registrar of Marriages Office, Gisborne

09/6084

24 October 1909

Deputy Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

No	2153
Date of Notice	24 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Waller Merrall	Daisy McHead
BDM Match (85%)	Ernest Walton Merrall	Daisy McLeod
	💍 1909/4728
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Woolclasser	Domestic Duties
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Gisborne, Poverty Bay	Gisborne, Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	7 years	5 years
Marriage Place	At the Registrar of Marriages Office, Gisborne
Folio	09/6084
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 October 1909
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

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).