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 498

District of Morrinsville Quarter ending 31 December 1909 Registrar George Illingworth

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

5 October 1909

Willie Manning
Mary Irwin

Willie Manning
Mary Irwin
💍 1909/4682

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

23
20

Morrinsville
Morrinsville

17 months
20 years

Private House of George Manning, Lockerbie Morrinsville

09/6141

Foster Irwin, father

5 October 1909

Rev. Geo. H. Bridgman

No	14
Date of Notice	5 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Willie Manning	Mary Irwin
	💍 1909/4682
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Morrinsville	Morrinsville
Length of Residence	17 months	20 years
Marriage Place	Private House of George Manning, Lockerbie Morrinsville
Folio	09/6141
Consent	Foster Irwin, father
Date of Certificate	5 October 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. H. Bridgman

25 October 1909

Charles Hackett
Laura May Holson

Charles Hackett
Laura May Hotson
💍 1909/6447

Bachelor
Spinster

Signalman
Domestic Duties

30
25

Morrinsville
Morrinsville

2 years
15 years

Private House of Mrs. B. Holson, Milford House Morrinsville

09/8035

25 October 1909

Rev. J. McGuinness

No	15
Date of Notice	25 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Hackett	Laura May Holson
BDM Match (97%)	Charles Hackett	Laura May Hotson
	💍 1909/6447
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Signalman	Domestic Duties
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Morrinsville	Morrinsville
Length of Residence	2 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Private House of Mrs. B. Holson, Milford House Morrinsville
Folio	09/8035
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 October 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McGuinness

6 November 1909

Edward Robert Whitchurch
Lucy Jane Smith

Edward Robert Whitechurch
Lucy Jane Smith
💍 1909/4740

Bachelor
Spinster

Flaxmiller
Storekeeper

37
33

Tahuna
Tahuna

2 Years
4 years

Private House of Mrs. J. Smith, Tahuna

09/6142

6 November 1909

No	16
Date of Notice	6 November 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Robert Whitchurch	Lucy Jane Smith
BDM Match (98%)	Edward Robert Whitechurch	Lucy Jane Smith
	💍 1909/4740
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Flaxmiller	Storekeeper
Age	37	33
Dwelling Place	Tahuna	Tahuna
Length of Residence	2 Years	4 years
Marriage Place	Private House of Mrs. J. Smith, Tahuna
Folio	09/6142
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 November 1909
Officiating Minister

23 November 1909

George Edward Hewitt
Francis Alice Brassington

George Edward Hewitt
Frances Alice Brassington
💍 1909/4751

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Sailoress

25
33

Matamata
Matamata

5 Years
5 days

Anglican Church, Matamata

09/6143

23 November 1909

Rev. Francis G. Hawie

No	17
Date of Notice	23 November 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Edward Hewitt	Francis Alice Brassington
BDM Match (98%)	George Edward Hewitt	Frances Alice Brassington
	💍 1909/4751
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Sailoress
Age	25	33
Dwelling Place	Matamata	Matamata
Length of Residence	5 Years	5 days
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, Matamata
Folio	09/6143
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 November 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Francis G. Hawie

31 December 1909

Walter Seymour
Isabel Florence Welborne Mardon

Walter Seymour
Mabel Florence Welborne Mardon
💍 1910/510

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer
Domestic

25
30

Matamata
Matamata

2 Weeks
4 years

Anglican Church, Matamata

10/453

31 December 1909

Rev. Francis G. Hawie

No	18
Date of Notice	31 December 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Seymour	Isabel Florence Welborne Mardon
BDM Match (97%)	Walter Seymour	Mabel Florence Welborne Mardon
	💍 1910/510
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer	Domestic
Age	25	30
Dwelling Place	Matamata	Matamata
Length of Residence	2 Weeks	4 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, Matamata
Folio	10/453
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 December 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Francis G. Hawie

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).