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 668

District of Thames Quarter ending 30 June 1909 Registrar William Henry Potts

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

24 April 1909

James Patrick McNeil
Alice Mary Martin

James Patrick McNeil
Alice Mary Martin
💍 1909/7005

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic duties

21
20

Thames
Thames

4 days
20 years

Registrars office, Mary St, Thames

09/2200

Alice Mary Jane Martin, mother

24 April 1909

William H. Potts, Registrar

No	31
Date of Notice	24 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Patrick McNeil	Alice Mary Martin
	💍 1909/7005
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic duties
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	4 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Registrars office, Mary St, Thames
Folio	09/2200
Consent	Alice Mary Jane Martin, mother
Date of Certificate	24 April 1909
Officiating Minister	William H. Potts, Registrar

27 April 1909

Arthur Herbert Newby
Hilda Florence Stephens

Arthur Herbert Newby
Hilda Florence Stephens
💍 1909/6993

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Domestic duties

34
29

Tapu, Thames
Tapu, Thames

34 years
29 years

St Georges Church, Mackay St, Thames

09/2194

27 April 1909

Dr O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	32
Date of Notice	27 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Herbert Newby	Hilda Florence Stephens
	💍 1909/6993
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Domestic duties
Age	34	29
Dwelling Place	Tapu, Thames	Tapu, Thames
Length of Residence	34 years	29 years
Marriage Place	St Georges Church, Mackay St, Thames
Folio	09/2194
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Dr O'Callaghan, Church of England

3 May 1909

Lawson Robert Tocker
Elizabeth Cole Miller

Lawson Robert Tocker
Elizabeth Cole Mills
💍 1909/7000

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Domestic duties

46
43

Dikutara
Thames

1 year
2 days

Church of England, Mary St, Thames

09/2195

5 May 1909

Dr O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	33
Date of Notice	3 May 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lawson Robert Tocker	Elizabeth Cole Miller
BDM Match (95%)	Lawson Robert Tocker	Elizabeth Cole Mills
	💍 1909/7000
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Domestic duties
Age	46	43
Dwelling Place	Dikutara	Thames
Length of Residence	1 year	2 days
Marriage Place	Church of England, Mary St, Thames
Folio	09/2195
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 May 1909
Officiating Minister	Dr O'Callaghan, Church of England

12 May 1909

Thomas Ross
Emily Louie Costar

Thomas Ross
Emily Louise Costar
💍 1909/7006

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic duties

20
17

Thames
Thames

20 years
17 years

In the house of Mr Harding, Mackay St, Thames

09/2201

Christopher Costar, father of bride

12 May 1909

Rev. A. Harding, Primitive Methodist

No	34
Date of Notice	12 May 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Ross	Emily Louie Costar
BDM Match (97%)	Thomas Ross	Emily Louise Costar
	💍 1909/7006
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic duties
Age	20	17
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	20 years	17 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr Harding, Mackay St, Thames
Folio	09/2201
Consent	Christopher Costar, father of bride
Date of Certificate	12 May 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Harding, Primitive Methodist

17 May 1909

Barry Drew Ingall
Eliza Waterman Redwood

Barry Drew Ingall
Eliza Waterman Redwood
💍 1909/7591

Bachelor
Spinster

Battery hand
Domestic duties

25
20

Thames
Thames

2 days
20 years

Presbyterian Church, Pollen St, Thames

09/2184

Margaret Robinson Redwood, mother

19 May 1909

Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

No	35
Date of Notice	17 May 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Barry Drew Ingall	Eliza Waterman Redwood
	💍 1909/7591
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Battery hand	Domestic duties
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	2 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Pollen St, Thames
Folio	09/2184
Consent	Margaret Robinson Redwood, mother
Date of Certificate	19 May 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

18 May 1909

Edward Caradus
Ida Mary Thomas

Edward Caradus
Ida Mary Thomas
💍 1909/7001

Bachelor
Spinster

Master A.G.S.
Domestic duties

23
23

Auckland
Thames

23 years
23 years

St Georges Church, Mackay St, Thames

09/2196

18 May 1909

Dr O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	36
Date of Notice	18 May 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Caradus	Ida Mary Thomas
	💍 1909/7001
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Master A.G.S.	Domestic duties
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Thames
Length of Residence	23 years	23 years
Marriage Place	St Georges Church, Mackay St, Thames
Folio	09/2196
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 May 1909
Officiating Minister	Dr O'Callaghan, 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).