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 843

District of Stratford Quarter ending 30 September 1909 Registrar H. A. James

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

17 August 1909

Walter McDonald Croot
Fanny Collingwood

Walter McDonald Croot
Fanny Collingwood
💍 1909/8113

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

27
22

Inglewood
Stratford

11 months
16 years

Residence of J. Collingwood, Falstaff Street, Stratford

09/6373

17 August 1909

Rev. B. Metzon, Primitive Methodist

No	42
Date of Notice	17 August 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter McDonald Croot	Fanny Collingwood
	💍 1909/8113
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Inglewood	Stratford
Length of Residence	11 months	16 years
Marriage Place	Residence of J. Collingwood, Falstaff Street, Stratford
Folio	09/6373
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 August 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. Metzon, Primitive Methodist

17 August 1909

Edward Johnson
Winifred Alice Thynne Thomas

Edward Johnson
Winifred Alice Thynne Thomas
💍 1909/3016

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

26
27

Ngaire
Ngaire

26 years
11 years

Residence of Charles Thomas, Climie Road, Ngaire

09/4312

17 August 1909

Mr. Thomas Rowe, Brethren

No	43
Date of Notice	17 August 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Johnson	Winifred Alice Thynne Thomas
	💍 1909/3016
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Ngaire	Ngaire
Length of Residence	26 years	11 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Charles Thomas, Climie Road, Ngaire
Folio	09/4312
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 August 1909
Officiating Minister	Mr. Thomas Rowe, Brethren

24 August 1909

John Herbert Elish
Beatrice Augusta Orchard

John Herbert Clist
Beatrice Augusta Orchard
💍 1909/3024

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

20
23

Stratford
Stratford

6 weeks
7 weeks

Residence of Albert Orchard, Brecon Road, Stratford

09/4320

John Elish, father

24 August 1909

Rev. G. G. Harrison, Wesleyan

No	44
Date of Notice	24 August 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Herbert Elish	Beatrice Augusta Orchard
BDM Match (94%)	John Herbert Clist	Beatrice Augusta Orchard
	💍 1909/3024
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	20	23
Dwelling Place	Stratford	Stratford
Length of Residence	6 weeks	7 weeks
Marriage Place	Residence of Albert Orchard, Brecon Road, Stratford
Folio	09/4320
Consent	John Elish, father
Date of Certificate	24 August 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. G. Harrison, Wesleyan

30 August 1909

George John Bell
Mary Thirlwall

George John Bell
Mary Thirlwall
💍 1909/3018

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

38
33

Toko
Ratapiko

5 years
3 months

Holy Trinity Church, Stratford

09/4314

30 August 1909

Rev. H. A. Favell, Church of England

No	45
Date of Notice	30 August 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George John Bell	Mary Thirlwall
	💍 1909/3018
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	38	33
Dwelling Place	Toko	Ratapiko
Length of Residence	5 years	3 months
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Stratford
Folio	09/4314
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 August 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. A. Favell, Church of England

4 September 1909

John Edward McCormick
Mary Fearon

John Edward McCormick
Mary Jane Fearon
💍 1909/3051

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

45
25

Whangamomona
Whangamomona

14 years
10 years

Roman Catholic Church, Stratford

09/4330

4 September 1909

Rev. Father P. Leacy, Roman Catholic

No	46
Date of Notice	4 September 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Edward McCormick	Mary Fearon
BDM Match (84%)	John Edward McCormick	Mary Jane Fearon
	💍 1909/3051
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	45	25
Dwelling Place	Whangamomona	Whangamomona
Length of Residence	14 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Stratford
Folio	09/4330
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 September 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father P. Leacy, Roman Catholic

4 September 1909

Robert William Cawston
Annie Edith Hickie

Robert William Cawston
Annie Edith Hickey
💍 1909/3057

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

27
27

Gisborne
Stratford

8 months
4 years

Roman Catholic Church, Stratford

09/4331

4 September 1909

Rev. Father P. Leacy, Roman Catholic

No	47
Date of Notice	4 September 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert William Cawston	Annie Edith Hickie
BDM Match (94%)	Robert William Cawston	Annie Edith Hickey
	💍 1909/3057
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Stratford
Length of Residence	8 months	4 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Stratford
Folio	09/4331
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 September 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father P. Leacy, 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).