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 886

District of Hastings Quarter ending 31 March 1909 Registrar Robert Braithwaite

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

2 January 1909

Thomas Henry Wilson
Lilian Maud Butler

Thomas Henry Wilson
Lilian Maud Butter
💍 1909/1159

Thomas Henry Wilson
Elizabeth Ann Willetts
💍 1909/7597

Bachelor
Spinster

Ropemaker
Domestic

28
22

Hastings
Hastings

6 days
6 days

Mr. Butler's House, Hastings

09/1030

2 January 1909

Rev. P. Ramsay

No	1
Date of Notice	2 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Henry Wilson	Lilian Maud Butler
BDM Match (97%)	Thomas Henry Wilson	Lilian Maud Butter
	💍 1909/1159
BDM Match (61%)	Thomas Henry Wilson	Elizabeth Ann Willetts
	💍 1909/7597
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ropemaker	Domestic
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	6 days	6 days
Marriage Place	Mr. Butler's House, Hastings
Folio	09/1030
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 January 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay

2 January 1909

Charles Ernest Dunston
Ellen Jane McWraith

Charles Ernest Dunston
Ellen Jane McIlwraith
💍 1909/1161

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Household duties

31
20

Hastings
Hastings

4 days
18 months

House of Mr. W. Sinclair, Hastings

09/1032

William McWraith, father

2 January 1909

Rev. P. Ramsay

No	2
Date of Notice	2 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Ernest Dunston	Ellen Jane McWraith
BDM Match (93%)	Charles Ernest Dunston	Ellen Jane McIlwraith
	💍 1909/1161
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Household duties
Age	31	20
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	4 days	18 months
Marriage Place	House of Mr. W. Sinclair, Hastings
Folio	09/1032
Consent	William McWraith, father
Date of Certificate	2 January 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay

4 January 1909

Edward Cray-Thom Manley
Edith Elizabeth Newrick

Edward Way Thorne Manley
Edith Elizabeth Newrick
💍 1909/1160

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Household duties

28
22

Hastings
Hastings

4 days
22 years

Presbyterian Church, Hastings

09/1031

4 January 1909

Rev. P. Ramsay

No	3
Date of Notice	4 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Cray-Thom Manley	Edith Elizabeth Newrick
BDM Match (88%)	Edward Way Thorne Manley	Edith Elizabeth Newrick
	💍 1909/1160
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Household duties
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	4 days	22 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Hastings
Folio	09/1031
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 January 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay

6 January 1909

Harold Leslie Compton
Dorothy Watson

Harold Leslie Compton
Dorothy Watson
💍 1909/1089

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Tailoress

18
20

Hastings
Hastings

18 years
18 years

Registrar's Office, Hastings

09/993

H. Compton, father; W. H. Watson, father

6 January 1909

R. Braithwaite

No	4
Date of Notice	6 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Leslie Compton	Dorothy Watson
	💍 1909/1089
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Tailoress
Age	18	20
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	18 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Hastings
Folio	09/993
Consent	H. Compton, father; W. H. Watson, father
Date of Certificate	6 January 1909
Officiating Minister	R. Braithwaite

13 January 1909

Francis James Tombs
Maud Emily Garratt

Francis James Tombs
Maud Emily Garratt
💍 1909/1114

Bachelor
Spinster

Furnisher
Household duties

24
20

Hastings
Hastings

3 years
4 years

Wesleyan Church, Hastings

09/1071

George Garratt, father

13 January 1909

Rev. W. Linley

No	5
Date of Notice	13 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis James Tombs	Maud Emily Garratt
	💍 1909/1114
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Furnisher	Household duties
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Hastings
Folio	09/1071
Consent	George Garratt, father
Date of Certificate	13 January 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Linley

14 January 1909

George Smith
Harriett White

George Smith
Thurza White
💍 1909/1113

Widower
Widow

Farmer
Household duties

67
63

Hastings
Hastings

5 years
34 years

Mr. W. White's House, Hastings

09/1070

14 January 1909

Rev. W. Linley

No	6
Date of Notice	14 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Smith	Harriett White
BDM Match (75%)	George Smith	Thurza White
	💍 1909/1113
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Household duties
Age	67	63
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	5 years	34 years
Marriage Place	Mr. W. White's House, Hastings
Folio	09/1070
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 January 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Linley

18 January 1909

John Hunt
Violet Slavin

John Hunt
Violet Beaufer Steven
💍 1909/1158

Bachelor
Spinster

Slaughterman
Household duties

31
22

Hastings
Napier

3 years
5 months

Presbyterian Manse, Napier

09/1053

18 January 1909

Rev. J. A. Asher

No	7
Date of Notice	18 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Hunt	Violet Slavin
BDM Match (74%)	John Hunt	Violet Beaufer Steven
	💍 1909/1158
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Slaughterman	Household duties
Age	31	22
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Napier
Length of Residence	3 years	5 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Napier
Folio	09/1053
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 January 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Asher

27 January 1909

Edwin Milton Lane
Martha Pownall

Edis Milton Lane
Martha Pownall
💍 1909/1162

Bachelor
Spinster

Fishmonger
Household duties

27
28

Hastings
Hastings

2 years
9 years

Mr. Pownall's House, Hastings

09/1033

27 January 1909

Rev. P. Ramsay

No	8
Date of Notice	27 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin Milton Lane	Martha Pownall
BDM Match (94%)	Edis Milton Lane	Martha Pownall
	💍 1909/1162
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fishmonger	Household duties
Age	27	28
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	2 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Mr. Pownall's House, Hastings
Folio	09/1033
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 January 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ramsay

30 January 1909

Nils Ivar Lamberg
Sarah Sophia Grace Holland

Nils Ivar Lambey
Sarah Sophia Grace Holland
💍 1909/1090

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner
Domestic

25
19

Hastings
Hastings

4 days
4 days

Registrar's Office, Hastings

09/994

Grace Holland, mother

30 January 1909

Robert Braithwaite

No	9
Date of Notice	30 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Nils Ivar Lamberg	Sarah Sophia Grace Holland
BDM Match (94%)	Nils Ivar Lambey	Sarah Sophia Grace Holland
	💍 1909/1090
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner	Domestic
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Hastings
Folio	09/994
Consent	Grace Holland, mother
Date of Certificate	30 January 1909
Officiating Minister	Robert Braithwaite

30 January 1909

Henry Pottle

Bachelor

Carpenter

30
24

Havelock
Hastings

3 years
18 years

St. Luke's, Havelock

09/1015

30 January 1909

Rev. Allan Gardiner

No	10
Date of Notice	30 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Pottle
Condition	Bachelor
Profession	Carpenter
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Havelock	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 years	18 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's, Havelock
Folio	09/1015
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 January 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Allan Gardiner

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).