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 669

District of Thames Quarter ending 30 June 1909 Registrar William A. Ross

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

22 May 1909

Alexander McDonald
Sarah Jane Woods

Alexander McDonald
Sarah Jane Woods
💍 1909/7592

Widower
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

51
35

Thames
Thames

1 day
3 days

In the house of Mr. H. Wood, Collarbone Creek, Thames

09/2185

25 May 1909

Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

No	37
Date of Notice	22 May 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander McDonald	Sarah Jane Woods
	💍 1909/7592
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	51	35
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	1 day	3 days
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. H. Wood, Collarbone Creek, Thames
Folio	09/2185
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 May 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

31 May 1909

Clarence John Howe
Sarah Alice Ross

Clarence John Howe
Sarah Alice Ross
💍 1909/7593

Bachelor
Spinster

Fisherman
Domestic duties

30
23

Thames
Thames

30 years
23 years

In the house of Mr. Howe, Kuranui, Thames

09/2186

31 May 1909

Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

No	38
Date of Notice	31 May 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Clarence John Howe	Sarah Alice Ross
	💍 1909/7593
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fisherman	Domestic duties
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	30 years	23 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. Howe, Kuranui, Thames
Folio	09/2186
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

5 June 1909

Thomas William Brown
Louisa May Fisher

Thomas William Brown
Louisa May Fisher
💍 1909/7596

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

34
26

Matatoki
Matatoki

17 years
8 years

In the house of Mr. Campbell, Matatoki

09/2188

5 June 1909

Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

No	39
Date of Notice	5 June 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas William Brown	Louisa May Fisher
	💍 1909/7596
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	34	26
Dwelling Place	Matatoki	Matatoki
Length of Residence	17 years	8 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. Campbell, Matatoki
Folio	09/2188
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 June 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

5 June 1909

William Henry Wallace Henderson
Mary Ann Coombs Patterson

William Henry Wallace Henderson
Mary Ann Coombs Patterson
💍 1909/6984

Bachelor
Spinster

Bricklayer
Domestic duties

24
22

Thames
Thames

24 years
22 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Mackay St, Thames

09/2203

5 June 1909

Rev. S. Harding, Primitive Methodist

No	40
Date of Notice	5 June 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Wallace Henderson	Mary Ann Coombs Patterson
	💍 1909/6984
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bricklayer	Domestic duties
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	24 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Mackay St, Thames
Folio	09/2203
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 June 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Harding, Primitive Methodist

5 June 1909

Alfred Phillips
Sarah Ann Onions

Alfred Phillips
Sarah Ann Onions
💍 1909/7595

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

41
42

Thames
Thames

1 day
5 months

In the house of Mr. H. Onions, Parawai

09/2187

8 June 1909

Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

No	41
Date of Notice	5 June 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Phillips	Sarah Ann Onions
	💍 1909/7595
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	41	42
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	1 day	5 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. H. Onions, Parawai
Folio	09/2187
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 June 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

16 June 1909

Loke Watene
Rosie Savage

Toke Watene
Rosie Savage
💍 1909/7589

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

27
22

Kiri Kiri, Thames
Kiri Kiri, Thames

27 years
6 years

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Kiri Kiri

09/2182

16 June 1909

Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

No	42
Date of Notice	16 June 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Loke Watene	Rosie Savage
BDM Match (95%)	Toke Watene	Rosie Savage
	💍 1909/7589
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Kiri Kiri, Thames	Kiri Kiri, Thames
Length of Residence	27 years	6 years
Marriage Place	In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Kiri Kiri
Folio	09/2182
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 June 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

21 June 1909

William Henry Gilbert Coych
Martha Kelly

William Henry Gilbert Cryer
Martha Kelly
💍 1909/6985

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

31
24

Wharepoa
Omahu

16 years
3 years

In the house of Mr. H. Rogers, Wharepoa

09/2204

21 June 1909

Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

No	43
Date of Notice	21 June 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Gilbert Coych	Martha Kelly
BDM Match (94%)	William Henry Gilbert Cryer	Martha Kelly
	💍 1909/6985
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	31	24
Dwelling Place	Wharepoa	Omahu
Length of Residence	16 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. H. Rogers, Wharepoa
Folio	09/2204
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 June 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Milne, Presbyterian

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).