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 155

District of AUCKLAND Quarter ending 30 September 1909 Registrar THOMAS CULPAN

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

911

21 September 1909

Patrick McClone
Alice Lillias Simpson

Patrick McGlone
Alice Lillias Simpson
💍 1909/2717

Bachelor
Spinster

Postal Clerk

26
22

AUCKLAND
Onehunga

3 months
1 month

Roman Catholic Church

09/3900

21 September 1909

Rev. J. Ormond, Roman Catholic

No	911
Date of Notice	21 September 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick McClone	Alice Lillias Simpson
BDM Match (97%)	Patrick McGlone	Alice Lillias Simpson
	💍 1909/2717
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Postal Clerk
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	AUCKLAND	Onehunga
Length of Residence	3 months	1 month
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church
Folio	09/3900
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 September 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Ormond, Roman Catholic

912

22 September 1909

James Moore Douglas
Ellen Maude Douglas

James Moore Carpenter
Ellen Maude Douglas
💍 1909/2664

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

27
23

Remuera
St. Heliers

6 years

Life & John's Chapel

09/3831

22 September 1909

Rev. Beatty, Anglican

No	912
Date of Notice	22 September 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Moore Douglas	Ellen Maude Douglas
BDM Match (79%)	James Moore Carpenter	Ellen Maude Douglas
	💍 1909/2664
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Remuera	St. Heliers
Length of Residence		6 years
Marriage Place	Life & John's Chapel
Folio	09/3831
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 September 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Beatty, Anglican

913

22 September 1909

Ernest Robert Small
Mary Teresa Kirkland

Ernest Robert Small
Mary Verena Kirkland
💍 1909/2758

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer

37
32

Grey Lynn
AUCKLAND

1 1/2 years
9 years

House of Mrs. J. Dopps, Eden Terrace, AUCKLAND

09/3969

22 September 1909

Mr. J. Black, People's Mission

No	913
Date of Notice	22 September 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Robert Small	Mary Teresa Kirkland
BDM Match (95%)	Ernest Robert Small	Mary Verena Kirkland
	💍 1909/2758
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer
Age	37	32
Dwelling Place	Grey Lynn	AUCKLAND
Length of Residence	1 1/2 years	9 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. J. Dopps, Eden Terrace, AUCKLAND
Folio	09/3969
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 September 1909
Officiating Minister	Mr. J. Black, People's Mission

914

22 September 1909

Frederick Arthur Hare
Rosa May Brown

Fredrick Arthur Hare
Rosa May Brown
💍 1909/2779

Bachelor
Spinster

Mill Hand

21
27

AUCKLAND
Grey Lynn

18 months
29 years

House of Rev. Walker, 80 Howe St., AUCKLAND

09/4015

22 September 1909

Rev. Walker, Church of Our Father

No	914
Date of Notice	22 September 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Arthur Hare	Rosa May Brown
BDM Match (98%)	Fredrick Arthur Hare	Rosa May Brown
	💍 1909/2779
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mill Hand
Age	21	27
Dwelling Place	AUCKLAND	Grey Lynn
Length of Residence	18 months	29 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. Walker, 80 Howe St., AUCKLAND
Folio	09/4015
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 September 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Walker, Church of Our Father

915

23 September 1909

Josiah Redwood Wood
Mary Catherine Hill

Joshia Wedgwood Wood
Mary Catherine Hill
💍 1909/2750

Bachelor
Spinster

Tanner

35
30

AUCKLAND
AUCKLAND

3 months
3 months

Methodist Church, Pitt St., AUCKLAND

09/3952

23 September 1909

Rev. Ready, Methodist

No	915
Date of Notice	23 September 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Josiah Redwood Wood	Mary Catherine Hill
BDM Match (90%)	Joshia Wedgwood Wood	Mary Catherine Hill
	💍 1909/2750
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tanner
Age	35	30
Dwelling Place	AUCKLAND	AUCKLAND
Length of Residence	3 months	3 months
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Pitt St., AUCKLAND
Folio	09/3952
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 September 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Ready, Methodist

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).