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 084

District of Auckland Quarter ending 30 June 1909

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

464

24 April 1909

Arthur Leslie Braisby
Joy Priscilla Graydon

Arthur Leslie Braisby
Ivy Priscilla Graydon
💍 1909/6898

Bachelor
Spinster

Tram Conductor

24
19

Auckland
Auckland

10 months
4 years

House of Res. M. Walker, Wellington Street, Auckland

09/2007

John Graydon, Father

24 April 1909

Rev. M. Walker, Church of Our Father

No	464
Date of Notice	24 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Leslie Braisby	Joy Priscilla Graydon
BDM Match (95%)	Arthur Leslie Braisby	Ivy Priscilla Graydon
	💍 1909/6898
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tram Conductor
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	10 months	4 years
Marriage Place	House of Res. M. Walker, Wellington Street, Auckland
Folio	09/2007
Consent	John Graydon, Father
Date of Certificate	24 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Walker, Church of Our Father

465

24 April 1909

Arthur Fletcher Drater
May Rufford Hesketh

Arthur Fletcher Frater
May Rufford Hesketh
💍 1909/2614

Bachelor
Spinster

Land Agent

27
23

Auckland
Remuera

2 years
23 years

St. Mark's Church, Remuera

09/3806

24 April 1909

Rev. W. Beatty, Anglican

No	465
Date of Notice	24 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Fletcher Drater	May Rufford Hesketh
BDM Match (98%)	Arthur Fletcher Frater	May Rufford Hesketh
	💍 1909/2614
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Land Agent
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Remuera
Length of Residence	2 years	23 years
Marriage Place	St. Mark's Church, Remuera
Folio	09/3806
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Beatty, Anglican

466

24 April 1909

William Mikkelson
Ursula Marie Worth

William Mikkelson
Ursula Marie Worth
💍 1909/7432

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

25
24

Auckland
Auckland

25 years
2 weeks

St. David's Church, Auckland

09/1894

24 April 1909

Rev. W. G. Dixon, Presbyterian

No	466
Date of Notice	24 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Mikkelson	Ursula Marie Worth
	💍 1909/7432
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	25 years	2 weeks
Marriage Place	St. David's Church, Auckland
Folio	09/1894
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. G. Dixon, Presbyterian

467

24 April 1909

Ernest Richardson
Clarissa Martin

Ernest Richardson
Rose Clarissa Martin
💍 1909/6899

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

32
32

Auckland
Auckland

3 days
3 days

House of Rev. M. Walker, 80 Wellington Street, Auckland

09/2008

24 April 1909

Rev. M. Walker, Church of Our Father

No	467
Date of Notice	24 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Richardson	Clarissa Martin
BDM Match (88%)	Ernest Richardson	Rose Clarissa Martin
	💍 1909/6899
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	32	32
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	House of Rev. M. Walker, 80 Wellington Street, Auckland
Folio	09/2008
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Walker, Church of Our Father

468

26 April 1909

Joseph John Reynolds
Ethel Litness

Joseph John Reynolds
Ethel Fitness
💍 1909/7436

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

26
23

Auckland
Auckland

4 days
4 days

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Manse, Auckland

09/1898

26 April 1909

Rev. A. A. Murray, Presbyterian

No	468
Date of Notice	26 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph John Reynolds	Ethel Litness
BDM Match (96%)	Joseph John Reynolds	Ethel Fitness
	💍 1909/7436
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Presbyterian Manse, Auckland
Folio	09/1898
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. A. Murray, Presbyterian

469

26 April 1909

Henry Pilkington Hayward
Emma Jane Schofield

Henry Pilkington Hayward
Emma Jane Schofield
💍 1909/6543

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

21
20

Auckland
Auckland

16 years
6 years

House of Benjamin Schofield, 380 Key Street, Auckland

09/1957

Benjamin Schofield, Father

26 April 1909

Rev. G. Bond, Methodist

No	469
Date of Notice	26 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Pilkington Hayward	Emma Jane Schofield
	💍 1909/6543
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	16 years	6 years
Marriage Place	House of Benjamin Schofield, 380 Key Street, Auckland
Folio	09/1957
Consent	Benjamin Schofield, Father
Date of Certificate	26 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Bond, 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).