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 040

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 March 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

179

16 February 1909

George William Fowler
Ethel Young

George William Fowler
Ethel Young
💍 1909/545

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

27
27

Auckland
Auckland

20 years
27 years

Methodist Church, Grafton Road

09/384

16 February 1909

Rev. R. Ruck, Methodist

No	179
Date of Notice	16 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George William Fowler	Ethel Young
	💍 1909/545
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	20 years	27 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Grafton Road
Folio	09/384
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ruck, Methodist

180

16 February 1909

William Sullivan
Hearewa Roa

William Sullivan
Ngarewa Roa
💍 1909/571

Widower
Spinster

Mariner

60
22

Auckland
Auckland

15 years
3 years

House of Rev. M. Walker, 50 Wellington St.

09/464

16 February 1909

Rev. M. Walker, Church of Our Father

No	180
Date of Notice	16 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Sullivan	Hearewa Roa
BDM Match (91%)	William Sullivan	Ngarewa Roa
	💍 1909/571
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	60	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	15 years	3 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. M. Walker, 50 Wellington St.
Folio	09/464
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Walker, Church of Our Father

181

16 February 1909

James Bentley Johnson
Mary Ann Johnson

James Bentley
Mary Ann Johnson
💍 1909/562

Widower
Widow

Farmer

77
69

Auckland
Auckland

3 days
50 years

House of Rev. M. Walker, 50 Wellington St.

09/454

16 February 1909

Rev. M. Walker, Church of Our Father

No	181
Date of Notice	16 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Bentley Johnson	Mary Ann Johnson
BDM Match (81%)	James Bentley	Mary Ann Johnson
	💍 1909/562
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	77	69
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 days	50 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. M. Walker, 50 Wellington St.
Folio	09/454
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Walker, Church of Our Father

182

16 February 1909

Edward Lapwood
Annie Wood

Edward Lapwood
Annie Wood
💍 1909/392

Bachelor
Spinster

Miller

36
26

Auckland
Auckland

3 days
3 weeks

House of Rev. H. Francis, Devonport

09/156

16 February 1909

Rev. J. E. Bertram, Presbyterian

No	182
Date of Notice	16 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Lapwood	Annie Wood
	💍 1909/392
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miller
Age	36	26
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 days	3 weeks
Marriage Place	House of Rev. H. Francis, Devonport
Folio	09/156
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. E. Bertram, Presbyterian

183

17 February 1909

John Richard Henderson
Rosetta McIntosh

John Richard Henderson
Rosetta McIntosh
💍 1909/651

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

32
29

Auckland
Auckland

3 days
29 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Mt. Roskill

09/521

17 February 1909

Rev. J. G. Doherty, Methodist

No	183
Date of Notice	17 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Richard Henderson	Rosetta McIntosh
	💍 1909/651
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	32	29
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 days	29 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Mt. Roskill
Folio	09/521
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. Doherty, Methodist

184

17 February 1909

Henry Joseph Pearse
Agnes Brierly

Henry Joseph Pearse
Agnes Brierly
💍 1909/428

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraphist

29
27

Auckland
Auckland

3 days
20 years

All Saints Church, Ponsonby

09/291

17 February 1909

Ven. Archdeacon Calder, Anglican

No	184
Date of Notice	17 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Joseph Pearse	Agnes Brierly
	💍 1909/428
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist
Age	29	27
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Ponsonby
Folio	09/291
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon Calder, Anglican

185

17 February 1909

Alexander William McLearn
Joanna Power Norris

Alexander William McLean
Joanna Power Norris
💍 1909/270

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd

26
27

Auckland
Auckland

3 days
15 years

House of Mr. J. Ashdown, Remuera

09/109

17 February 1909

Rev. James Wilson, Methodist

No	185
Date of Notice	17 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander William McLearn	Joanna Power Norris
BDM Match (98%)	Alexander William McLean	Joanna Power Norris
	💍 1909/270
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 days	15 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. J. Ashdown, Remuera
Folio	09/109
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Wilson, 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).