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 034

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

139

8 February 1909

Peter Stanley Sherratt
Barrie Evaline Giles

Peter Stanley Sherratt
Carrie Evaline Giles
💍 1909/575

Bachelor
Spinster

Surveyor

26
22

Auckland
Auckland

10 years
22 years

Knox Church Parnell

09/468

8 February 1909

Rev. J. M. Simpson, Presbyterian

No	139
Date of Notice	8 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Stanley Sherratt	Barrie Evaline Giles
BDM Match (98%)	Peter Stanley Sherratt	Carrie Evaline Giles
	💍 1909/575
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Surveyor
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	10 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Knox Church Parnell
Folio	09/468
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Simpson, Presbyterian

140

8 February 1909

Henry James Hoshua
Edith Hannah Smytheman

Henry James Joshua Granger
Edith Hannah Smytheman
💍 1909/326

Bachelor
Spinster

Plasterer

32
31

Auckland
Auckland

2 years
4 years

St. Mathew's Church Auckland

09/189

8 February 1909

Rev. W. G. Gillam, Anglican

No	140
Date of Notice	8 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry James Hoshua	Edith Hannah Smytheman
BDM Match (83%)	Henry James Joshua Granger	Edith Hannah Smytheman
	💍 1909/326
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plasterer
Age	32	31
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	2 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Mathew's Church Auckland
Folio	09/189
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. G. Gillam, Anglican

141

8 February 1909

Charles Henry Selbie
Violet Amelia Ward

Charles Henry Selbie
Violet Amelia Ward
💍 1909/325

Bachelor
Spinster

Commission Agent

26
25

Auckland
Auckland

3 days
3 days

St. Mathew's Church Auckland

09/188

8 February 1909

Rev. W. G. Gillam, Anglican

No	141
Date of Notice	8 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Selbie	Violet Amelia Ward
	💍 1909/325
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commission Agent
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Mathew's Church Auckland
Folio	09/188
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. G. Gillam, Anglican

142

8 February 1909

James Knox Kay
Christina McDonald

James Knox Kay
Christina McDonald
💍 1909/561

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor

27
24

Auckland
Scotland

3 months
24 years

House of Rev. M. Walker, Wellington Street

09/453

8 February 1909

Rev. M. Walker, Church of Our Father

No	142
Date of Notice	8 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Knox Kay	Christina McDonald
	💍 1909/561
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Scotland
Length of Residence	3 months	24 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. M. Walker, Wellington Street
Folio	09/453
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Walker, Church of Our Father

143

8 February 1909

Perrier O'Hara
Oline Katrine Johannessen

Perrier O'Hara
Olive Katrine Johannessen
💍 1909/285

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman

26
19

Auckland
Mount Roskill

3 years
19 years

House of Father of Bride, Mount Roskill

09/144

Johannessen, Father

8 February 1909

Rev. W. G. Dixon, Presbyterian

No	143
Date of Notice	8 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Perrier O'Hara	Oline Katrine Johannessen
BDM Match (98%)	Perrier O'Hara	Olive Katrine Johannessen
	💍 1909/285
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Mount Roskill
Length of Residence	3 years	19 years
Marriage Place	House of Father of Bride, Mount Roskill
Folio	09/144
Consent	Johannessen, Father
Date of Certificate	8 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. G. Dixon, Presbyterian

144

8 February 1909

Edwin Welsh
Sarah Caroline Manson

Edwin Welsh
Sarah Caroline Manson
💍 1909/419

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

22
23

Auckland
Otahuhu

2 years
12 years

House of Father of Bride, Otahuhu

09/233

8 February 1909

Rev. O. G. McHattie, Baptist

No	144
Date of Notice	8 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin Welsh	Sarah Caroline Manson
	💍 1909/419
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Otahuhu
Length of Residence	2 years	12 years
Marriage Place	House of Father of Bride, Otahuhu
Folio	09/233
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. O. G. McHattie, Baptist

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).