Intentions to Marry, 1911 Auckland, Taranaki

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840445, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1911 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, (1911a), Hawke's Bay, Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1911b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1911c).

Page 294

District of Gisborne Quarter ending 31 March 1911 Registrar Henry Ewart Hill

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

15 March 1911

Osborne Southwood
Hoyle Wall

Widower

Carpenter

48 years

Gisborne
Poverty Bay

1 year
1 year

The office of The Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

11/415

15 March 1911

Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

No	44
Date of Notice	15 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Osborne Southwood	Hoyle Wall
Condition	Widower
Profession	Carpenter
Age	48 years
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	1 year	1 year
Marriage Place	The office of The Registrar of Marriages Gisborne
Folio	11/415
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1911
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

18 March 1911

Francis Norman Western
Louisa Lily Whitehead

Bachelor
Divorced

Carpenter
Domestic Duties

28 years
30 years

Gisborne
Poverty Bay

6 months
6 months

The Presbyterian Church Manse Gisborne

11/368

18 March 1911

Rev William Grant Presbyterian Minister

No	45
Date of Notice	18 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Norman Western	Louisa Lily Whitehead
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic Duties
Age	28 years	30 years
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	6 months	6 months
Marriage Place	The Presbyterian Church Manse Gisborne
Folio	11/368
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 March 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev William Grant Presbyterian Minister

22 March 1911

Adam Knox
Anna Belle Cushnie

Bachelor
Spinster

Drover
Domestic Servant

24 years
24 years

Matawhero
Poverty Bay

15 months
15 months

The Church of England Te Karaka

11/209

22 March 1911

Rev Theodore Albert Meyer Church of England

No	46
Date of Notice	22 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Adam Knox	Anna Belle Cushnie
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Drover	Domestic Servant
Age	24 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Matawhero	Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	15 months	15 months
Marriage Place	The Church of England Te Karaka
Folio	11/209
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 March 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev Theodore Albert Meyer Church of England

22 March 1911

Joseph Surguiski
Nellie Thompson

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

37 years
21 years

Gisborne
Kaiteratahi

12 years
12 years

The office of The Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

11/417

22 March 1911

Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

No	47
Date of Notice	22 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Surguiski	Nellie Thompson
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	37 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Kaiteratahi
Length of Residence	12 years	12 years
Marriage Place	The office of The Registrar of Marriages Gisborne
Folio	11/417
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 March 1911
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

23 March 1911

Colin Taplin McDonald
Margaret Voitrekovsky

Colin Taplin McDonald
Elizabeth Gow Kroon
💍 1911/823

Bachelor
A married woman whose husband has been continually absent from her for 7 years past & she not knowing at any time whether he was alive or dead.

Cook
Nurse

23 years
40 years

Gisborne
Poverty Bay

6 months
8 years

Private residence of the mother of the bridegroom 405 Ormond Road

11/297

23 March 1911

Rev Leslie G Thomas Church of England

No	48
Date of Notice	23 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Colin Taplin McDonald	Margaret Voitrekovsky
BDM Match (62%)	Colin Taplin McDonald	Elizabeth Gow Kroon
	💍 1911/823
Condition	Bachelor	A married woman whose husband has been continually absent from her for 7 years past & she not knowing at any time whether he was alive or dead.
Profession	Cook	Nurse
Age	23 years	40 years
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	6 months	8 years
Marriage Place	Private residence of the mother of the bridegroom 405 Ormond Road
Folio	11/297
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 March 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev Leslie G Thomas Church of England

29 March 1911

John Mackay
Elizabeth Low Stroom

John Lucas
Elizabeth Jane Cross
💍 1911/1532

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer
Housemaid

52 years
21 years

Gisborne
Poverty Bay

6 days
6 days

St Andrews Presbyterian Church Gisborne

11/369

29 March 1911

Rev William Grant Presbyterian Minister

No	49
Date of Notice	29 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Mackay	Elizabeth Low Stroom
BDM Match (62%)	John Lucas	Elizabeth Jane Cross
	💍 1911/1532
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer	Housemaid
Age	52 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	6 days	6 days
Marriage Place	St Andrews Presbyterian Church Gisborne
Folio	11/369
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 March 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev William Grant Presbyterian Minister

29 March 1911

Allan Gottlieb Slight
Caroline Jane Simmons

Allan Gotthieb Slight
Elsie May Smith
💍 1911/4086

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic Duties

23 years
42 years

MaRauri, Gisborne
Poverty Bay

18 months
4 days

Holy Trinity Church Gisborne

11/388

29 March 1911

Rev Leslie G Thomas Church of England

No	50
Date of Notice	29 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Allan Gottlieb Slight	Caroline Jane Simmons
BDM Match (64%)	Allan Gotthieb Slight	Elsie May Smith
	💍 1911/4086
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic Duties
Age	23 years	42 years
Dwelling Place	MaRauri, Gisborne	Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	18 months	4 days
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church Gisborne
Folio	11/388
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 March 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev Leslie G Thomas Church of England

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).