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 778

District of Eltham Quarter ending 30 June 1911 Registrar George D. Yow

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

316

21 June 1911

Arthur Hood
Sarah Evelyn Gardiner

Arthur Wood
Sarah Evelyn Gardiner
💍 1911/3176

Bachelor
Spinster

Dairy Factory Assistant
Domestic Duties

24
20

Eltham
Eltham

3 days
2 years

At the residence of Henry Gardiner, Chislehurst, Eltham

11/2449

Henry Gardiner, Father

21 June 1911

Rev. Raymond Richards

No	316
Date of Notice	21 June 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Hood	Sarah Evelyn Gardiner
BDM Match (95%)	Arthur Wood	Sarah Evelyn Gardiner
	💍 1911/3176
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dairy Factory Assistant	Domestic Duties
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Eltham	Eltham
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of Henry Gardiner, Chislehurst, Eltham
Folio	11/2449
Consent	Henry Gardiner, Father
Date of Certificate	21 June 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. Raymond Richards

317

21 June 1911

Ivor James Bridger
Catherine Stone

Ina James Bridger
Catherine Stone
💍 1911/3282

Bachelor
Spinster

Cycle Mechanic
Stenographer

25
22

Eltham
Eltham

14 years
3 days

At the Salvation Hall, Eltham

11/2973

21 June 1911

Adj. Andrew Gray

No	317
Date of Notice	21 June 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ivor James Bridger	Catherine Stone
BDM Match (92%)	Ina James Bridger	Catherine Stone
	💍 1911/3282
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cycle Mechanic	Stenographer
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Eltham	Eltham
Length of Residence	14 years	3 days
Marriage Place	At the Salvation Hall, Eltham
Folio	11/2973
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 June 1911
Officiating Minister	Adj. Andrew Gray

318

24 June 1911

Walter Owen Webby
Edith Jessie Phillips

Walter Owen Webby
Edith Jessie Phillips
💍 1911/5880

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

30
24

Eltham
Eltham

4 days
2 years

Knose Presbyterian Church

11/5470

24 June 1911

Rev. F. W. Robertson

No	318
Date of Notice	24 June 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Owen Webby	Edith Jessie Phillips
	💍 1911/5880
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Eltham	Eltham
Length of Residence	4 days	2 years
Marriage Place	Knose Presbyterian Church
Folio	11/5470
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 June 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. W. Robertson

319

24 June 1911

George Henry Clarry
Vera Kathleen Paterson

George Henry Clany
Vera Kathleen Waterson
💍 1911/2933

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic Duties

26
15

Eltham
Eltham

9 years
1 year

At the residence of Walter Clarry, Cornwall Street, Eltham

11/2619

Jane Elizabeth Paterson, Mother

24 June 1911

Rev. G. W. Dent

No	319
Date of Notice	24 June 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Clarry	Vera Kathleen Paterson
BDM Match (93%)	George Henry Clany	Vera Kathleen Waterson
	💍 1911/2933
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic Duties
Age	26	15
Dwelling Place	Eltham	Eltham
Length of Residence	9 years	1 year
Marriage Place	At the residence of Walter Clarry, Cornwall Street, Eltham
Folio	11/2619
Consent	Jane Elizabeth Paterson, Mother
Date of Certificate	24 June 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. W. Dent

320

28 June 1911

John Charles Christian Sixtus
Emily Frances Crosby

John Charles Christian Sixtus
Emily Frances Crosby
💍 1911/6128

Widower
Widow

Contractor
Domestic Duties

47
28

Eltham
Eltham

12 years
13 years

All Saints Church, Eltham

11/6019

28 June 1911

Rev. G. W. Dent

No	320
Date of Notice	28 June 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Charles Christian Sixtus	Emily Frances Crosby
	💍 1911/6128
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Contractor	Domestic Duties
Age	47	28
Dwelling Place	Eltham	Eltham
Length of Residence	12 years	13 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Eltham
Folio	11/6019
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 June 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. W. Dent

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).