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 856

District of Stratford Quarter ending 31 March 1911 Registrar S. St James

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

4 January 1911

William Hancox
Jessie Moffett

William Hancox
Jessie Moffett
💍 1911/1841

Widower
Spinster

Carrier

36
22

Whangamomona
Cardiff

5 months
4 months

Office of the Registrar at Stratford

11/937

4 January 1911

E. F. Hemingway Deputy Registrar

No	1
Date of Notice	4 January 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Hancox	Jessie Moffett
	💍 1911/1841
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Carrier
Age	36	22
Dwelling Place	Whangamomona	Cardiff
Length of Residence	5 months	4 months
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar at Stratford
Folio	11/937
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 January 1911
Officiating Minister	E. F. Hemingway Deputy Registrar

9 January 1911

William Diamond
Angelina Gooseman

William Diamond
Angelina Gooseman
💍 1911/1840

Bachelor
Widow

Scenic Artist
Theatrical Proprietress

33
39

Auckland
Auckland

33 years
30 years

Office of the Registrar at Stratford

11/936

9 January 1911

S. St James Registrar

No	2
Date of Notice	9 January 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Diamond	Angelina Gooseman
	💍 1911/1840
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Scenic Artist	Theatrical Proprietress
Age	33	39
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	33 years	30 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar at Stratford
Folio	11/936
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 January 1911
Officiating Minister	S. St James Registrar

20 January 1911

Alfred Coleman
Georgina Mary Kirkwood

Alfred Coleman
Georgina Mary Kirkwood
💍 1911/1413

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

29
25

Stratford
Stratford

10 years
11 years

Roman Catholic Church at Stratford

11/906

20 January 1911

Rev. Father P. Treacy, Roman Catholic

No	3
Date of Notice	20 January 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Coleman	Georgina Mary Kirkwood
	💍 1911/1413
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Stratford	Stratford
Length of Residence	10 years	11 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church at Stratford
Folio	11/906
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 January 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father P. Treacy, Roman Catholic

8 February 1911

Henry Sowerby
Mary Alice Maru

Henry Sowerby
Mary Alice Maru
💍 1911/1449

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

38
19

Mangaweka
Stratford

6 years
2 years

Presbyterian Church at Stratford

11/868

Alladeary Maru, father

8 February 1911

Rev. J. M. Thomson, Presbyterian

No	4
Date of Notice	8 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Sowerby	Mary Alice Maru
	💍 1911/1449
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	38	19
Dwelling Place	Mangaweka	Stratford
Length of Residence	6 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church at Stratford
Folio	11/868
Consent	Alladeary Maru, father
Date of Certificate	8 February 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Thomson, Presbyterian

13 February 1911

Thomas Vickers
Cherry Isabella Patchell

Thomas Vickers
Cherry Isabella Patchrell
💍 1911/1450

Widower
Spinster

Farmer

48
27

Tuna
Hawera

27 years
10 years

Presbyterian Church at Stratford

11/869

13 February 1911

Rev. J. M. Thomson, Presbyterian

No	5
Date of Notice	13 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Vickers	Cherry Isabella Patchell
BDM Match (98%)	Thomas Vickers	Cherry Isabella Patchrell
	💍 1911/1450
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	48	27
Dwelling Place	Tuna	Hawera
Length of Residence	27 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church at Stratford
Folio	11/869
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Thomson, Presbyterian

20 February 1911

John William Eversfield
Florence Catherine O'Connor

John William Eversfield
Florence Catherine OConnor
💍 1911/1414

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

24
23

Opunake
Stratford

3 years
3 years

Roman Catholic Church, Stratford

11/907

20 February 1911

Rev. Father P. Treacy, Roman Catholic

No	6
Date of Notice	20 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Eversfield	Florence Catherine O'Connor
BDM Match (98%)	John William Eversfield	Florence Catherine OConnor
	💍 1911/1414
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Opunake	Stratford
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Stratford
Folio	11/907
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father P. Treacy, Roman Catholic

25 February 1911

Alfred James Hayes
Fanny Louisa Kash

Alfred James Hayes
Fanny Louisa Lash
💍 1911/1842

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

35
34

Waverley
New Plymouth

15 years
4 years

Office of the Registrar at Stratford

11/938

28 February 1911

S. St James Registrar

No	7
Date of Notice	25 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred James Hayes	Fanny Louisa Kash
BDM Match (97%)	Alfred James Hayes	Fanny Louisa Lash
	💍 1911/1842
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	35	34
Dwelling Place	Waverley	New Plymouth
Length of Residence	15 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar at Stratford
Folio	11/938
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 February 1911
Officiating Minister	S. St James Registrar

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).