Intentions to Marry, 1914 Auckland, Taranaki

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840454, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1914 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki (1914a), Wellington, Hawke's Bay, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1914b), and Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Chatham Islands (1914c).

Page 029

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 March 1914 Registrar THOMAS CULPAN

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

142

6 February 1914

John Hihow
Helen Annie Smith

John Lihon Edney
Ellen Annie Smith
💍 1914/9137

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer

21
19

Auckland
Auckland

2 yrs
2 yrs

Anglican Church, Oakhuhu

4209

Annie Smith, mother

6 February 1914

Rev. H. Mason

No	142
Date of Notice	6 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Hihow	Helen Annie Smith
BDM Match (69%)	John Lihon Edney	Ellen Annie Smith
	💍 1914/9137
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	2 yrs	2 yrs
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, Oakhuhu
Folio	4209
Consent	Annie Smith, mother
Date of Certificate	6 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Mason

143

6 February 1914

John William Wilde
Margaret Nolan Ryan

John William Wilde
Margaret Nolan Ryan
💍 1914/6737

Bachelor
Spinster

Presser

23
22

Auckland
Auckland

9 mos.
10 mos.

House of Mr. J. Pearsall, 104 Richmond Grey Road

593

6 February 1914

Rev. R. Mitchelle

No	143
Date of Notice	6 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Wilde	Margaret Nolan Ryan
	💍 1914/6737
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Presser
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	9 mos.	10 mos.
Marriage Place	House of Mr. J. Pearsall, 104 Richmond Grey Road
Folio	593
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Mitchelle

144

6 February 1914

Clyde Kennedy Smith
Louise Chapman

Clyde Kennedy Hay Smith
Louise Chapman
💍 1914/6749

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

28
31

Auckland
Auckland

6 yrs.
9 mos.

Office of Mr. Hayman, Phenic Chambers, Queen Street, Auckland

584

6 February 1914

Rev. J. J. Jones

No	144
Date of Notice	6 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Clyde Kennedy Smith	Louise Chapman
BDM Match (91%)	Clyde Kennedy Hay Smith	Louise Chapman
	💍 1914/6749
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	28	31
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	6 yrs.	9 mos.
Marriage Place	Office of Mr. Hayman, Phenic Chambers, Queen Street, Auckland
Folio	584
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Jones

145

7 February 1914

Percival Milward
Dora Lewis

Percival Milward
Dora Lewis
💍 1914/9349

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

40
26

Auckland
Auckland

3 days
3 days

St. Paul's Church, Auckland

43/43

7 February 1914

Rev. C. A. B. Watson

No	145
Date of Notice	7 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percival Milward	Dora Lewis
	💍 1914/9349
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	40	26
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Auckland
Folio	43/43
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. A. B. Watson

146

7 February 1914

Josephy Shaw
Margaret Spooner

Joseph Shaw
Margaret Spooner
💍 1914/6739

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer

46
39

Auckland
Auckland

9 yrs.
life

House of Bride's Mother, Ranfurly Road, Epsom

595

7 February 1914

Rev. D. D. Scott

No	146
Date of Notice	7 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Josephy Shaw	Margaret Spooner
BDM Match (96%)	Joseph Shaw	Margaret Spooner
	💍 1914/6739
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	46	39
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	9 yrs.	life
Marriage Place	House of Bride's Mother, Ranfurly Road, Epsom
Folio	595
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. D. Scott

147

7 February 1914

Edward Booker De Courcy
Bertha Essie May Parsons

Edward Booker De Couray
Bertha Essie May Parsons
💍 1914/6734

Bachelor
Spinster

Picture Frame Maker

36
20

Auckland
Auckland

life
life

Holy Trinity Church, Devonport

590

William Parsons, father

7 February 1914

Rev. J. W. Young

No	147
Date of Notice	7 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Booker De Courcy	Bertha Essie May Parsons
BDM Match (98%)	Edward Booker De Couray	Bertha Essie May Parsons
	💍 1914/6734
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Picture Frame Maker
Age	36	20
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	life	life
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Devonport
Folio	590
Consent	William Parsons, father
Date of Certificate	7 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Young

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).