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 031

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

154

9 February 1914

Thomas Pallister
Milborough May Woodcock

Thomas Pallister
Milborough May Woodcock
💍 1914/6658

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller

32
24

Auckland
Auckland

16 months
1 year

St. Barnabas Church, Mt. Eden

14/460

9 February 1914

Rev. E. J. McFarland

No	154
Date of Notice	9 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Pallister	Milborough May Woodcock
	💍 1914/6658
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller
Age	32	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	16 months	1 year
Marriage Place	St. Barnabas Church, Mt. Eden
Folio	14/460
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. J. McFarland

155

9 February 1914

Arthur McAleer
Louisa Prangnell

Arthur McAleer
Louisa Prangnell
💍 1914/6736

Bachelor
Divorced

Labourer

34
30

Auckland
Auckland

Life
6 years

Residence of Rev. W. A. Keay, 16 Williamson Avenue, Grey Lynn

14/592

9 February 1914

Rev. W. A. Keay

No	155
Date of Notice	9 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur McAleer	Louisa Prangnell
	💍 1914/6736
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced
Profession	Labourer
Age	34	30
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	Life	6 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. W. A. Keay, 16 Williamson Avenue, Grey Lynn
Folio	14/592
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Keay

156

9 February 1914

James How
Gwendoline Ellen McKenzie

James Stow
Gwendoline Ellen McKenzie
💍 1914/6818

Bachelor
Spinster

Flour Miller

24
19

Auckland
Auckland

Life
Life

House of Bride's Mother, 9 Garawa Street, Auckland

14/522

Alexander McKenzie, father

9 February 1914

Rev. R. L. Walker

No	156
Date of Notice	9 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James How	Gwendoline Ellen McKenzie
BDM Match (90%)	James Stow	Gwendoline Ellen McKenzie
	💍 1914/6818
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Flour Miller
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	House of Bride's Mother, 9 Garawa Street, Auckland
Folio	14/522
Consent	Alexander McKenzie, father
Date of Certificate	9 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. L. Walker

157

10 February 1914

Edward Percival Stratford
Olive Rita Bishop

Edward Percival Stratford
Olive Rita Bishop
💍 1914/6774

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller

26
25

Auckland
Auckland

6 years
Life

Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Auckland

14/606

10 February 1914

Rev. A. Richards

No	157
Date of Notice	10 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Percival Stratford	Olive Rita Bishop
	💍 1914/6774
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	6 years	Life
Marriage Place	Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Auckland
Folio	14/606
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Richards

158

10 February 1914

Alexander Bisset
Aline Constance Rutledge

Alexander Bisset
Aline Constance Rutledge
💍 1914/9355

Bachelor
Spinster

Police Constable

27
20

Wellington
Auckland

4 years
6 months

St. Paul's Church, Wellington

14/4348

L. N. Barrett, father

10 February 1914

Rev. C. A. B. Watson

No	158
Date of Notice	10 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Bisset	Aline Constance Rutledge
	💍 1914/9355
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Police Constable
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 years	6 months
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Wellington
Folio	14/4348
Consent	L. N. Barrett, father
Date of Certificate	10 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. A. B. Watson

159

10 February 1914

James Maurice Cossey
Beatrice Nellie Torrington

James Maurice Cossey
Beatrice Nellie Torrington
💍 1914/6752

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

24
23

Auckland
Auckland

3 days
2 years

House of Bride's Father, Herberg Road, Mt. Eden

14/587

10 February 1914

Rev. J. Olphert

No	159
Date of Notice	10 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Maurice Cossey	Beatrice Nellie Torrington
	💍 1914/6752
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	House of Bride's Father, Herberg Road, Mt. Eden
Folio	14/587
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Olphert

160

11 February 1914

Francis Joseph Christina
Sylvia Annie Erickson

Francis Joseph Sylvia
Emma Christina Annie Erickson
💍 1914/9351

Bachelor
Spinster

Mill Foreman

31
22

Auckland
Auckland

3 days
2 years

St. Paul's Church, Auckland

14/4345

11 February 1914

Rev. C. A. B. Watson

No	160
Date of Notice	11 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Joseph Christina	Sylvia Annie Erickson
BDM Match (65%)	Francis Joseph Sylvia	Emma Christina Annie Erickson
	💍 1914/9351
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mill Foreman
Age	31	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Auckland
Folio	14/4345
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. A. B. Watson

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).