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 033

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

167

12 February 1914

Henry William Adsett
Lucy Constance Morris

Henry William Adsett
Lucy Constance Morris
💍 1914/452

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmiller

23
22

Auckland
Auckland

4 days
4 days

Registrar's Office, Auckland

143

12 February 1914

Registrar

No	167
Date of Notice	12 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry William Adsett	Lucy Constance Morris
	💍 1914/452
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmiller
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Auckland
Folio	143
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar

168

12 February 1914

Robert Bernard Gerring
Margaret McCowan

Robert Bernard Gerring
Margaret McCowan
💍 1914/6824

Bachelor
Spinster

Marine Engineer

35
29

Auckland
Auckland

6 months
3 years

All Saints Church, Ponsonby

505

12 February 1914

Archd. W. Calder

No	168
Date of Notice	12 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Bernard Gerring	Margaret McCowan
	💍 1914/6824
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Marine Engineer
Age	35	29
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	6 months	3 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Ponsonby
Folio	505
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Archd. W. Calder

169

12 February 1914

Tom Wray
Ruth Esther Funke

Tom Wray
Ruth Esther Fiinke
💍 1914/6738

Widower
Spinster

Tramway Motorman

34
22

Auckland
Auckland

9 months
1 year

Knox Presbyterian Church, Parnell

594

12 February 1914

Rev. R. Inglis

No	169
Date of Notice	12 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Tom Wray	Ruth Esther Funke
BDM Match (94%)	Tom Wray	Ruth Esther Fiinke
	💍 1914/6738
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Tramway Motorman
Age	34	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	9 months	1 year
Marriage Place	Knox Presbyterian Church, Parnell
Folio	594
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Inglis

170

12 February 1914

Ernest Edward Williams
Olive Rachael Kay

Ernest Edward Williams
Olive Rachael Kay
💍 1914/455

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

25
28

Auckland
Auckland

1 year
Life

Registrar's Office, Auckland

145

12 February 1914

Registrar

No	170
Date of Notice	12 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Edward Williams	Olive Rachael Kay
	💍 1914/455
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	25	28
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	1 year	Life
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Auckland
Folio	145
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar

171

12 February 1914

George Marett
Martha Cecilia Catherine Nixon

George Marett
Martha Cecilia Catherine Nixon
💍 1914/6740

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber

28
21

Auckland
Auckland

Life
5 years

House of Mr. H. Marett, "Mavis Villa", Eden Street, Newmarket

596

12 February 1914

Rev. W. A. Burley

No	171
Date of Notice	12 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Marett	Martha Cecilia Catherine Nixon
	💍 1914/6740
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	Life	5 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. H. Marett, "Mavis Villa", Eden Street, Newmarket
Folio	596
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Burley

172

12 February 1914

Cecil Matthews
Ethel Cowley

Cecil Matthews
Ethel Cowley
💍 1914/6741

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter & Joiner

29
30

Auckland
Auckland

5 years
Life

St. John's Church, Ponsonby

597

12 February 1914

Rev. W. A. Burley

No	172
Date of Notice	12 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cecil Matthews	Ethel Cowley
	💍 1914/6741
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter & Joiner
Age	29	30
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	5 years	Life
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Ponsonby
Folio	597
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Burley

173

12 February 1914

Joseph Patrick Caundle
Ellen May Spinker

Joseph Patrick
Ellen May Caundle
💍 1914/961

Bachelor
Spinster

Locomotive Engineer

28
23

Auckland
Helensville

3 years
Life

Church of England, Helensville

4627

12 February 1914

Rev. C. J. Merton

No	173
Date of Notice	12 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Patrick Caundle	Ellen May Spinker
BDM Match (64%)	Joseph Patrick	Ellen May Caundle
	💍 1914/961
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Locomotive Engineer
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Helensville
Length of Residence	3 years	Life
Marriage Place	Church of England, Helensville
Folio	4627
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. J. Merton

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).