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 375

District of Gisborne Quarter ending 30 June 1914 Registrar Henry Ewart Hill

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

3 April 1914

Horace Simkin
Florence Grey

Horace Simkin
Florence Grey
💍 1914/5632

Bachelor
Spinster

Silversmith
Domestic Servant

31
30

Matawhero, Poverty Bay
Makaraka

9 years
3 years

The Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

3042

3 April 1914

Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

No	63
Date of Notice	3 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Horace Simkin	Florence Grey
	💍 1914/5632
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Silversmith	Domestic Servant
Age	31	30
Dwelling Place	Matawhero, Poverty Bay	Makaraka
Length of Residence	9 years	3 years
Marriage Place	The Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne
Folio	3042
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

6 April 1914

John Frederick Adolph Clausen
Rose Isabella Currie

John Frederick Adolph Hansen
Rose Isabella Currie
💍 1914/9027

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Domestic Duties

23
25

Pouawa
Mangapapa, Poverty Bay

Life
Life

Private residence of the bride's parents, Mangapapa, Poverty Bay

4096

6 April 1914

Rev. John Golden, Roman Catholic Minister

No	64
Date of Notice	6 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Frederick Adolph Clausen	Rose Isabella Currie
BDM Match (95%)	John Frederick Adolph Hansen	Rose Isabella Currie
	💍 1914/9027
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic Duties
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	Pouawa	Mangapapa, Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Private residence of the bride's parents, Mangapapa, Poverty Bay
Folio	4096
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Golden, Roman Catholic Minister

7 April 1914

John Majoribanks Steele
Harriet North

John Marjoribanks Steele
Harriet Korth
💍 1914/8881

Bachelor
Divorced

Commission Agent
Domestic Duties

47
39

Auckland
Gisborne

2 years
18 months

St. David's Presbyterian Church, Auckland

2806

7 April 1914

Rev. John W. Saunders, Presbyterian Minister

No	65
Date of Notice	7 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Majoribanks Steele	Harriet North
BDM Match (94%)	John Marjoribanks Steele	Harriet Korth
	💍 1914/8881
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced
Profession	Commission Agent	Domestic Duties
Age	47	39
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Gisborne
Length of Residence	2 years	18 months
Marriage Place	St. David's Presbyterian Church, Auckland
Folio	2806
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. John W. Saunders, Presbyterian Minister

8 April 1914

John Matthews
Ada Emma Winifred Brinson

John Matthews
Ada Emma Winifred Brinson
💍 1914/5633

Bachelor
Spinster

Foreman, Railway Department
Domestic Help

23
20

Otoleo
Otoleo, Poverty Bay

18 months
18 months

The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

3043

Ada Emma Winifred Brinson, Mother

8 April 1914

Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

No	66
Date of Notice	8 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Matthews	Ada Emma Winifred Brinson
	💍 1914/5633
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Foreman, Railway Department	Domestic Help
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Otoleo	Otoleo, Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	18 months	18 months
Marriage Place	The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne
Folio	3043
Consent	Ada Emma Winifred Brinson, Mother
Date of Certificate	8 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

9 April 1914

Hector Munroe Puffett
Alice Blanche Cook

Hector Munroe Puflett
Alice Blanche Cook
💍 1914/624

Widower
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic Duties

28
32

Gisborne
Tolaga Bay

4 years
4 days

Church of England, Tolaga Bay

2539

9 April 1914

Rev. Geo. Young Woodward, Church of England, Tolaga Bay

No	67
Date of Notice	9 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hector Munroe Puffett	Alice Blanche Cook
BDM Match (98%)	Hector Munroe Puflett	Alice Blanche Cook
	💍 1914/624
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic Duties
Age	28	32
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Tolaga Bay
Length of Residence	4 years	4 days
Marriage Place	Church of England, Tolaga Bay
Folio	2539
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. Young Woodward, Church of England, Tolaga Bay

9 April 1914

Charles Henry Moran
Myrtle Swanson

Charles Henry Moran
Myrtle Swainson
💍 1914/5506

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

25
22

Hangaroa, Poverty Bay
Te Karaka, Poverty Bay

5 years
22 years

Private residence of the bride's parents, Te Karaka, Poverty Bay

3061

9 April 1914

Rev. James B. Hall, Presbyterian Minister, Ormond

No	68
Date of Notice	9 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Moran	Myrtle Swanson
BDM Match (97%)	Charles Henry Moran	Myrtle Swainson
	💍 1914/5506
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Hangaroa, Poverty Bay	Te Karaka, Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	5 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Private residence of the bride's parents, Te Karaka, Poverty Bay
Folio	3061
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. James B. Hall, Presbyterian Minister, Ormond

9 April 1914

Maurice Alwyn Adams
Lily Williamson

Maurice Alwyn Adams
Lily Williamson
💍 1914/5634

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Tailoress

30
30

Gisborne
Gisborne

5 years
5 months

The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

3044

9 April 1914

Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

No	69
Date of Notice	9 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Maurice Alwyn Adams	Lily Williamson
	💍 1914/5634
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Tailoress
Age	30	30
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	5 years	5 months
Marriage Place	The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne
Folio	3044
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

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).