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 391

District of Gisborne Quarter ending 30 September 1914

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

139

10 September 1914

Denis O'Dwyer
Sarah Fletcher

Dennis O'Dwyer
Sarah Fletcher
💍 1914/2603

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer
Domestic Duties

27
30

Motu
Mangapapa, Poverty Bay

Life
22 months

Sister Wallis' Private Hospital, Palmerston Road, Gisborne

6331

10 September 1914

Rev. John B. Carran, Roman Catholic Church

No	139
Date of Notice	10 September 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Denis O'Dwyer	Sarah Fletcher
BDM Match (96%)	Dennis O'Dwyer	Sarah Fletcher
	💍 1914/2603
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer	Domestic Duties
Age	27	30
Dwelling Place	Motu	Mangapapa, Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	Life	22 months
Marriage Place	Sister Wallis' Private Hospital, Palmerston Road, Gisborne
Folio	6331
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 September 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. John B. Carran, Roman Catholic Church

140

12 September 1914

Frederick John Simpson
Jessie Ann McPherson

Fredrick John Simpson
Jessie Ann McPherson
💍 1914/1073

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Station Manager
Household Duties

36
26

Wharerata, Poverty Bay
Wharerata, Poverty Bay

14 months
2 years

Private residence of the bride's parents, Rahotukapa, Wharerata

4766

12 September 1914

Rev. James Hoap, Presbyterian Minister, Morere

No	140
Date of Notice	12 September 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick John Simpson	Jessie Ann McPherson
BDM Match (98%)	Fredrick John Simpson	Jessie Ann McPherson
	💍 1914/1073
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Station Manager	Household Duties
Age	36	26
Dwelling Place	Wharerata, Poverty Bay	Wharerata, Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	14 months	2 years
Marriage Place	Private residence of the bride's parents, Rahotukapa, Wharerata
Folio	4766
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 September 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Hoap, Presbyterian Minister, Morere

141

12 September 1914

William Quinn
Mary Hannah W. Ewen

William Quinn
Mary Hannah McEwen
💍 1914/3016

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic Servant

27
21

Gisborne
Gisborne

2 years
3 years

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Gisborne

6793

12 September 1914

Rev. James B. Hall, Presbyterian Minister

No	141
Date of Notice	12 September 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Quinn	Mary Hannah W. Ewen
BDM Match (92%)	William Quinn	Mary Hannah McEwen
	💍 1914/3016
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic Servant
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	2 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Gisborne
Folio	6793
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 September 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. James B. Hall, Presbyterian Minister

142

17 September 1914

John Bolger
Laura Evelyn Patty

John Bolger
Laura Evelyn Patty
💍 1914/1085

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

27
18

Gisborne, Poverty Bay
Puha, Poverty Bay

20 months
12 years

The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

4777

John Stewart Patty (Father)

17 September 1914

Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

No	142
Date of Notice	17 September 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Bolger	Laura Evelyn Patty
	💍 1914/1085
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	27	18
Dwelling Place	Gisborne, Poverty Bay	Puha, Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	20 months	12 years
Marriage Place	The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne
Folio	4777
Consent	John Stewart Patty (Father)
Date of Certificate	17 September 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

143

17 September 1914

Horace Edwin Price
Margaret Grace Quinlan

Horace Edwin Price
Margaret Lucy Quinlan
💍 1914/1105

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Lady's Companion

26
21

Gisborne
Gisborne, Poverty Bay

5 days
5 years

St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Gisborne

4780

17 September 1914

Rev. John Golden, Roman Catholic Minister

No	143
Date of Notice	17 September 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Horace Edwin Price	Margaret Grace Quinlan
BDM Match (91%)	Horace Edwin Price	Margaret Lucy Quinlan
	💍 1914/1105
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Lady's Companion
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne, Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	5 days	5 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Gisborne
Folio	4780
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 September 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Golden, Roman Catholic Minister

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).