Intentions to Marry, 1915 Albertland to Hamilton

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840457, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1915 is bound in six volumes (a to f) with continuous page numbers. Each volume contains a different set of districts, going from north to south.

1915a contains pages 1-518, covering districts from Albertland to Hamilton

Page 429

District of Drury Quarter ending 30 June 1905 Registrar George Thomas James

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

7 April 1915

William John Hogan
Ellen Farquharson

William John Hogan
Ellan Farquharson
💍 1915/10389

Bachelor
Divorced

Laborer
Domestic

29
23

Ta Kanini
Ta Kanini

6 days
6 days

Office of Registry of Marriages Papakura

3095

7 April 1915

G.J James Registrar of Marriages Papakura

No	5
Date of Notice	7 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Hogan	Ellen Farquharson
BDM Match (97%)	William John Hogan	Ellan Farquharson
	💍 1915/10389
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced
Profession	Laborer	Domestic
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Ta Kanini	Ta Kanini
Length of Residence	6 days	6 days
Marriage Place	Office of Registry of Marriages Papakura
Folio	3095
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 April 1915
Officiating Minister	G.J James Registrar of Marriages Papakura

7 April 1915

George Frederick Cossey
Agnes Georgina Heard

George Frederick Cossey
Agnes Georgina Heard
💍 1915/4545

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic

28
29

Clevedon
Drury

6 weeks
3 days

Anglican Church Papakura

6/69

7 April 1915

Rev W.C. Wood

No	6
Date of Notice	7 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Frederick Cossey	Agnes Georgina Heard
	💍 1915/4545
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic
Age	28	29
Dwelling Place	Clevedon	Drury
Length of Residence	6 weeks	3 days
Marriage Place	Anglican Church Papakura
Folio	6/69
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev W.C. Wood

21 April 1915

Wycliffe Brooks
Margaret Johnston

Wycliffe Brooks
Margaret Johnston
💍 1915/1202

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

29
22

Drury
Runciman

Life
4 years

Presbyterian Church Drury

3093

21 April 1915

Rev J.D.C. madill

No	7
Date of Notice	21 April 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Wycliffe Brooks	Margaret Johnston
	💍 1915/1202
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Drury	Runciman
Length of Residence	Life	4 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Drury
Folio	3093
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 April 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev J.D.C. madill

24th May 1915

David Hull
Emma Greenfield

David Hull
Emma Greenfield
💍 1915/4547

Bachelor
Spinster

Buttermaker
Domestic

26
24

Clevedon
Clevedon

2 weeks
5 years

All Saints. Anglican Church Clevedon

6771

24 May 1915

Rev W.C. Wood

No	8
Date of Notice	24th May 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Hull	Emma Greenfield
	💍 1915/4547
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Buttermaker	Domestic
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Clevedon	Clevedon
Length of Residence	2 weeks	5 years
Marriage Place	All Saints. Anglican Church Clevedon
Folio	6771
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 May 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev W.C. Wood

28th June 1915

Athol alfred Hooper Hitchcock
Ailen Dorothy Waters

Athol Alfred Hooper Hitchcock
Aleen Dorothy Waters
💍 1915/4546

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

32
20

Russell
Clevedon

3 years
20 years

All Souls Church Clevedon

6770

Alfred Waters Father

28 June 1915

Rev W.C. Wood

No	9
Date of Notice	28th June 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Athol alfred Hooper Hitchcock	Ailen Dorothy Waters
BDM Match (93%)	Athol Alfred Hooper Hitchcock	Aleen Dorothy Waters
	💍 1915/4546
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	32	20
Dwelling Place	Russell	Clevedon
Length of Residence	3 years	20 years
Marriage Place	All Souls Church Clevedon
Folio	6770
Consent	Alfred Waters Father
Date of Certificate	28 June 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev W.C. Wood

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).