Intentions to Marry, 1892

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840404, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, May 28 2025

Page 237

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 December 1892

No	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
282	20 October 1892	Timothy Cornehan Kate Brosnan	Timothy Counihan Kate Brosnan 💍 1892/3238	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	30 24	Wellington Wellington	4 days years	St. Mary's Catholic	92/3328		20 October 1892	Revd. J. Dawson
283	21 October 1892	Edward Elliston Annie Williams	Edward Elliston Annie Williams 💍 1892/3140	Bachelor Spinster	Publican	40 18	Wellington Upper Hutt	3 days years	Registrars office Wellington	92/3367	No relation in Colony	4 November 1892	W. Wrigg
284	24 October 1892	Alfred Charles Robinson Minnie Dixon Campbell	Alfred Charles Robinson Minnie Dixon Campbell 💍 1892/3239	Bachelor Spinster	Bookmaker	22 22	Wellington Wellington	years years	Wesleyan Church Taranaki Street	92/3347		24 October 1892	Revd. J. J. Lewis
285	25 October 1892	George Bonar Wright Christina Henary	George Bonar Wright Christina Hendry 💍 1892/3755	Bachelor Spinster	Curver & Gilder	35 29	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Bridegroom Erakina Road	92/4003		25 October 1892	Very Revd. I. Deory
286	27 October 1892	Jeremiah O'Keeffe Mary O'Sullivan	Jeremiah OKeefe Mary OSullivan 💍 1892/3099	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	29 25	Wellington Wellington	10 months years	St. Mary's of the Angels Boulcott Street	92/3301		27 October 1892	Revd. J. G. Chapman
287	27 October 1892	William Benson Agnes Robertson	William Benson Agnes Robertson 💍 1892/3232 William Phillipps Amy Robertson 💍 1892/3605	Widower Widow	Farmer	64 38	Takapu Johnsonville	years years	Wesleyan Church Molesworth Street	92/3340		27 October 1892	Revd. W. C. Waters
288	1 November 1892	William Journat Maud Matilda Revell	William Jounax Maude Matilda Revell 💍 1892/3120	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith	22 19	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Peter's Church	92/3322	Revell Father	1 November 1892	Revd. J. G. Chapman
289	3 November 1892	Arthur de Castro Edith Fletcher	Arthur de Castro Edith Fletcher 💍 1892/3234	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	25 20	Wellington Wellington	years years	Wesley Church Taranaki Street	92/3342	Joseph William Fletcher Father	3 November 1892	Revd. Alfred Peters
290	3 November 1892	John Southern Handley Nellie Gibbs	John Southern Handley Nellie Gibbs 💍 1892/3246	Bachelor Spinster	Cabinetmaker	29 21	Wellington Wellington	4 days years	House of Mr. Gibbs, Finlay Terrace	92/3332		3 November 1892	Revd. Alfred Peters
291	3 November 1892	Alexander William Wakelin Records Elizabeth Lane Gibbs	Alexander William Record Wakelin Elizabeth Lane Gibbs 💍 1892/3245	Bachelor Spinster	Compositor	22 24	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. Gibbs, Finlay Terrace	92/3331		3 November 1892	W. Wrigg
292	5 November 1892	Robert Alfred Came Bowtell Agnes Louise Ireland	Robert Alfred Bowtell Cane Agnes Louise Ireland 💍 1892/3136	Bachelor Spinster	Musician	30 21	Wellington Wellington	14 days years	Registrars office Wellington	92/3363		5 November 1892	Revd. J. K. Ellery
293	7 November 1892	Robert Smith Philadelphia Smith	Robert Smith Philadelpha Smith 💍 1892/3150	Bachelor Widow	Mariner	42 44	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Bride Hospital Road	92/3353		7 November 1892	Very Revd. C. O. Mules
294	7 November 1892	Henry Curnow Ada Laura Hyde	Henry Curuow Ada Laura Hyde 💍 1892/3207	Bachelor Spinster	Banker	33 23	Wellington Nelson	years 1 day	Anglican Cathedral Nelson	92/3461		7 November 1892	Revd. G. K. Ellery
295	8 November 1892	John Southwood Punkey Barbara Keith Ease	John Southwood Pinhey Barbara Ceith Davie 💍 1892/3152	Bachelor Spinster	Station Hand	27 25	Wellington Wellington	4 days years	Presbyterian Church Kent Terrace	92/3355		8 November 1892	Revd. G. K. Ellery
296	8 November 1892	James William Black Emily Fletcher	James William Black Emily Fletcher 💍 1892/3233	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	23 22	Wellington Wellington	years years	Wesley Church Taranaki Street	92/3341		8 November 1892	Revd. J. G. Chapman

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 1894. More registers will be added as the project continues.

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).