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 363

District of Auckland 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
444	14 November 1892	Charles Baillie Eliza Helen Armstrong	Charles Baillie Elizabeth Helen Armstrong 💍 1892/2876	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	40 36	Whangaparaoa Whangaparaoa	2 yrs 2 yrs	Registrars Office	92/3115		14 November 1892	Reg. of Marriages
445	15 November 1892	Henry Thomas Alice Abercrombie	Henry Thomas Alice Abercrombie 💍 1892/2845	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	27 20	Richmond Richmond	6 mos 20 mos	Dwelling of George Abercrombie	92/3068	George Abercrombie, Father	15 November 1892	Rev. J. Blaikie
446	15 November 1892	Jasper Bamford Ward Eliza Jane Dixon	Jasper Haniford Ward Eliza Jane Dixon 💍 1892/2811	Bachelor Spinster	Painter	24 22	Surrey Hills Mt. Eden	6 mos 10 yrs	Dwelling of George Aldridge	92/3058	Mr. George Aldridge	15 November 1892	Mr. George Aldridge
447	16 November 1892	Robert Henry Beattie Sarah Locke	Robert Henry Beattie Sarah Locke 💍 1892/2887	Widower Spinster	Theatrical Agent	37 27	Auckland Masterton	6 mos 5 mos	Registrars Office	92/3116		16 November 1892	Depy. Reg. Marriages
448	19 November 1892	Thos. Wm. Geisler Jessie Barron	Thomas William Hewitt Jessie Barron 💍 1892/2894	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	21 16	Auckland Auckland	2 yrs 16 mos	Registrars Office	92/3117	William Barron, Father	19 November 1892	Depy. Reg. Marriages
449	19 November 1892	Benjamin Johnson Annie Brooks	Benjamin Johnson Annie Brooks 💍 1892/2895	Bachelor Spinster	Carter	25 21	Newton Rocky Nook	25 mos 4 mos	Registrars Office	92/3118		19 November 1892	Depy. Reg. Marriages
450	18 November 1892	David Simpson Mary Matilda Jaffrey	David Simpson Mary Matilda Jaffrey 💍 1892/2765	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	27 26	Palmerston North Auckland	18 mos 26 yrs	Dwelling of Mr. Jaffrey	92/3011		18 November 1892	Rev. J. Burg

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).