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 534

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 30 September 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
759	11 August 1892	William Henry Stevent Letitia McKeage	William Henry Stevens Letitia McKeage 💍 1892/2500	Bachelor Spinster	Station Overseer	32 21	Coldstream Lowcliffe	10 years 7 years	Private Dwellinghouse of James McKeage, Lowcliffe	92/2610		11 August 1892	Revd. A. Blake
760	12 August 1892	Charles Bishop Sarah Irvine	Charles Bishop Sarah Irvine 💍 1892/3042	Widower Widow	Contractor	53 53	Ashburton North Ashburton North	7 days 7 days	Registrar's Office	92/2621		12 August 1892	J. Ward, Registrar
761	15 August 1892	Arthur James Walker Grace Amelia Steele	Arthur James Walker Grace Amelia Steele 💍 1892/2501	Bachelor Spinster	Engineer	29 20	Ashburton Allenton	3 days 7 years	Baptist Church	92/2611	John Steele, Father	15 August 1892	Revd. J. W. Bawle
762	16 August 1892	Thomas Froudwell Jane Sarah Jane Scott	Thomas Snoswell Sarah Jane Scott 💍 1892/3038	Widower Widow	Gentleman	64 63	Ashburton Ashburton	4 days 10 months	Private Dwellinghouse at George G. Scott at Ashburton	92/2617		16 August 1892	Revd. A. M. Beattie
763	19 August 1892	John Brown Eliza Cunningham	John Brown Eliza Cunningham 💍 1892/3039	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic Servant	39 29	Wakanui Wakanui	17 years 6 months	Presbyterian Manse, Ashburton	92/2618		19 August 1892	Revd. A. M. Beattie
764	23 August 1892	Robert McCallum Agnes Mirta Graham	Robert McCallum Agnes McFarlane Graham 💍 1892/3040	Widower Spinster	Grocer Weaver	49 33	Ashburton Allenton	14 years 3 years	Presbyterian Manse	92/2619		23 August 1892	Revd. A. M. Beattie
765	1 September 1892	Thomas Withman Isabel Caincross	Thomas Hickman Isabel Cairncross 💍 1892/3019	Bachelor Spinster	Contractor Dressmaker	23 26	Tinwald Tinwald	14 years 10 years	Registrar's Office	92/2622		1 September 1892	J. Ward, Registrar
766	10 September 1892	Frederick Haar Alice Aukram	Friederich Haar Alice Auckram 💍 1892/2502	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic Servant	27 23	Ashburton Ashburton	3 days 2 years	St. Stephen's Church	92/2612	E. A. Scott	10 September 1892	Revd. M. F. Chastagnon
767	12 September 1892	Edward James Price Bridget Nolan	Edward James Price Bridget Nolan 💍 1892/2498	Bachelor Spinster	Horse trainer	24 19	Ashburton Ashburton	15 years 10 years	Roman Catholic Church at Ashburton	92/2608	Catherine Nolan, mother	12 September 1892	Revd. F. Chastagnon
768	13 September 1892	William Smith Henrietta Deal Morgan	William Smith Henrietta Deal Morgan 💍 1892/2342	Bachelor Spinster	Carter	43 41	Tinwald Tinwald	3 days 6 months	St. Andrew's Church	92/2941		13 September 1892	Revd. Thos. Farley
769	15 September 1892	Albert Joseph Miller Kate Henry	Albert Joseph Muller Kate Bridget Henry 💍 1892/3481	Bachelor Spinster	Telegraphist	26 24	Ashburton Ashburton	10 years 6 years	Roman Catholic Church at Ashburton	92/3670		15 September 1892	Revd. F. Chastagnon

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).