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 630

District of Napier 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
68	6 August 1892	Alfred Sherlock Mary Gertrude Middleton	Alfred Sherlock Mary Gertrude Middleton 💍 1892/2350	Bachelor Spinster	Fellmonger Dressmaker	23 18	Meanee Napier	1 month 7 years	Presbyterian Manse, Napier	92/2398	James Middleton, Father	6 August 1892	Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian Minister
69	16 August 1892	William Henry Bennet Hague Elizabeth Merrits	William Henry Bennett Hague Elizabeth Merritt 💍 1892/2253	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith Blacksmith	34 25	Clive Clive	30 years 25 years	St. Mark's Church, Clive	92/2392		16 August 1892	H. H. St. Hill, Church of England Minister
70	18 August 1892	Francis Gordon Moller Winefred Ryan	Francis Gordon Moeller Winefred Ryan 💍 1892/1741	Bachelor Spinster	Hotel Keeper Hotel Keeper	31 24	Napier Napier	7 months 4 days	Office of the Registrar, Napier	92/2407		18 August 1892	Registrar (S. J. Jago)
71	20 August 1892	George Thompson Hall Camilla Eliza Townsend	George Thompson Hall Camilla Eliza Townshend 💍 1892/1738	Bachelor Spinster	Storekeeper Storekeeper	26 24	Woodville Napier	13 years 3 years	Residence of Bride's father	92/2404		20 August 1892	Rev. J. Worboys, Prim. Meth. Minister
72	22 August 1892	Thomas Seed Mary Hayden	Thomas Seed Mary Hayden 💍 1892/2338	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Domestic	23 24	Tomoana Napier	3 years 24 years	R. C. Chapel, Hastings	92/2937		22 August 1892	Rev. M. Grogan, R. C. Priest
73	23 August 1892	Charles Simper Emily Estwick		Widower Widow	Clerk Dressmaker	35 35	Napier Napier	6 years 8 days	The Cathedral, Napier	92/2396		23 August 1892	Rev. Dehardt Hovell, Church of England Minister
74	31 August 1892	George Ashworth Margaret Milner	George Ashworth Margaret Milner 💍 1892/1742	Widower Widow	Shoemaker Housekeeper	38 38	Napier Napier	6 years 2 months	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Napier	92/2408		31 August 1892	J. Jago, Registrar
75	2 September 1892	William Green Agnes McAnley	William Green Agnes McAuley 💍 1892/1743	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd Domestic	26 21+	Porangahau Napier	16 years 3 days	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Napier	92/2409		12 September 1892	J. Jago, Registrar
76	10 September 1892	Ebenezer Jackson Georgina Elizabeth Howell	Ebenezer Jackson Georgina Elizabeth Howell 💍 1892/1737	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer	33 23	Puketapu Puketapu	4 months 20 years	In the residence of Mr. J. Howell	92/2403	Mr. J. Howell, Bride's father	10 September 1892	Rev. C. L. Tuke, Church of England
77	19 September 1892	Gustav Ahman Anderson Esther Kelly	Gustav Alexander Anderson Esther Kelly 💍 1892/1720	Bachelor Spinster	Missionary Missionary	30 24	Norwood Napier	6 months 10 years	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Napier	92/2410		19 September 1892	S. S. Jago, Registrar

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 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).