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 1028

District of Quarter ending

No	Date of Notice	Names and Surnames of Parties	BDM Match	Condition	Calling or Profession	Age	Dwelling Place	Length of Residence	Marriage Place	Folio	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
40	30 April 1892	James Hume Sara Anne Smith	James Hunn Sarah Ann Smith 💍 1892/1178	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd Domestic	37 25	Napier Napier	1 Week 2 months	Presbyterian Church, Napier	92/1378	30 April 1892	Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian
41	3 May 1892	Daniel Doody Catherine Fennell	Daniel Doodz Catherine Fennell 💍 1892/2697	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer Domestic	30 28	Napier Napier	4 years 3 years	Roman Catholic Chapel, Napier	92/1906	3 May 1892	Rev. J. Doherty, R. C. Priest
42	3 May 1892	James Morrison Agnes Crocker	James Morrison Agnes Crocker 💍 1892/1176	Bachelor Spinster	Cabinetmaker Domestic	29 24	Napier Napier	In the residence 4 years	In the residence	92/1376	3 May 1892	Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian
43	10 May 1892	Herbert Hamilton Simons Emily Dark	Hubert Hamilton Simmons Emily Dark 💍 1892/1173	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	24 21	Tomoana Napier	6 months 5 weeks	Presbyterian Church, Napier	92/1374	10 May 1892	Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian
44	12 May 1892	George Easterbrook Grace Karnathan	George Easterbrook Grace Lavinia McKain 💍 1892/1174	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	79 22	Weber Hastings	2 months 7 weeks	Presbyterian Church, Napier	92/1375	12 May 1892	Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian
45	2 June 1892	Charles Arnold Jane Hughes	Charles Arnold Jane Hughes 💍 1892/1179	Widower Widow	Saddler	51 38	Napier Napier	13 years 4 years	Presbyterian Manse, Napier	92/1379	2 June 1892	Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian
46	2 June 1892	John Marshall Margaret Louisa Somervell	John Marshall Margaret Louisa Sommervell 💍 1892/1177	Bachelor Spinster	Plumber Tailoress	28 25	Napier Napier	20 years 1 year	Residence of Mr. Ed. Williams, Station Street, Napier	92/1377	2 June 1892	Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian
47	2 June 1892	Gerald Roland Fullot Iris Viola Fuller	Gerald Roland King Iris Fidela Fulton 💍 1892/1858	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	28 23	Tomoana Napier	9 years 8 years	The Cathedral, Hastings	92/1978	2 June 1892	Bishop of Waiapu, Church of England
48	6 June 1892	John Albert Le Bas Johanna Tuck	John Albert Le Bas Johanna Tuck 💍 1892/1180	Bachelor Spinster	Bottler Domestic	21 21	Napier Napier	16 years 14 months	Presbyterian Manse, Napier	92/1380	6 June 1892	Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian
49	13 June 1892	Frank Charles Long Elizabeth Culshaw	Frank Charles Tong Elizabeth Culshaw 💍 1892/1181	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	32 22	Puketapu Napier	3 weeks 6 weeks	Residence of Bride's Parent, Shakespeare Road, Napier	92/1381	13 June 1892	Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian
50	20 June 1892	Frederic Snijder Margaret Theresa White	Frederic Irving de Lisle Margaret Tressa White 💍 1892/1859	Widower Spinster	Physician Saleswoman	46 25	Napier Napier	15 years 3 years	The Cathedral at Napier	92/1979	20 June 1892	Dean Hovell, Church of England
51	20 June 1892	Robert Ingram Boys Matilda Hils	Robert Ingram Boys Matilda Hills 💍 1892/1231	Bachelor Spinster	Lineman Domestic	24 21	Napier Napier	3 years 1 Week	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Napier	92/1386	20 June 1892	S. E. Lago, J. P. Registrar

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).