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 1068

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30 June 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
136	9 May 1892	James Henry Phillips Lavinia West	James Kerry Phillips Lavinia West 💍 1892/1193	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	30 22	Wellington Wellington	8 months years	House of Mr West, York Street	92/1262		4 May 1892	Rev. W. Oliver
137	9 May 1892	Thomas William Hill Alice Eliza Hancock	Thomas William Hill Alice Eliza Hancock 💍 1892/1138	Bachelor Spinster	Brickmaker	20 18	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr Hancock, Wordsworth Street	92/1282	Joseph Hancock, father	9 May 1892	Rev. J. J. Lewis
138	11 May 1892	Thomas Samuel Baker Louisa Madelina How	Thomas Samuel Baker Louisa Madelina How 💍 1892/117	Bachelor Spinster	Estate Agent	21 21	Wellington Petone	years years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	92/1305		11 May 1892	W. J. Wyatt
139	11 May 1892	Edward William Cottle Hannah Mary Pearce	Edward William Cottle Hannah Mary Pearce 💍 1892/1211	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	24 22	Taita Pahautanui	years years	St Mark's Church	92/1258		11 May 1892	Rev. R. Coffey
140	11 May 1892	Charles Godfrey Weedon Maude Mowtell	Charles Godfrey Weedon Maude Mowtell 💍 1892/118	Bachelor Spinster	Steward	26 19	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	92/1306	Edward Atkinson, Cambridge, Guardian	11 May 1892	W. J. Wyatt
141	14 May 1892	Wilfred Beach Ingram Evelyn Frances McCormick	Wilfred Beach Ingram Evelyn Frances McCormick 💍 1892/1194	Bachelor Spinster	Compositor	23 22	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr J. E. G. Ingram, Normanby Street	92/1263		14 May 1892	Rev. W. Oliver
142	16 May 1892	William James Adamson Katherine Ann Hillian	William James Adamson Katherine Ann Hillier 💍 1892/3930	Bachelor Spinster	Telegraphist	21 21	Wellington Wellington	10 months years	House of Mrs Signal, Sussex Square	92/1283		16 May 1892	Rev. J. J. Lewis
143	17 May 1892	William Alfred Spice Eliza Prior	William Alfred Spicer Eliza Prier 💍 1892/3912 William Alfred Sillifant Eliza Mason 💍 1892/2427	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	28 25	Ohariu Ohariu	years years	Episcopalian Church, Ohariu	92/1246		17 May 1892	Venble Archdeacon Fancourt
144	19 May 1892	William McNeil Elizabeth Brownlee	William McNeil Elizabeth Brownlee 💍 1892/1210	Bachelor Spinster	Tinsmith	34 28	Wellington Wellington	4 days years	St Mark's Church	92/1257		19 May 1892	Rev. R. Coffey
145	19 May 1892	Edward James Smart Eliza Hawking	Edward James Smart Eliza Hawkings 💍 1892/1275	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	24 19	Ngahamanga Kaiwarra	years years	House of Mrs Hawking, Home Bush Farm	92/1248	Mary Hawking, mother	19 May 1892	Rev. C. Edward
146	20 May 1892	Frederick Bradley Jane Ann Dunning	Frederick Bradley Jane Ann Dunning 💍 1892/1196	Bachelor Spinster	Tailor	22 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mrs Dunning, Willis Street	92/1265		20 May 1892	Rev. C. Dallaston
147	23 May 1892	David Scott Mary Canty	David Scott Mary Canty 💍 1892/1270	Bachelor Spinster	Bushman	35 28	Wellington Wellington	4 days years	St Mary of the Angels, Boulcott Street	92/1242		23 May 1892	Rev. J. Cleary
148	23 May 1892	Robert John Ward Catherine McCulloch	Robert John Ward Catherine McCulloch 💍 1892/1092	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	35 35	Lower Hutt Lower Hutt	years years	House of Mrs McCulloch, Lower Hutt	92/1221		23 May 1892	Rev. A. Thomson
149	23 May 1892	William Holley Catherine O'Shea	William Molloy Catherine OShea 💍 1892/1272	Bachelor Spinster	Gardener	29 26	Wellington Wellington	years years	St Mary of the Angels, Boulcott Street	92/1243		23 May 1892	Rev. J. Cleary
150	23 May 1892	Frederick George Bolton Margaret Isabel Hutchinson	Fredrick George Bolton Margt Isobel Hutchinson 💍 1892/1273	Bachelor Spinster	Solicitor	25 25	Wellington Wellington	years 6 weeks	St Mary of the Angels, Boulcott Street	92/1244		23 May 1892	Rev. W. Goggan

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).