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 1069

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
121	25 April 1892	Edmund Mills Agnes Harrison	Edmund Mills Agnes Harrison 💍 1892/1124	Bachelor Spinster	Sailor	20 22	Petone Petone	years 18 months	Congregational Church, 18 Molesworth Street	92/1274		25 April 1892	Rev. W. Powell
122	25 April 1892	Francis Schrader Florence Alexander	Francis Schrader Florence Alexander 💍 1892/1263	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	26 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Mary of the Angels, Boulcott Street	92/1235		25 April 1892	Rev. J. T. Devoy
123	25 April 1892	Henry Banks Mary Florence Mills	Henry Banks Mary Florence Sills 💍 1892/1136	Bachelor Spinster	Hair Dresser	22 18	Wellington Wellington	years years	Wesley Parsonage, Taranaki Street	92/1280	Sarah Angell, mother	25 April 1892	Rev. G. G. Lewis
124	27 April 1892	James Murphy Josephine Hannah Coughlin	James Murphy Josephine Hannah Coughlin 💍 1892/1265	Bachelor Spinster	Fireman	25 22	Wellington Wellington	1 week 2 weeks	St. Mary of the Angels, Boulcott Street	92/1237		27 April 1892	Rev. J. T. Devoy
125	27 April 1892	John Rennie Caroline Edith Letham	John Rennie Caroline Edith Letham 💍 1892/2652	Bachelor Spinster	Accountant	32 24	Wellington Wellington	3 days years	House of Mr. Letham, Molesworth Street	92/2885		27 April 1892	Rev. E. J. Egg
126	28 April 1892	Clive Leland Mary Anna Leland	Clive Leland Mary Annie Leland 💍 1892/1261	Bachelor Spinster	Cabinet Maker	23 24	Wellington Wellington	3 days years	St. Mary's Cathedral, Hill Street	92/1234		28 April 1892	Very Rev. J. McNamara
127	28 April 1892	John Evans Marion Margaret Gray	John Evans Marion Margaret Gray 💍 1892/1204	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	39 24	Wellington Wellington	3 days years	House of Mr. Harmon, Murphy Street	92/1273		28 April 1892	Rev. W. Powell
128	29 April 1892	James Surplice Lacey Margaret Josephine Nead	James Sarsfield Lacey Margaret Josephine Nidd 💍 1892/1266	Bachelor Spinster	Warder	26 24	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Mary of the Angels, Boulcott Street	92/1238		29 April 1892	Rev. J. T. Devoy
129	29 April 1892	Oscar Nathaniel Johnson Lucretia Marion Reeves Harris	Oscar Nathaniel Johnson Lucretia Marion Reeves Harris 💍 1892/1267	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	26 19	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Mary of the Angels, Boulcott Street	92/1239	Mary Reeves Harris, mother	29 April 1892	Rev. J. T. Devoy
130	2 May 1892	Frederick Thomas Bullen Beatrice Goodman	Frederick Thomas Bullen Beatrice Goodman 💍 1892/1209	Bachelor Spinster	Painter	28 21	Wellington Wellington	2 months 2 months	St. Marks Church	92/1256		2 May 1892	Rev. R. Coffey
131	2 May 1892	William Hyster Mary Ann Loader	William Lyster Mary Ann Loader 💍 1892/115	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	20 24	Taita Taita	3 months 3 days	Registrar's Office, Wellington	92/1303		2 May 1892	W. T. Wyatt
132	2 May 1892	James Henneasty Mary McCabe	James Hanratty Mary McCabe 💍 1892/1268	Bachelor Spinster	Carter	30 30	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Mary of the Angels, Boulcott Street	92/1240		2 May 1892	Rev. J. T. Devoy
133	2 May 1892	Charles Ball Mary Berry	Charles Ball Mary Berry 💍 1892/116	Bachelor Spinster	Cab Driver	29 22	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	92/1304		2 May 1892	W. T. Wyatt
134	7 May 1892	John Cotter Ellen Dever	John Cotter Ellen Diver 💍 1892/1269	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	40 26	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Mary of the Angels, Boulcott Street	92/1241		7 May 1892	Rev. J. T. Devoy
135	9 May 1892	James William Ashley Palmer Lucy Evangeline Hamilton	James Williams Ashby Palmer Lucy Evangeline Hamilton 💍 1892/1202	Bachelor Spinster	Engine Fitter	24 21	Wellington Wellington	years months	Home of Rev. W. H. Beck, Adelaide Road	92/1271		9 May 1892	Rev. W. H. Beck

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).