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 1067

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
151	23 May 1892	Henry Firth Harriet Elizabeth Ellison	Henry Firth Harriet Elizabeth Ellison 💍 1892/1198	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	24 25	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. Vivian Street	92/1267		23 May 1892	Revd. Alper Peters
152	23 May 1892	Herbert Thomas Tell Amelia Thompson	Herbert Thomas Fell Amelia Thompson 💍 1892/119	Bachelor Spinster	Storeman	33 22	Wellington Wellington	years 9 months	Registrars Office, Wellington	92/1307		23 May 1892	W. T. Wyatt
153	23 May 1892	William Abernethy Rebecca Wade	William Abernethy Rebecca Wade 💍 1892/1131	Bachelor Spinster	Expressman	29 21	Wellington Wellington	years 9 months	House of Revd. J. K. Elliott, Kent Terrace	92/1293		23 May 1892	Revd. J. K. Elliott
154	25 May 1892	Thomas Russell Ellen Swanson	Thomas Russell Ellen Swanson 💍 1892/3933	Bachelor Spinster	Labour	20 25	Whitemans Valley Whitemans Valley	years years	House of Mr. Swanson, Whitemans Valley	92/1294	Edward Russell, Father	25 May 1892	Revd. J. N. Griffin
155	25 May 1892	Harry Augustus Raven Ellen Wilson	Harry Augustus Raven Ellen Wilson 💍 1892/1197	Bachelor Spinster	Watchmaker	24 23	Petone Wellington	years years	Baptist Church, Vivian Street	92/1266		25 May 1892	Revd. C. Dallaston
156	25 May 1892	Thomas Sullivan Clara Swindell	Thomas Sullivan Clara Swindel 💍 1892/96	Bachelor Spinster	Hotel Keeper	31 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars Office, Wellington	92/1308		25 May 1892	W. T. Wyatt
157	26 May 1892	Walter Joseph Reading Annie Sophia Doyle	Walter Joseph Reading Annie Sophia Doyle 💍 1892/97	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	37 26	Karori Karori	years years	Registrars Office, Wellington	92/1309		26 May 1892	W. T. Wyatt
158	27 May 1892	Frederick Braddock Edith Mabel Freeman	Frederick Braddock Edith Mabel Freeman 💍 1892/1190	Bachelor Spinster	Draper	24 20	Wellington Wellington	4 days 4 days	St. Marks Church	92/1259	Father of Edith Mabel Freeman	27 May 1892	Revd. R. Coffey
159	30 May 1892	Robert Richard Renton Nora Vincent	Robert Richard Renton Nora Vincent 💍 1892/98	Bachelor Spinster	Bookmaker	20 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars Office, Wellington	92/1310	Eliza Renton, Mother	30 May 1892	W. T. Wyatt
160	30 May 1892	German Martin Davenport Alice Davenport	German Mortin Davinport Alice Davenport 💍 1892/3927	Bachelor Spinster	Storekeeper	29 26	Wellington Wellington	3 days years	St. Pauls Cathedral	92/1257		30 May 1892	Revd. T. H. Sprott
161	31 May 1892	Thomas Harvey Jennes Ada Dixon	Thomas Harvey James Ada Dixon 💍 1892/1135	Bachelor Spinster	Architect	25 27	Palmerston N. Wellington	years years	St. Peters Church	92/1278		31 May 1892	Revd. W. E. Waters
162	31 May 1892	Thomas Harlen Emily Brewer	Thomas Harlen Emily Brewer 💍 1892/99	Bachelor Spinster	Carter	21 21	Wellington Wellington	5 months years	Registrars Office, Wellington	92/1311		31 May 1892	W. T. Wyatt
163	3 June 1892	Norris William Bell Fanny Bonner	Norris William Bell Fanny Conner 💍 1892/1203	Bachelor Spinster	Jeweller	22 22	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. Bonner, Adelaide Road	92/1272		3 June 1892	Revd. W. H. Beck
164	3 June 1892	Anders Ferdinand Weren Orcelia Elizabeth Wylie	Anders Ferdinand Wiren Coralia Elizabeth Wylie 💍 1892/1271	Bachelor Spinster	Accountant	27 23	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. End, Woolcombe Street	92/1226		3 June 1892	Revd. J. Paterson
165	4 June 1892	George Mudgway Ann Peckham	George Mudgway Ann Peckham 💍 1892/100	Widower Widow	Labour	70 62	Lower Hutt Lower Hutt	years years	Registrars Office, Wellington	92/1312		4 June 1892	W. T. Wyatt

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).