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 1029

District of Napier 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
29	2 April 1892	Theodoss Greene Hannah McPherson	Theodore Green Hannah McPherson 💍 1892/1212	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd	30 21	Clive Clive	1 year 2 years	The Town Hall at Clive	92/1382		2 April 1892	Rev R Fraser, Presbyterian
30	4 April 1892	William Twentyman Jeffs Hannah Elkin	William Twentyman Jeffs Hannah Elkin 💍 1892/1229	Widower Widow	Laborer Domestic	52 42	Petane Napier	4 months 4 months	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Napier	92/1384		4 April 1892	S. J. Jago, Registrar
31	4 April 1892	Michael Hall Lilla Bishop	Michael Hall Lillie Bishop 💍 1892/1172	Bachelor Spinster	Coachbuilder Domestic	25 20	Napier Napier	18 years 15 months	Presbyterian Church, Napier	92/1373		19 April 1892	Rev J. J. Paterson, Presbyterian
32	5 April 1892	Diderich Louring Wilhelmina McGlashan	Diderick Laurvig Wilhelmina McGlashan 💍 1892/1223	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith Dressmaker	over 21 over 21	Norsewood Clive	15 years 21 years	Residence of Bride's Father at Clive	92/1383	Bride's Father	5 April 1892	Rev R Fraser, Presbyterian
33	8 April 1892	John Winks Annie Guptill	John Winko Annie Guptill 💍 1892/1230	Bachelor Widow	Seaman Dressmaker	32 24	Napier Napier	1 year 8 years	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Napier	92/1385		8 April 1892	S. J. Jago, Registrar
34	11 April 1892	Clement George Webber Whiteman Minnie Mahon	Clement George Webber Whiteman Minnie Mahon 💍 1892/1171	Bachelor Spinster	Tailor Dressmaker	25 over 21	Napier Napier	10 years 11 years	Residence of the Bridegroom, Emerson St, Napier	92/1372		11 April 1892	Rev J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian
35	13 April 1892	James Henry Rowe Lucy Emily Peone	James Henry Rowe Lucy Emily Peene 💍 1892/1170	Bachelor Spinster	Groom Housemaid	24 over 21	Napier Napier	18 years 8 months	In the Methodist Chapel, Napier	92/1371		13 April 1892	Rev W. Worboys, Free Methodist
36	14 April 1892	Charles Saunders Annie Maypon	Charles Saunders Annie Mayson 💍 1892/1880	Bachelor Spinster	Draper	32 28	Napier Napier	6 years 6 years	The Cathedral at Napier	92/1976		14 April 1892	Dean Hovell, Napier
37	20 April 1892	Neal Nicholson Wilhelmina Richards	Neal Nicholson Milliezimmer Richards 💍 1892/1167	Bachelor Spinster	Coachman Domestic	28 24	Napier Napier	1 month 24 years	Residence of Bridegroom's Parents, Clive	92/1368		20 April 1892	G. W. J. Spence, Wesleyan Methodist
38	22 April 1892	Lewis Robinson Webb Melicent Nevill	Lewis Robinson Webb Milicent Nevill 💍 1892/1857	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	35 24	Ormondville Napier	6 years over 3 days	The Cathedral at Napier	92/1977		22 April 1892	Rev A. S. Webb, Church of England
39	30 April 1892	George Henry Freeman Kate Reading	George Henry Freeman Kate Reading 💍 1892/1168	Bachelor Spinster	Compositor Tailoress	26 20	Napier Napier	26 years 2 weeks	Residence of William Reading, Cameron Road, Napier	92/1369	William Reading, Father of Kate Reading	30 April 1892	Rev G. W. J. Spence, Wesleyan Methodist

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).