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 929

District of Ashburton 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
724	4 April 1892	Christopher Isaac Denby Martha Ann Stewart	Christopher Isaac Denby Martha Ann Stewart 💍 1892/1423	Bachelor Spinster	Station Master Spinster	28 years 22 years	Hinds Christchurch	6 months 22 years	St. Luke's Church, Christchurch	92/1562		4 April 1892	Revd. Archdeacon Lingard
725	11 April 1892	Patrick Connelly Sarah Elizabeth Stokes	Patrick Connelly Sarah Elizabeth Stokes 💍 1892/3779	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Spinster	30 years 19 years	Ashburton Forks Ashburton Forks	10 years 15 years	Roman Catholic Church at Dunedin	92/4014	Charles Stokes, Father	11 April 1892	Right Reverend Bishop Moran
726	12 April 1892	Watson Hitch Isabella Kellahan	Watson Hitch Isabella Kellahar 💍 1892/1537	Bachelor Spinster	Tinsmith Spinster	31 years 25 years	Ashburton Mayfield	3 days 3 years	Private Dwellinghouse of Daniel Kellahan at Mayfield	92/1656		12 April 1892	Revd. A. Blake
727	14 April 1892	Charles Simpson Emma Grice	Charles Simpson Emma Grice 💍 1892/1503	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Spinster	34 years 26 years	Dinwald Dinwald	3 days 10 years	Registrar's Office, Ashburton	92/1646		14 April 1892	J. Ward, Registrar
728	16 April 1892	John William Rogers Elizabeth Meaclem	John William Rogers Elizabeth Meaclem 💍 1892/1505	Divorced Male Spinster	Bootmaker Housekeeper	39 years 32 years	Ashburton Ashburton	3 days 3 days	Registrar's Office, Ashburton	92/1647		16 April 1892	J. Ward, Registrar
729	16 April 1892	William Frederick Bennetts Agnes Mary Muller	William Frederick Bennetts Agnes Mary Muller 💍 1892/1497	Bachelor Spinster	Telegraphist Spinster	23 years 22 years	Ashburton Ashburton	6 years 6 years	Roman Catholic Church at Ashburton	92/1640		16 April 1892	Revd. E. Chastagnon
730	19 April 1892	James Jamieson Janet Stewart	James Jamieson Janet Stewart 💍 1892/1507	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Spinster	31 years 22 years	Waterton Makanui	26 years 14 years	Presbyterian Church at Makanui	92/1649		19 April 1892	Revd. A. M. Beattie
731	25 April 1892	Reuben Egmont Dowle Fanny Barbara Hardley	Reuben Egmont Dowle Fanny Barbara Hardley 💍 1892/1536	Bachelor Spinster	Tailor Saleswoman	29 years 25 years	Ashburton Ashburton	3 years 10 years	Primitive Methodist Church at Ashburton	92/1655		25 April 1892	Revd. James Cocker
732	25 April 1892	Andrew Topping Sarah Parker	Andrew Topping Sarah Parker 💍 1892/1508	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Dressmaker	30 years 28 years	Allenton Trevor ton	6 months 7 years	Presbyterian Manse at Trevor ton	92/1650		25 April 1892	Revd. A. M. Beattie
733	30 April 1892	Alfred Charles Maxwell Jane Middleton Todd	Alfred Charles Maxwell Jane Middleton Todd 💍 1892/1506	Bachelor Spinster	Schoolmaster Spinster	22 years 21 years	Dromore Chertery	10 months 10 years	Private Dwelling of David Todd, at Chertery	92/1648		30 April 1892	Revd. James Maxwell
734	2 May 1892	James Stringfellow Rosie Eaglesham	James Stringfellow Rosina Gardiner Eylesham 💍 1892/1509	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic Servant	28 years 27 years	Elgin Elgin	3 days 8 years	Private Dwelling of John Eaglesham, at Elgin	92/1657		2 May 1892	Revd. A. M. Beattie

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).