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 631

District of Napier Quarter ending 30 September 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
56	6 July 1892	Samuel John Bennett Elizabeth Jane Hislop	Samuel John Bennett Elizabeth Jane Heslop 💍 1892/1730	Bachelor Spinster	Sheepfarmer	25 20	Ngati Ra Puketapa Omaranui	4 months 10 years	Residence of Wm Hislop, Omaranui	92/2402	Wm Hislop, Father	6 July 1892	Rev C. L. Luke, Church of England
57	7 July 1892	John Alexander Campbell Jane Eliza Gates	John Alexander Campbell Jane Eliza Yates 💍 1892/2699	Bachelor Widow	Seaman Needlework	31 28	Napier Napier	5 years 8 years	R. C. Chapel, Napier	92/2908		7 July 1892	Rev Father Doherty, R. C. Priest
58	8 July 1892	John Michael Williams Annie Elliott	John Michael Williams Annie Elliott 💍 1892/2290	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Domestic	32 22	Clive Clive	14 years 20 years	Residence of Bridegroom, Clive	92/2399		8 July 1892	Rev Robert Fraser, Presbyterian Minister
59	8 July 1892	James Lawrence Scott Annie Callon	James Laurence Lord Annie Callon 💍 1892/1719	Bachelor Spinster	Saddler Domestic	over 21 23	Taradale Taradale	20 years 18 months	All Saints Church, Taradale	92/2401		8 July 1892	Rev C. C. Tuke, Church of England Minister
60	9 July 1892	William George Francis Mary Johnstone	William George Francis Frame Mary Johnstone 💍 1892/2347	Bachelor Spinster	Coachbuilder	24 22	Napier Napier	2 years 13 years	Residence of Bridegroom, Black Head, Napier	92/2946		9 July 1892	Rev J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian Minister
61	13 July 1892	James Ross Theresa Magdalene Kenny	James Ross Theresa Magdalen Kenny 💍 1892/2289	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	33 22	Napier Napier	33 years 8 years	Roman Catholic Chapel, Napier	92/2398		13 July 1892	Rev John Doherty
62	16 July 1892	William McNamara Catherine McGowan	William McNamara Catherine McGorvan 💍 1892/2698	Bachelor Spinster	Contractor Domestic	29 28	Hastings, Napier Napier	13 years 3 days 15 years	R. C. Chapel, Napier	92/2907		16 July 1892	Rev John Doherty, R. C. Priest
63	22 July 1892	William Cheer Beatrice Mott	William Cheer Beatrice Mott 💍 1892/1739	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer Cook	24 24	Clive Clive	14 years 2 years	Office of the Registrar, Clive	92/2405		22 July 1892	Registrar (S. S. Jago)
64	23 July 1892	Henry Percy Dekenger Mary Hatelworth	Henry Percy De Kruger Wyatt Mary Waterworth 💍 1892/2286	Widower Spinster	Telegraphist Dressmaker	35 26	Napier Napier	6 years 16 years	St Augustines Church, Napier	92/2395		23 July 1892	Rev I. E. Fox, Church of England Minister
65	25 July 1892	Edward Burton Hill Bertha Harriet Jones	Edward Burton Hill Bertha Harriet Jones 💍 1892/1740	Widower Widow	Farmer Dressmaker	39 39	Hastings, Napier Napier	3 years 1 week 4 months	Office of the Registrar, Napier	92/2406		25 July 1892	Registrar (S. S. Jago)
66	29 July 1892	Alexander Styart Helen Elizabeth Downie	Alexander Stuart Helen Elisabeth Downie 💍 1892/2349	Bachelor Spinster	Clothier Dressmaker	29 24	Napier Napier	4 months 2 months	Presbyterian Church, Napier	92/2947		29 July 1892	Rev J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian Minister
67	1 August 1892	John Franklin Teroe Georgina Pollock Cheer	John Franklin Vercoe Georgina Pollock Cheer 💍 1892/2291	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher Domestic	42 33	Clive Clive	2 years 6 weeks	Residence of Bride's mother, Clive	92/2400		1 August 1892	Rev Robert Fraser, Presbyterian Minister

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).