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 256

District of Rangitikei Quarter ending 31 December 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
31	6 October 1892	John Neilson Christina Fraser	John Neilson Christina Fraser 💍 1892/3009	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	28 23	Poukiori Poukiori	5 years 4 years	Revd. J. Gordon, Residence Marton	92/3250		6 October 1892	Revd. J. Gordon
32	7 October 1892	John Narring Jenkins Margaret Crawford	John Woning Jenkins Margaret Crawford 💍 1892/3010	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	28 28	Turakina Turakina	6 years 10 years	Mr. Crawford's Residence Turakina	92/3251		7 October 1892	Revd. J. Gordon
33	13 October 1892	Arthur William Jaff Eliza Annie Dawson	Arthur William Tapp Eliza Annie Dawson 💍 1892/3175	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	22 18	Bulls Bulls	2 years 11 years	Registrar's Office Marton	92/3255	George Dawson, father	13 October 1892	W. J. Chaney
34	17 October 1892	William Swainson Marshall Elizabeth Hilda Swainson	William Swainson Marshall Elizabeth Hilda Swainson 💍 1892/3170	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	40 24	Turakina Palmerston N	30 years 10 years	Church of England Palmerston N	92/3273		17 October 1892	Revd. H. B. Harvey
35	19 October 1892	John Hart Annie Proso	John Hart Annie Moss 💍 1892/3176 John Hart Sarah Jane Burgess 💍 1893/281	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith	22 18	Crofton Greatford	18 months 4 years	Registrar's Office Marton	92/3256		19 October 1892	W. J. Chaney
36	20 October 1892	William Wilson Agnes Ann Morris	William Wilson Agnes Ann Morris 💍 1892/3157	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	33 24	Hunterville Hunterville	6 years 5 years	Residence of Mr. & Mrs. G. W. D. Morris, Hunterville	92/3252		20 October 1892	Revd. J. Gordon
37	24 October 1892	William Robb Elizabeth McKay	William Robb Elizabeth McKay 💍 1892/3178	Bachelor Spinster	Platelayer	29 26	Turakina Turakina	3 years 26 years	Mr. S. Morrison's Residence Turakina	92/3259		24 October 1892	Revd. John Ross
38	1 November 1892	Walter Andrews Annie Orchard	Walter Andrews Annie Orchard 💍 1892/3177	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd Domestic Servant	24 23	Marton Marton	4 days 4 days	Registrar's Office Marton	92/3257		1 November 1892	Thomas Trand Defty
39	2 November 1892	Henry Benge Frances Rachael Rattrass	Henry Benge Frances Rachael Nattrass 💍 1892/3995	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith	32 19	Bulls Bulls	3 years 2 years	Church of England Bulls	92/3258	Luke N. Rattrass, Father	2 November 1892	Revd. Innes-Jones
40	2 December 1892	Leslie S. Kerman Clara Lilian Gouldton	Leslie Skerman Clara Lilian Goulston 💍 1892/3168	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	28 24	Marton Marton	4 days 4 days	Church of England Marton	92/3253		2 December 1892	Revd. A. Towgood
41	13 December 1892	Charles Grantham Mary Jane Pallett	Charles Frantham Mary Jane Pallett 💍 1892/3174	Bachelor Spinster	Tailor	26 20	Marton Crofton	14 years 15 years	St. Stephen's Church Marton	92/3254	John Pallett, Father	13 December 1892	Revd. A. Towgood
42	13 December 1892	John McGregor Mary McGregor	John McGregor Mary McGregor 💍 1892/3179	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	28 26	Turakina Valley Turakina Valley	3 days 26 years	Mr. J. McGregor's Residence Turakina Valley	92/3260		13 December 1892	Revd. John Ross

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).