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 222

District of Masterton 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
26	15 October 1892	James Houregan Mary McDonnell	James Hourijan Mary McDonnell 💍 1892/3197	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Housekeeper	46 28	Manaia Masterton	6 years 8 months	Roman Catholic Chapel Masterton	92/3399		15 October 1892	Revd Patrick O'Meara Roman Catholic Priest
27	18 October 1892	Edward John Smith Annie Tavanagh	Edward John Smith Annie Kavanagh 💍 1892/3302	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	22 21	Masterton Masterton	3 days 3 days	Church of England Masterton	92/3401		18 October 1892	Revd W E Vaige Church of England Minister
28	19 October 1892	Joseph Farrout Jane Adele Pawson	Joseph Farrow Jane Adele Pawson 💍 1892/3326	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	33 21	Masterton Masterton	4 days 4 days	Office of Registrar of Marriages Masterton	92/3409		19 October 1892	John Bagge Registrar
29	22 October 1892	Arthur David Elizabeth Amelia Croft	Arthur Pond Elizabeth Amelia Croft 💍 1892/3321	Widower Widow	Labour Dressmaker	25 24	Masterton Masterton	12 weeks 6 months	House of Miss Mary Austin Workshop Road Masterton	92/3404		22 October 1892	Revd John Dukes Wesleyan Minister
30	24 October 1892	Alfred Hoar Mary Johnston	Alfred Hoar Mary Johnston 💍 1892/3198 James Foot Mary Johnston 💍 1892/1333	Bachelor Spinster	Upholsterer Dressmaker	24 24	Masterton Masterton	10 years 2 years	Roman Catholic Chapel Masterton	92/3400		24 October 1892	Revd John McKenna Roman Catholic Priest
31	24 October 1892	Francis Henson Rebecca Bland	Francis Henton Rebecca Bland 💍 1892/3313	Bachelor Spinster	Labour	26 19	Brancepeth Brancepeth	4 years 18 months	Church of England Masterton	92/3402	John Bland Father	27 October 1892	Revd W E Vaige Church of England Minister
32	10 November 1892	John Blackford Russell Elise Marie Ludergan	John Blodlford Russell Elise Marie Ludvygsen 💍 1892/3323	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Dressmaker	23 20	Masterton Herepaine	12 months 12 months	House of Mr Hans Johan Ludergan Herepaine	92/3406	Hans Johan Ludergan Father	10 November 1892	Revd Robert Wood Presbyterian Minister
33	16 November 1892	Kow Kee Lucie Ada Hulme	Kow Kee Lucie Ada Hulme 💍 1892/3324	Widower Spinster	Storekeeper Servant	28 25	Masterton Masterton	12 months 4 months	House of Mr Kow Kee Masterton	92/3407		16 November 1892	Revd Robert Wood Presbyterian Minister
34	8 December 1892	Bertram Percy Guider Medora Kezia Jane Ackers	Bertram Percy Ginders Medora Kezia Jane Ockenden 💍 1892/3325	Bachelor Spinster	Dentist	23 24	Masterton Masterton	3 months 3 months	House of Mr Walter Ackers Masterton	92/3408		8 December 1892	Revd Robert Wood Presbyterian Minister
35	9 December 1892	Thomas Edward Hamerton Elizabeth Phoebe Mason	Thomas Edward Hamerton Elizabeth Phobe Mason 💍 1892/3320	Bachelor Spinster	Journalist	57 35	Patia Masterton	11 years 7 days	Church of England Patia	92/3403		9 December 1892	Revd W E Vaige Church of England 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).