Intentions to Marry, 1893

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840405, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole and Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, June 6 2025.

A few pages are missing due to focus issues.

Page 091

District of Waiwera Quarter ending 31 March 1893 Registrar Thomas Bond

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

23 January 1893

William Henry Armstrong
Maria Price

William Henry Armstrong
Maria Price
💍 1893/997

Bachelor
Widow

Seaman
Laundress

51
52

Pukeatua
Waiwera

4 months
2 weeks

The Wesleyan church at Wade

93/171

23 January 1893

Rev. G. H. Bridgman, Wesleyan Minister

No	64
Date of Notice	23 January 1893
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Armstrong	Maria Price
	💍 1893/997
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Seaman	Laundress
Age	51	52
Dwelling Place	Pukeatua	Waiwera
Length of Residence	4 months	2 weeks
Marriage Place	The Wesleyan church at Wade
Folio	93/171
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 January 1893
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. H. Bridgman, Wesleyan Minister

25 January 1893

George Rooks
Cornelia S. Z. Potoky

George Rooks
Ceronia S Z Potoky
💍 1893/996

Bachelor
Spinster

Sailor
domestic duties

32
17

Pukeatua
Pukeatua

2 years
6 months

dwelling house Pukeatua

93/170

Harriett Penyers, Mother

25 January 1893

Rev. G. H. Bridgman, Wesleyan Minister

No	65
Date of Notice	25 January 1893
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Rooks	Cornelia S. Z. Potoky
BDM Match (86%)	George Rooks	Ceronia S Z Potoky
	💍 1893/996
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sailor	domestic duties
Age	32	17
Dwelling Place	Pukeatua	Pukeatua
Length of Residence	2 years	6 months
Marriage Place	dwelling house Pukeatua
Folio	93/170
Consent	Harriett Penyers, Mother
Date of Certificate	25 January 1893
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. H. Bridgman, Wesleyan Minister

1 February 1893

Frederick M. Jefford Munro
Winifred Ann Rush

Frederick Martin Titford Munro
Winifred Ann Rush
💍 1893/999

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer
domestic duties

25
35

Wade
Wade

5 weeks
2 weeks

Wade Hotel

93/172

1 February 1893

Rev. G. H. Bridgman, Wesleyan Minister

No	66
Date of Notice	1 February 1893
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick M. Jefford Munro	Winifred Ann Rush
BDM Match (87%)	Frederick Martin Titford Munro	Winifred Ann Rush
	💍 1893/999
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer	domestic duties
Age	25	35
Dwelling Place	Wade	Wade
Length of Residence	5 weeks	2 weeks
Marriage Place	Wade Hotel
Folio	93/172
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1893
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. H. Bridgman, Wesleyan Minister

21 February 1893

William A. B. Postlethwaite
Ellen Agnes O'Hara

William A C Postlewaight
Ellen Agnes O'Hara
💍 1893/2567

Bachelor
Spinster

Gumdigger
domestic duties

24
21

Pukeatua
Pukeatua

3 years
1 month

Registrar's Office at Wade

93/2217

21 February 1893

The Registrar at Wade

No	67
Date of Notice	21 February 1893
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William A. B. Postlethwaite	Ellen Agnes O'Hara
BDM Match (85%)	William A C Postlewaight	Ellen Agnes O'Hara
	💍 1893/2567
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gumdigger	domestic duties
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Pukeatua	Pukeatua
Length of Residence	3 years	1 month
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office at Wade
Folio	93/2217
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1893
Officiating Minister	The Registrar at Wade

29 March 1893

John Hannah
Ann Bradfield

John Hannahs
Ann Bradfield
💍 1893/473

Bachelor
Widow

Seaman
domestic duties

37
43

Pukeatua
Pukeatua

2 years
10 years

dwelling house Pukeatua

93/1137

29 March 1893

Rev. G. H. Bridgman, Wesleyan Minister

No	68
Date of Notice	29 March 1893
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Hannah	Ann Bradfield
BDM Match (96%)	John Hannahs	Ann Bradfield
	💍 1893/473
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Seaman	domestic duties
Age	37	43
Dwelling Place	Pukeatua	Pukeatua
Length of Residence	2 years	10 years
Marriage Place	dwelling house Pukeatua
Folio	93/1137
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 March 1893
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. H. Bridgman, Wesleyan 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 1903. More registers are being added almost every week.

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).