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 125

District of Napier Quarter ending 31 March 1893

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

15 February 1893

Thomas Harman
Grace Ann Wright

Thomas Hannah
Grace Ann Wright
💍 1893/1070

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Machinist

27
21

Port Ahuriri
Napier

6 months
11 years

Baptist Chapel

93/238

15 February 1893

Rev J J Jones, Baptist

No	13
Date of Notice	15 February 1893
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Harman	Grace Ann Wright
BDM Match (88%)	Thomas Hannah	Grace Ann Wright
	💍 1893/1070
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Machinist
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Port Ahuriri	Napier
Length of Residence	6 months	11 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Chapel
Folio	93/238
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1893
Officiating Minister	Rev J J Jones, Baptist

15 February 1893

Frederick John Milford
George Robert Nicholson

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Tailoress

27
20

Pohangina
Napier

1 year Residence
1 month Napier

Residence of Brides Father

93/225

Andrew Nicholson, Father

15 February 1893

J Jenning, Wesleyan

No	14
Date of Notice	15 February 1893
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick John Milford	George Robert Nicholson
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Tailoress
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Pohangina	Napier
Length of Residence	1 year Residence	1 month Napier
Marriage Place	Residence of Brides Father
Folio	93/225
Consent	Andrew Nicholson, Father
Date of Certificate	15 February 1893
Officiating Minister	J Jenning, Wesleyan

15 February 1893

William Henry Prince
Elizabeth Longley

William Henry Prince
Elizabeth Longley
💍 1893/1089

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

24
19

Napier
Napier

4 years
5 years Napier

Office of the Registrar

93/234

Annie Hand Longley, mother

15 February 1893

S J Jago, Registrar

No	15
Date of Notice	15 February 1893
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Prince	Elizabeth Longley
	💍 1893/1089
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	4 years	5 years Napier
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar
Folio	93/234
Consent	Annie Hand Longley, mother
Date of Certificate	15 February 1893
Officiating Minister	S J Jago, Registrar

24 February 1893

William Lucas
Jessie Gilmore

William Lucas
Jessie Gilmore
💍 1893/3847

Bachelor
Spinster

Hotelkeeper
Domestic

37
21

Napier
Napier

15 years Residence of Brides mother
8 years Dickens St Napier

Residence of Brides mother

93/934

24 February 1893

Rev S Douglas, Presbyterian

No	16
Date of Notice	24 February 1893
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Lucas	Jessie Gilmore
	💍 1893/3847
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hotelkeeper	Domestic
Age	37	21
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	15 years Residence of Brides mother	8 years Dickens St Napier
Marriage Place	Residence of Brides mother
Folio	93/934
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1893
Officiating Minister	Rev S Douglas, Presbyterian

28 February 1893

Edward Clarke
Halmaley Julia North

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier

42
22

Dunedin
Portobello

8 years
20 years Napier, 1 month

The Cathedral

93/224

28 February 1893

Rev A Bert Howell, Church of England

No	17
Date of Notice	28 February 1893
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Clarke	Halmaley Julia North
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier
Age	42	22
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Portobello
Length of Residence	8 years	20 years Napier, 1 month
Marriage Place	The Cathedral
Folio	93/224
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 February 1893
Officiating Minister	Rev A Bert Howell, Church of England

4 March 1893

Arani Tupurupuru
Pimie Martin Ngaihu

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

30
22

Te Hauke
Te Hauke

30 years
4 years Napier, 3 days

The Cathedral

See attached Memo

Particulars interpreted by W. G. Prentick, Licensed Native Interpreter

4 March 1893

Rev De Bert Howell, Church of England

No	18
Date of Notice	4 March 1893
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arani Tupurupuru	Pimie Martin Ngaihu
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Te Hauke	Te Hauke
Length of Residence	30 years	4 years Napier, 3 days
Marriage Place	The Cathedral
Folio	See attached Memo
Consent	Particulars interpreted by W. G. Prentick, Licensed Native Interpreter
Date of Certificate	4 March 1893
Officiating Minister	Rev De Bert Howell, Church of England

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).