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 581

District of Rangitikei Quarter ending 30 June 1893

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
12	11 April 1893	James Mays Edith Annie McLeod	James Mayo Edith Annie McLeod 💍 1893/1437 James Kemp Catherine McLeod 💍 1893/2989	Bachelor Widow	Manager Hotel Keeper	38 34	Marton Marton	3 weeks 5 years	English Church	93/1307		11 April 1893	Revd a. Towgood
13	11 April 1893	Alfred Richardson Cox Mabel Willis	Alfred Richardson Cox Mabel Willis 💍 1893/1434	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	28 26	Marton Greatford	7 days 26 years	English Church	93/1305		11 April 1893	Revd a. Innes Jones
14	17 April 1893	Samuel Death Emma Aiken	Samuel Death Emma Aiken 💍 1893/3979	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	30 31	Upper Turakina Upper Turakina	3 days 31 years	Presbyterian Church	93/1310		17 April 1893	Revd D. Gordon
15	18 April 1893	Jens Peter Jensen Mary Ann Torrie	Jens Peter Jensen Mary Anne Toms 💍 1893/1435	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	27 23	Greatford Greatford	3 days 4 months	English Church	93/1306		18 April 1893	Revd a. Innes Jones
16	24 April 1893	James Flockhart McKelvie Jessie Florence Scott	James Flockhart McKelvie Jessie Florence Scott 💍 1893/1394	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	22 22	Parawanui Parawanui	22 years 22 years	Presbyterian Church	93/1314		24 April 1893	Revd Jas Doull
17	24 April 1893	James Henry Traill Ethel Mary Signal	James Henry Traill Ethel Mary Signal 💍 1893/1395	Bachelor Spinster	Cabinetmaker	23 17	Bulls Bulls	3 1/2 years 12 years	Residence Bulls	93/1315	John Signal, Father	24 April 1893	Revd Jas Doull
18	2 June 1893	Frederick Herbert Kennell Agnes Low	Frederick Herbert Vennell Agnes Low 💍 1893/1438	Bachelor Spinster	Farm Labourer	22 22	Halcombe Halcombe	5 years 22 years	Residence Mr. I. H. Low's	93/1308		2 June 1893	Revd John Ross
19	6 June 1893	James Barron Speed Christina Morris	James Borson Speed Christina Morris 💍 1893/1388	Bachelor Spinster	Salesman	32 23	Wellington Marton	17 years 2 months	St Andrews Church	93/1313		6 June 1893	Revd D. Gordon
20	6 June 1893	Alfred Bartlett Alice Ellen Darbyphire	Alfred Bartlett Alice Ellen Darbyshire 💍 1893/1377	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	27 27	Parekaretu Turakina	6 days 2 years	Residence Mr. J. Bartletts	93/1312		6 June 1893	Revd D. Gordon
21	12 June 1893	William Seleman Harrison Mary Josephine Wilson	William Sellman Harrison Josephine Mary Wilson 💍 1893/1439	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	32 24	Marton Halcombe	84 years 24 years	Residence Mr. A. Wilsons	93/1309		12 June 1893	Revd John Ross
22	19 June 1893	William Jabbs Caroline Isabel Shield	William Dabbs Caroline Isabel Sheild 💍 1893/3981	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	38 24	Turakina Turakina	3 days 3 days	Residence Mr. a. Barrees	93/1344		19 June 1893	Revd a. C. Williams
23	21 June 1893	William Hubert Caines Silance Weatherley	William Hubert Caines Silanee Weatherley 💍 1893/1396	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	20 21	Greatford Greatford	4 days 4 days	Registrars Office	93/1316	Alice Allcock, mother	21 June 1893	W. J. Chaney
24	23 June 1893	Thomas Scatchard Emily Haddon	Thomas Scatchard Emily Haddon 💍 1893/1397	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	28 25	Bulls Bulls	6 months 3 months	Registrars Office	93/1317		28 June 1893	W. J. Chaney
25	24 June 1893	Frederick Friston Eliza Marion Frampton	Fredrick Anesimus Friston Eliza Marion Frompton 💍 1893/2400	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	26 26	Marton Marton	6 months 6 months	Residence Mr. W. Cawords	93/2345		24 June 1893	Revd D. Gordon

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).