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 1425

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 December 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
314	2 October 1893	Walter Gardner Blanche Amelia Barber	Walter Gardner Blanche Amelia Barber 💍 1893/3317	Bachelor Spinster	Taylor	23 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	Wesley Church	93/3391		2 October 1893	Revd. J. J. Lewis
315	2 October 1893	Henry Alfor Gyatt Sarah Ann Lockwood	Henry Alfred Gyde Sarah Ann Lockwood 💍 1893/3180	Bachelor Spinster	Artificer	29 28	Wellington Wellington	years monthly	Registrars office Wellington	93/3411		2 October 1893	W. T. Wyay
316	4 October 1893	Thomas John Howard Lily Ross	Thomas John Hodder Lily Bott 💍 1893/3314	Widower Spinster	Torpedo Corps	31 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. Ross, Port, Burgess Wallace Street	93/3388		4 October 1893	Revd. C. Dallaston
317	6 October 1893	Robert Weir Florence Hamish Smith	Robert Weir Florence Harriet Louise Smith 💍 1893/3196	Bachelor Spinster	Engineer	22 22	Wellington Wellington	6 months years	Congregational Church	93/3407		6 October 1893	Revd. J. Paterson
318	6 October 1893	Frederick Morton Shortridge Alice Maud Widdop	Frederick Morton Shortridge Alice Maud Widdop 💍 1893/3515	Bachelor Spinster	Tea Expert	21 20	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Pauls Cathedral	93/3902	William Widdop, father	6 October 1893	Revd. J. H. Sprott
319	7 October 1893	William Malcolm Thomson Clara Lydia Parsons	William Malcom Thomson Clara Lydia Parsons 💍 1893/3883	Bachelor Spinster	Moulder	20 18	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars office Wellington	93/3412	William Thomas Thomson, father; Rachel Parsons, mother	7 October 1893	W. T. Wyay
320	9 October 1893	James Allan Thomson Priscilla Mary Read		Bachelor Spinster	Sheep Farmer	27 21	Wellington Wellington	1 week years	St. Marys Cathedral	93/3355		9 October 1893	Very Revd. T. S. Devoy
321	9 October 1893	Charles Ernest Richardson Mabel Alice Pownall	Charles Ernest Richardson Mabel Alice Pownall 💍 1893/3514	Bachelor Spinster	Engineer	25 23	Wellington Wellington	3 days years	St. Pauls Cathedral	93/3901		9 October 1893	Revd. J. H. Sprott
322	9 October 1893	Hugh Cameron Lilian May Rees	Hugh Cameron Lillian May Rees 💍 1893/3177	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	26 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. Rees, Stafford Street	93/3408		9 October 1893	Revd. J. Paterson
323	9 October 1893	Henry Hemmer Sylvia Adams	Henry Hemmer Sylvia Adams 💍 1893/3181	Bachelor Spinster	Pork Butcher	32 26	Wellington Wellington	9 months years	Registrars office Wellington	93/3413		9 October 1893	W. T. Wyay
324	10 October 1893	Jerome Bacovich Mary Jane Green	Jerome Bacovich Mary Jane Creer 💍 1893/3182	Bachelor Widow	Tobacconist	37 45	Wellington Wellington	3 days years	Registrars office Wellington	93/3414		10 October 1893	W. T. Wyay
325	10 October 1893	Peter Henry Walters Alice Victoria Loughnan	Peter Henry Walters Alice Victoria Longhurst 💍 1893/3191	Bachelor Spinster	Bookmaker	22 22	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. Walters, Nelson Street	93/3401		10 October 1893	Revd. J. K. Elliott
326	12 October 1893	Herbert William Story Gertrude Raff Gibbs	Herbert William Elvy Gertrude Ruff Gibbs 💍 1893/3159	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith	28 22	Wellington Wellington	6 days years	St. Peters Church	93/3365		12 October 1893	Revd. W. C. Waters
327	13 October 1893	Arthur Watson Bridget Angelina Tobin	Arthur Wrixon Bridget Angelina Toban 💍 1893/3167	Bachelor Spinster	Bookmaker	25 18	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Mary of the Angels	93/3356	William Henry John Tobin, father	13 October 1893	Very Revd. T. S. Devoy
328	13 October 1893	William Charles Hastings Helen Elizabeth Paul	William Charles Hastings Helen Elizabeth Paul 💍 1893/3192	Bachelor Spinster	Ironmoulder	27 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. Roberts, Cambridge Avenue	93/3402		13 October 1893	Revd. J. K. Elliott

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 1898. More registers will be added when the Archives NZ Wellington reading room re-opens in September 2025.

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).