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 1426

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	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
329	16 October 1893	George Thomas Taplin Fanny Cruikshank	George Thomas St Patrick Taplin Fanny Cruickshank 💍 1893/3151	Bachelor Spinster	Surveyor	29 40	Wellington Wellington	5 months 7 days	St. James Presbyterian Church	93/3361	16 October 1893	Revd W. Shirer
330	16 October 1893	Alfred George Friens Nellie Alexander	Alfred George Friers Nellie Alexander 💍 1893/3183	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	24 24	Johnsonville Johnsonville	9 months 3 months	Registrars Office Wellington	93/3415	16 October 1893	Mr. S. Wrigg
331	16 October 1893	Herbert Williams Helena Coakley	Herbert Williams Helena Coakley 💍 1893/3184	Bachelor Spinster	Labour	26 21	Wellington Wellington	14 days 14 days	Registrars Office Wellington	93/3416	16 October 1893	Mr. S. Wrigg
332	17 October 1893	John Southee Mary Lyndhurst	John Southee Mary Lyndhurst 💍 1893/3185	Bachelor Spinster	Contractor	25 25	Wellington Wellington	14 days 2 years	Registrars Office Wellington	93/3417	17 October 1893	Mr. S. Wrigg
333	17 October 1893	Thomas Hutcheson Arline Annie Dollman	Thomas Hutchinson Hamer Arline Annie Dollemore 💍 1893/3879	Widower Spinster	Civil Servant	37 22	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	House of Mr. J. Ward, Northumberland Street	93/3374	17 October 1893	Revd W. H. Beck
334	17 October 1893	George William Frame Mary Ann Carr	George William Stuart Mary Ann Carr 💍 1893/3516	Widower Widow		57 45	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	St. Pauls Cathedral	93/3903	17 October 1893	Revd S. H. Sprott
335	20 October 1893	William Nicol Eva Mary Petherick	William Nicol Eva Mary Patherick 💍 1893/3315	Bachelor Spinster	Painter	25 21	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	House of Mr. E. W. Petherick, Ghuznee Street	93/3389	20 October 1893	Revd G. E. Dallaston
336	21 October 1893	Clifford Lees Martha Ellen Claridge	Clifford Leese Martha Ellen Claridge 💍 1893/3319	Widower Spinster	Telephone Operator	29 22	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	House of Mr. Claridge, Kilbirnie	93/3375	21 October 1893	Revd W. H. Beck
337	23 October 1893	Walter John Haybittle Amelia Farmer Rigg	Walter John Haylittle Amelia Farrow Begg 💍 1893/3160	Bachelor Spinster	Grain merchant	26 21	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	St. Peters Church	93/3369	23 October 1893	Revd S. H. Sprott
338	23 October 1893	William Clement Homery Edith Martha Chisholm	William Clement Hemery Edith Martha Chisholm 💍 1893/3318	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	25 23	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	House of Mr. Chisholm, Hankey Street	93/3392	23 October 1893	Revd J. Lewis
339	24 October 1893	Thomas Mitchell Margaret Cummings	Thomas Mitchell Margaret Cummings 💍 1893/3186	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	52 30	Wellington Wellington	3 weeks 4 years	Registrars Office Wellington	93/3418	24 October 1893	Mr. S. Wrigg
340	24 October 1893	Joseph Little Arabella Mary Ann Stevens	Joseph Little Arabella Mary Mefsenger 💍 1893/3156	Bachelor Spinster	Miller and Grain Merchant	26 26	Wellington Karori	4 days 4 years	Episcopalian Church Karori	93/3366	24 October 1893	Revd N. D. Ascott
341	27 October 1893	Patrick Fareley Selina Nash	Patrick Farely Selina Nash 💍 1893/3147	Widower Widow	Labour	38 38	Wellington Wellington	4 days 4 days	St. Mary of the Angels	93/3357	27 October 1893	Very Revd S. Devoy
342	27 October 1893	Thomas D'Laney Louisa Archer	Thomas DeLaney Louisa Archer 💍 1893/3152	Bachelor Spinster	Postmaker	22 20	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	House of Mr. A. D'Laney, Hanson Street	93/3362	27 October 1893	Revd W. Shirer
343	30 October 1893	George Mudge Agnes McKenzie	George Mudge Annie McLeanfield 💍 1893/3312	Bachelor Spinster	Carter	24 21	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	House of Mr. Mudge, Adelaide Road	93/3386	30 October 1893	Mr. A. F. Turner

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).