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 954

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30 September 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
275	22 August 1893	William Joseph King Margaret Ryan	William Joseph King Margaret Ryan 💍 1893/706	Bachelor Spinster	Carter	22 19	Petone Petone	years years	Roman Catholic Church, Lower Hutt	93/2867	Thomas Ryan, father	26 August 1893	Rev. John Leud
276	26 August 1893	William Blake Margaret Cooper	William Blake Margaret Cooper 💍 1893/4035	Widower Widow	Blacksmith	52 46	Wellington Wellington	years monthly	Registrars office, Wellington	93/2385		26 August 1893	W. Elvage
277	28 August 1893	Carl Poll Ellen Emma Lett	Carl Poll Ellen Emma Lett 💍 1893/2517	Bachelor Spinster	Cabinet maker	20 17	Wellington Wellington	years years	St Mary of the Angels	93/2433	Gustav Poll, father; John Lett, father	28 August 1893	Very Rev. J. Devoy
278	28 August 1893	William Murdoch Emma Briggs	William Murdoch Emma Biggs 💍 1893/2216	Bachelor Spinster	Journalist	29 24	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mrs Briggs, Hopper Street	93/2405		28 August 1893	W. N. F. Turner
279	30 August 1893	Oliver Rule Gould Annie Elizabeth Stewart	Oliver Rule Coad Annie Elizabeth Stewart 💍 1893/2520	Bachelor Spinster	Driver	25 27	Wellington Wellington	1 year years	House of Mr Reid, Alphabel Terrace	93/2413		30 August 1893	Rev. C. Challacombe
280	30 August 1893	Cyril Julian Crompton Mary Emilie Howarth	Cyril Julian Mountfort Mary Emilie Haworth 💍 1893/2817	Bachelor Spinster	Architect	39 32	Wellington Wellington	3 days 2 months	St Peters Church	93/2876		30 August 1893	Rev. W. C. Waters
281	30 August 1893	John Lawler Margaret Harriell	John Lawlor Margaret Harnett 💍 1893/2569 Victor John Layner Margaret Hill 💍 1893/3618 John Jelley Margaret Kim 💍 1893/2614 John Howe Margaret Westphal 💍 1894/768 John Fifield Margaret Ann Bell 💍 1893/2151	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	36 28	Wellington Wellington	years years	St Mary of the Angels	93/2434		30 August 1893	Very Rev. J. Devoy
282	31 August 1893	William Edward Honey Agnes de Intril	William Edward Laney Agnes McIntosh 💍 1893/2505	Bachelor Spinster	Grocer	28 24	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Captain North, Taranaki Street	93/2422		31 August 1893	Rev. W. Glover
283	4 September 1893	Samuel John Brother Gertrude Annie Ryder	Maurice John Matthews Gertrude Anne Ryder 💍 1893/2818	Widower Spinster	Clerk	36 27	Wellington Wellington	7 months years	St Peters Church	93/2877		4 September 1893	Rev. W. C. Waters
284	4 September 1893	Albert Sidney Smith Gertrude Carter	Albert Sydney Smith Gertude Carter 💍 1893/2509	Bachelor Spinster	Hair Dresser	19 18	Wellington Wellington	years years	Residence of Revd John Choir, Birmingham Street	93/2426	Harry Smith, father; George Carter, father	4 September 1893	Rev. John Choir
285	4 September 1893	Andrew Gray Christina Wilson (Glasgow)	Andrew Gray Christina Wilson Glasgow 💍 1893/3595	Bachelor Spinster	Minister	28 27	Lower Hutt Belmont	10 months 3 days	Knox Church, Lower Hutt	93/3886		4 September 1893	Rev. C. L. Ogg
286	4 September 1893	Rowland Henry Brown Annie McKenzie	Rowland Henry Browne Annie McKenzie 💍 1893/2877 Thomas Murray Annie McKenzie 💍 1894/249	Bachelor Divorced	Iron Moulder	26 20	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Bridegroom, Ingestre Street	93/2979		4 September 1893	Rev. J. Paterson
287	4 September 1893	James Cobbie Rubina Ashwin	James Dobbie Rubina Ashwin 💍 1893/4036	Bachelor Widow	Marine Engineer	47 35	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars office, Wellington	93/2386		4 September 1893	W. Elvage
288	5 September 1893	George Quinsey Gillick Norah Nair	George Quinsey Tillotson Norah Mair 💍 1893/2523	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	28 29	Petone Petone	3 days years	St James Church, Lower Hutt	93/2416		5 September 1893	Rev. Joshua Jones
289	6 September 1893	Joseph Thomas Evelyn Lizzie Thompson	Joseph Thomas Evelyn Lizzie Thompson 💍 1893/2213	Bachelor Spinster	Schoolmaster	32 26	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mrs Thompson, Murphy Street	93/2402		6 September 1893	Rev. R. J. Murray

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 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).