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 656

District of Ashburton 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
792	5 April 1893	Frederick Henry Bowler Esther Elizabeth Anderson	Frederick Henry Bowler Esther Elizabeth Anderson 💍 1893/1912	Bachelor Spinster	Schoolmaster	29 19	Greenstreet Tinwald	2 years 18 months Tinwald	Presbyterian Church	93/1582	Robert Anderson, father	5 April 1893	Revd. A. Blake
793	19 April 1893	Edward James Faunter Alexandrina Campbell	Edward James Caunter Alexandrina Campbell 💍 1893/1914	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	31 19	Ashburton Ashburton	16 years 5 years at Ashburton	Private Dwellinghouse of John Campbell	93/1584	John Campbell, Father	19 April 1893	Revd. James Cocker
794	22 April 1893	Philip James Green Ellen Louisa Parish	Philip James Green Ellen Louisa Parish 💍 1893/1924	Bachelor Spinster	Bushman Domestic Servant	28 22	Ashburton Willowby	4 days 1 year at Willowby	Wesleyan Church	93/1571		25 April 1893	Revd. C. Abernethy
795	24 April 1893	James Donn Edith Jackson Hughes	James Donn Edith Jackson Hughes 💍 1893/1913	Bachelor Spinster	Painter Weaver	21 21	Ashburton Ashburton	2 years 15 years Ashburton	Presbyterian Church	93/1583		24 April 1893	Revd. A. Blake
796	26 April 1893	Frederick Claud Black Ellen Leggett	Frederick Claude Black Ellen Leggett 💍 1893/1903	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	26 20	Tinwald (Silvertream Farm) Ashburton	12 years 17 years	St. Stephen's Ch. at Ashburton	93/1574	Joseph Leggett, Father	25 April 1893	Revd. J. Hamilton
797	27 April 1893	Bryant George Hitchings Elizabeth Shields	Bryant George Hitchings Elizabeth Shiels 💍 1893/1915	Bachelor Spinster	Cordial Manufacturer Weaver	23 22	Ashburton Allenton	11 years 4 years Allenton	Private Dwellinghouse of Robert Shields at Allenton	93/1585	Robert Shields	27 April 1893	Revd. James Cocker
798	29 April 1893	Arthur Ingham Dent Sarah Elizabeth Moore	Arthur Ingham Dent Sarah Elizabeth Moore 💍 1893/1909	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	23 24	Lauriston Makanui	15 years 12 years Makanui	Private Dwellinghouse of James Moore at Makanui	93/1580		29 April 1893	Revd. A. Blake
799	2 May 1893	Thomas Painter Alice Chapman Cook	Thomas Painter Alice Chapman Cook 💍 1893/1916	Widower Widow	Labourer	49 23	Allenton Ashburton	18 years 5 years Allenton	Private Residence of Edward Watkins at Allenton	93/1586		2 May 1893	Revd. James Cocker
800	4 May 1893	Frank Bebbington Minnie Patrick	Frank Bebbington Minnie Patrick 💍 1893/1907	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	24 21	Ashburton Ashburton	4 years 2 years Ashburton	Registrars Office	93/1578		4 May 1893	J. Ward, Registrar
801	12 May 1893	Frank Bull Martha Beach	Frank Bull Martha Beach 💍 1893/1908	Bachelor Widow	Labourer	26 22	Ashburton Allenton	4 days 7 years Ashburton	Registrars Office	93/1579		12 May 1893	J. Ward, Registrar
802	22 May 1893	Cuthbert Bernard Wright Eleanor Thompson	Cuthbert Bernard Knight Eleanor Thompson 💍 1893/1904	Bachelor Spinster	Book-Keeper Dressmaker	21 24	Ashburton Ashburton	5 years 42 years Ashburton	St. Stephen's Church	93/1575		22 May 1893	Revd. Thos. A. Hamilton

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).