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 600

District of Wellington 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
164	18 May 1893	Alexander McInnes Lucy Eagles	Alexander McInnes Lucy Emma Eagles 💍 1893/1509	Bachelor Spinster	Foreman	27 22	Wellington Kaiwarra	years	House of Mr. Eagles, Kaiwarra	93/1399		18 May 1893	Rev. R. J. Murray
165	19 May 1893	Patrick Kearins Mary Bradley	Patrick Kearins Mary Bradley 💍 1893/1466	Bachelor Spinster	Labour	22 25	Wellington Wellington	3 days 14 days	St. Mary's Cathedral	93/1366		19 May 1893	Rev. T. Dawson
166	20 May 1893	Thomas Dale Wrigley Ellen Agnes Doyle	Thomas Dale Wrigley Ellen Agnes Doile 💍 1893/1641	Bachelor Spinster	Inspector of Police	24 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. Barry, Horner Street	93/1419		20 May 1893	Rev. J. Paterson
167	22 May 1893	George Walter Lewins Harriet Sophy Barber	George Walter Lewens Harriette Sophy Barber 💍 1893/1517	Bachelor Spinster	Musician	37 31	Lower Hutt Upper Hutt	years years	St. James Church, Lower Hutt	93/1388		22 May 1893	The Very Rev. T. Devoy
168	22 May 1893	Robert Harvey Butler Ellen Brookman	Robert Harvey Butler Ellan Brookman 💍 1893/1453	Bachelor Spinster	Labour	31 22	Wellington Wellington	9 months 18 months	St. Mary of the Angels	93/1376		22 May 1893	Rev. J. Paterson
169	23 May 1893	John Fotheringham Bell Christina Gay	John Fotheringham Bell Christina Gay 💍 1893/1642	Bachelor Spinster	Wool Scourer	25 22	Wellington Wellington	1 month 4 days	House of Mr. Allan Orr, Garrett Street	93/1418		23 May 1893	Rev. C. Edward
170	23 May 1893	Albert Johns Hannah Earl	Albert Johns Hannah Earl 💍 1893/1587	Bachelor Spinster	Moulder	23 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. Earl, Ghuznee Street	93/1358		23 May 1893	Rev. N. Thiner
171	23 May 1893	Robert John Jones Jessie Braid	Robert John Jones Jessie Braid 💍 1893/1590	Bachelor Spinster	Fireman	25 20	Wellington Wellington	years years	Presbyterian Church, Adelaide Road	93/1360	No relation in Colony	6 June 1893	Rev. N. Thiner
172	25 May 1893	Walter Brown Hannah Darragh	Walter Croton Hanna Darragh 💍 1893/1494	Bachelor Widow	Labour	26 27	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	93/1444		25 May 1893	Mr. E. W. Wyatt
173	25 May 1893	George Barnes Edith Simpson	George Barnes Edith Simpson 💍 1893/1495	Bachelor Spinster	Labour	30 21	Wellington Wellington	3 days years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	93/1445		25 May 1893	Mr. E. W. Wyatt
174	25 May 1893	Henry Mackey Agnes Stevens	Henry MacKay Agnes Stevens 💍 1893/1643	Bachelor Spinster	Surveyor	40 28	Wellington Wellington	years 2 months	St. John's Church, Woolcombe Street	93/1419		25 May 1893	Rev. J. Paterson
175	29 May 1893	James McArthur Ellen Keegan	James McAtier Ellen Keegan 💍 1893/3967	Bachelor Spinster	Carter	32 23	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Mary of the Angels	93/1377		29 May 1893	Very Rev. T. Devoy
176	30 May 1893	Arthur Maguire Lucy Thiele	Arthur Maguire Lucy Shiel 💍 1893/1467	Bachelor Spinster	Storekeeper	24 17	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Mary's Cathedral	93/1367	William Joseph Mahoney, Guardian	30 May 1893	Rev. T. Dawson
177	31 May 1893	Frederic George Kimbell Lenore May Gunn	Frederick George Kimbell Lenore May Gurr 💍 1893/3983	Bachelor Spinster	Bank Accountant	27 23	Wellington Wellington	3 days years	St. Mark's Church	93/1355		31 May 1893	Rev. R. Coffey
178	31 May 1893	Ernest Frederick Scholefield Elizabeth Crimmins	Ernest Frederick Scholefield Elizabeth Crimmins 💍 1893/1454	Bachelor Spinster	Surveyor	34 30	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Mary of the Angels	93/1378		31 May 1893	Very Rev. T. Devoy

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).