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 594

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
119	13 April 1893	Anthony Barnard Mary Wright	Anthony John Barnard Mary Eleanor Wright 💍 1893/1523 Alexander Craig Mary Wright 💍 1893/2868	Bachelor Spinster	Watchmaker	28 22	Greytown Wellington	years years	Registrars office Greytown	Not solemnized see letter attached.		13 April 1893	Registrar Greytown
120	14 April 1893	John King Matilda Prince	John King Matilda Prince 💍 1893/1630	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	33 34	Wellington Wellington	3 days 3 days	Registrars office Wellington	93/1429		14 April 1893	W. L. Wyatt
121	17 April 1893	Anthony John Barnard Mary Eleanor Wright	Anthony John Barnard Mary Eleanor Wright 💍 1893/1523	Bachelor Spinster	Watchmaker	28 22	Wellington Wellington	3 days years	House of Mrs Wright Thompson Street	93/1390		17 April 1893	Mr A. F. Turner
122	17 April 1893	Thomas Adam Peacock Emma Louisa Anderson	Thomas Adam Peacock Richardson Emma Louise Anderson 💍 1893/1634	Bachelor Spinster	Saddler	22 21	Wellington Wellington	18 months 6 months	House of Mr Laurie Brougham Street	93/1413		17 April 1893	Revd J. Paterson
123	17 April 1893	Daniel Laurie Christie Eva Evelyn Helen Bell	Daniel Laurie Christie Eva Evelyn Helen Bell 💍 1893/1581	Bachelor Spinster	Grocer	26 23	Wellington Wellington	years years	St Marks Church	93/1357		17 April 1893	Revd R. Coffey
124	17 April 1893	Edwin Christopher Woodward Mary Boyce	Edwin Christopher Woodward Mary Boyce 💍 1893/1631	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	31 20	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars office Wellington	93/1430	John Boyce, Father	17 April 1893	W. L. Wyatt
125	18 April 1893	William Martin Ashkett Bessie Bailey	William Martin Ashton Bessie Bailey 💍 1893/1623	Bachelor Spinster	Telegraphist	33 35	Wellington Wellington	1 week years	House of Mr Hannah Roulcott Street	93/1412		18 April 1893	Revd J. Paterson
126	18 April 1893	George John Clapham Matilda Ellen Curtis	George John Clapham Matilda Ellen Curtis 💍 1893/1520	Bachelor Spinster	Civil Servant	36 26	Wellington Wellington	years years	St Pauls Cathedral	93/1410		18 April 1893	Revd T. H. Sprott
127	20 April 1893	Patrick John O'Meara Ada Taylor	Patrick John O'Meara Ada Taylor 💍 1893/1632	Bachelor Widow	Labourer	30 25	Wellington Wellington	1 month 5 months	Registrars office Wellington	93/1431		20 April 1893	W. L. Wyatt
128	20 April 1893	Edward John Judd Emily Theodore Tucker	Edward John Judd Emily Feodora Jacka 💍 1893/1512	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	25 26	Lower Hutt Wellington	years years	House of Mr Jacka Grant Road	93/1403		20 April 1893	Revd R. J. Murray
129	20 April 1893	John Douglas Ritchie Margaret Jane McKerrow	John Douglas Ritchie Margaret Jane McKerrow 💍 1893/4153	Bachelor Spinster	Secretary for Agriculture	39 30	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr McKerrow Ghuznee Street	93/1414		20 April 1893	Revd J. Paterson
130	22 April 1893	Augustus James Wybourn Eliza Joan May	Augustus James Wybourn Eliza Joan May 💍 1893/1448	Widower Spinster	Manager of Asylum	48 28	Johnsonville Johnsonville	3 days years	House of Mr May Johnsonville	93/1362		22 April 1893	Revd J. G. Allen
131	22 April 1893	George William Such Kate O'Connor	George William Luxton Kate O'Connor 💍 1893/1633	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	22 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars office Wellington	93/1432		22 April 1893	W. L. Wyatt
132	22 April 1893	Harry Bromley Kay Edith Margaret Gazely	Harry Bromley Kay Edith Margurite Mary Gaze 💍 1893/1635	Bachelor Spinster	Bricklayer	21 20	Wellington Wellington	9 weeks 3 days	Registrars office Wellington	93/1433	Harry John Gazely, Father	22 April 1893	W. L. Wyatt
133	24 April 1893	Claudius Walter Cato Christina Frances Thorburn	Claudius Walter Cato Christina Frances Thorburn 💍 1893/2811	Bachelor Spinster		20 22	Wellington Wellington	3 days years	St Andrews Church	93/2893		24 April 1893	Revd C. S. Ogg

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).