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 182

District of [illegible] Quarter ending 31 March 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
16	7 January 1893	Walter Patrick Sprower Mary Susan Jeffery	Walter Pat Sprowell Mary Susan Jefferys 💍 1893/978	Bachelor Spinster	Foreman	24 30	Wellington Wellington	years years	St Mary of the Angels, Boulcott Street	93/374		7 January 1893	Very Rev. J. Devoy
17	9 January 1893	John McBeath Ellen Farrell	John McBeath Ellen Farrell 💍 1893/3946 Joseph James Fry Ellen Farrell 💍 1893/3053	Bachelor Spinster	Coach Painter	26 23	Wellington Wellington	14 days 3 months	St Mary of the Angels, Boulcott Street	93/375		9 January 1893	Very Rev. J. Devoy
18	9 January 1893	John Morgan Margaret McNutty	John Morgan Margaret McNally 💍 1893/1164	Bachelor Spinster	Railway Porter	27 29	Wellington Wellington	years years	Cathedral	93/389		9 January 1893	Revd. J. Dawson
19	9 January 1893	John Leggat Ann Jane Hunter	John Leggat Ann Jane Hunter 💍 1893/1115	Bachelor Spinster	Ship Riveter	28 22	Wellington Wellington	6 months 8	Registrars Office, Wellington	93/424		9 January 1893	W. I. Wyatt
20	11 January 1893	James Barker Elizabeth Mary Coster	James Baxter Elizabeth Mary Coster 💍 1893/1020	Bachelor Spinster	Engineer	37 38	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mrs Coster, Upper Willis Street	93/410		11 January 1893	Revd. J. K. Elliott
21	11 January 1893	William Thilp Ellen Sarah Matthews	William Philp Ellen Sarah Matthews 💍 1893/1167	Bachelor Spinster	Wool Sorter	26 29	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr Matthews, Ingestre Street	93/392		11 January 1893	Revd. W. Powell
22	11 January 1893	Walter Thompson Gore Graham Eliza Caroline Speedy	Walter Thompson Gore Graham Eliza Caroline Speedy 💍 1893/965	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	29 29	Lower Hutt Speedy, Lower Hutt	4 days years	House of Mr Speedy, Lower Hutt	93/362		11 January 1893	Revd. A. Thomson
23	12 January 1893	John Thick Alice Clara Kelly	John Stick Alice Clara Kelly 💍 1893/1017	Bachelor Spinster	Draper	28 24	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mrs Neal, Seacombe Terrace	93/407		12 January 1893	Revd. J. G. Chapman
24	13 January 1893	Harry Gaulton Anna Maria Barriball	Harry Gaulton Anna Maria Barriball 💍 1893/1176	Bachelor Spinster	Cabinetmaker	24 31	Wellington Wellington	3 days days	House of Mr Barriball, Harley Street	93/400		13 January 1893	Revd. J. J. Lewis
25	14 January 1893	James McInhyre Sophy Fox	James McIntyre Sophy Fox 💍 1893/970	Bachelor Spinster	Teacher	26 21	Wellington Wellington	1 month years	House of Mr C. Fox, South Avenue	93/367		14 January 1893	Revd. G. Paterson
26	16 January 1893	James Horder Sheppard Maud Amelia DeHoff	James Horden Sheppard Maud Amelia Detlaff 💍 1893/1131	Bachelor Spinster	Builder	32 28	Wellington Wellington	3 days 14	St Peters Church	93/416		16 January 1893	Revd. W. C. Waters
27	16 January 1893	Thomas Kinags Jarman Fanny Norman	Thomas Uridge Fanny Norman 💍 1893/1014	Bachelor Spinster	House Decorator	26 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr Jarman, Tory Street	93/404	Thomas Jarman, Father	16 January 1893	Mr. A. F. Turner
28	17 January 1893	Harry Alfred Harris Ellen Veronica Keelan	Harry Alfred Harris Ellen Veronica Keelan 💍 1893/1116	Bachelor Spinster	Artilleyman	26 23	Wellington Wellington	3 days days	Registrars Office, Wellington	93/425		17 January 1893	W. I. Wyatt
29	17 January 1893	Cecil Roadley Louisa Emma Godden		Widower Divorcee	Printer	40 27	Wellington Wellington	14 days 7	Registrars Office, Wellington	not Solemnized See letter attached		17 January 1893	W. I. Wyatt
30	18 January 1893	William Alexander Cecilia Caroline Hughes	William Alexander Tribe Cecilia Caroline Hughes 💍 1893/1181	Bachelor Spinster	Clothier	26 24	Wellington Wellington	4 days 1 week	St Marks Church	93/381		18 January 1893	Rev. R. Coffey

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).