Intentions to Marry, 1895 January-June

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840407, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole at Archives NZ Wellington, June 11 2025.

1895 is bound in two volumes, January-June and July-December.

Page 141

District of Napier Quarter ending 31 March 1895 Registrar Sydney J. Gay

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

12 February 1895

Charles William Forde
Mary Elizabeth Doreas Comerson

Charles William Fords
Mary Elizabeth Doreen Emerson
💍 1895/4008

Bachelor
Spinster

Shorthand writer

35
30

Napier
Napier

18 months
2 years

Residence of Bride's father, Napier

95/1234

12 February 1895

Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	13
Date of Notice	12 February 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles William Forde	Mary Elizabeth Doreas Comerson
BDM Match (91%)	Charles William Fords	Mary Elizabeth Doreen Emerson
	💍 1895/4008
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shorthand writer
Age	35	30
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	18 months	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Bride's father, Napier
Folio	95/1234
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

21 February 1895

Peter Rentoul
Wilhelmina Elizabeth Sinclair

Peter Rentoul
Wilhelmina Elizabeth Sinclair
💍 1895/3510

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer
Domestic

45
39

Port Ahuriri
Napier

6 years
3 years

Presbyterian Manse, Napier

95/1238

21 February 1895

Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	14
Date of Notice	21 February 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Rentoul	Wilhelmina Elizabeth Sinclair
	💍 1895/3510
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer	Domestic
Age	45	39
Dwelling Place	Port Ahuriri	Napier
Length of Residence	6 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Napier
Folio	95/1238
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

25 February 1895

Joseph Aristide Vickers
Mabel Ruscoe

Joseph Aristide Vickers
Mabel Ruscoe
💍 1895/2772

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Guard

29
18

Napier
Napier

8 years
22 years

Residence of Bride's father, Wellesley Rd., Napier

95/1286

Henry Ruscoe, Father

25 February 1895

Rev. Dr. Wm. J. Miller, Presbyterian

No	15
Date of Notice	25 February 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Aristide Vickers	Mabel Ruscoe
	💍 1895/2772
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Guard
Age	29	18
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	8 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Bride's father, Wellesley Rd., Napier
Folio	95/1286
Consent	Henry Ruscoe, Father
Date of Certificate	25 February 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. Dr. Wm. J. Miller, Presbyterian

26 February 1895

James Groves Speedy
Sarah Elizabeth Rymer

James Groves Speedy
Sarah Elizabeth Rymer
💍 1895/3940

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer

26
25

Herbertville, Napier
Inciance

16 years
25 years

St. Thomas Church

95/289

26 February 1895

Rev. A. P. Clarke, Church of England

No	16
Date of Notice	26 February 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Groves Speedy	Sarah Elizabeth Rymer
	💍 1895/3940
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Herbertville, Napier	Inciance
Length of Residence	16 years	25 years
Marriage Place	St. Thomas Church
Folio	95/289
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. P. Clarke, Church of England

27 February 1895

Theophilus Starkey
Agnes Mary Gertrude Maney

Theophilus Starkey
Agnes Mary Gertrude Maney
💍 1895/2765

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinetmaker

36
24

Napier
Napier

16 years
20 years

Residence of Mr. Dempsey, Bower St., Napier

95/1279

27 February 1895

Rev. W. Welsh, Church of England

No	17
Date of Notice	27 February 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Theophilus Starkey	Agnes Mary Gertrude Maney
	💍 1895/2765
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinetmaker
Age	36	24
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	16 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Dempsey, Bower St., Napier
Folio	95/1279
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Welsh, Church of England

27 February 1895

Thomas Herbert Clayton
Barbara Helm

Thomas Hubert Clayton
Barbara Helm
💍 1895/3511

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

33
30

Napier
Napier

3 years
8 years

Presbyterian Manse, Napier

95/1239

27 February 1895

Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	18
Date of Notice	27 February 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Herbert Clayton	Barbara Helm
BDM Match (95%)	Thomas Hubert Clayton	Barbara Helm
	💍 1895/3511
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	33	30
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Napier
Folio	95/1239
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

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 1903. More registers are being added almost every week.

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).