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 145

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

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

19 March 1895

James Johnstone
Helena Constance Geraldine Ford

Not Solemnized. See attached letter.

Widower
Spinster

Hotel Keeper
Music Teacher

58
23

Napier
Napier

30 years
4 days

Presbyterian Manse

19 March 1895

Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	24
Date of Notice	19 March 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Johnstone	Helena Constance Geraldine Ford
	💍 Not Solemnized. See attached letter.
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Hotel Keeper	Music Teacher
Age	58	23
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	30 years	4 days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

19 March 1895

George Munro
Cassie Bruce

George Munro
Cassie Bruce
💍 1895/2759

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic

32
22

Taradale
Taradale

3 months
3 months

Office of the Registrar of Marriages

95/293

19 March 1895

S. J. Jago, Registrar

No	25
Date of Notice	19 March 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Munro	Cassie Bruce
	💍 1895/2759
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic
Age	32	22
Dwelling Place	Taradale	Taradale
Length of Residence	3 months	3 months
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	95/293
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1895
Officiating Minister	S. J. Jago, Registrar

20 March 1895

Richard Trenwith
Agnes Lucy James

Richard Trenwith
Agnes Lucy James
💍 1895/2767

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

25
24

Napier
Napier

6 months
3 months

St. Andrew's Church

95/282

20 March 1895

Rev. O. Dean, Church of England

No	26
Date of Notice	20 March 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Trenwith	Agnes Lucy James
	💍 1895/2767
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	6 months	3 months
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Church
Folio	95/282
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. O. Dean, Church of England

21 March 1895

Himrod Cecil Shaw
Edith Margaret Pitt

Hirnrod Cecil Shaw
Edith Margaret Pitt
💍 1895/3973

Bachelor
Spinster

Station Manager
Governess

30
26

Pohui
Pohui

4 years
4 years

English Church, Taradale

95/292

21 March 1895

Rev. A. P. Clarke, Church of England

No	27
Date of Notice	21 March 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Himrod Cecil Shaw	Edith Margaret Pitt
BDM Match (94%)	Hirnrod Cecil Shaw	Edith Margaret Pitt
	💍 1895/3973
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Station Manager	Governess
Age	30	26
Dwelling Place	Pohui	Pohui
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Taradale
Folio	95/292
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 March 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. P. Clarke, Church of England

23 March 1895

Walter John Williams
Isabel May Howell

Walter John Williams
Isabel May Howell
💍 1895/3974

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Domestic

24
18

Dartmoor
Dartmoor

4 years
18 years

Residence of the Bride's father, Puketapu

95/293

Isaac Howell, father

23 March 1895

Rev. A. P. Clarke, Church of England

No	28
Date of Notice	23 March 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter John Williams	Isabel May Howell
	💍 1895/3974
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic
Age	24	18
Dwelling Place	Dartmoor	Dartmoor
Length of Residence	4 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Residence of the Bride's father, Puketapu
Folio	95/293
Consent	Isaac Howell, father
Date of Certificate	23 March 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. P. Clarke, Church of England

27 March 1895

Alexander James Nicol
Lizzie Read Williamson

Alexander James Nicol
Lizzie Read Williamson
💍 1895/3512

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Shop girl

23
22

Napier
Napier

1 year
6 years

Presbyterian Manse, Napier

95/1241

27 March 1895

Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	29
Date of Notice	27 March 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander James Nicol	Lizzie Read Williamson
	💍 1895/3512
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Shop girl
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	1 year	6 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Napier
Folio	95/1241
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 March 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).