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 207

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 March 1895

No	Date of Notice	Names and Surnames of Parties	BDM Match	Condition	Calling or Profession	Age	Dwelling Place	Length of Residence	Marriage Place	Folio	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
1	2 January 1895	Felix O'Sullivan Isabella Elizabeth Noke	Felix O'Sullivan McCarthy Isabella Elizabeth Hubbard 💍 1895/3065	Widower Spinster	Civil Servant	51 37	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	St. Joseph's Buckle Street	95/459	2 January 1895	Very Rev. F. D. Every
2	2 January 1895	George William Monk Mary Ann Tucker	George William Mirk Mary Ann Tucker 💍 1895/2914	Widower Widow	Engineer	47 42	Wellington Wellington	3 months 3 months	St. Mary's Terrace	95/498	2 January 1895	Rev. C. Dallaston
3	2 January 1895	John Tierney Annie Emily Frances	John Tierney Annie Emily Frances Prismick 💍 1895/2876	Bachelor Spinster	Printer	28 29	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	Registrars Office Wellington	95/409	2 January 1895	W. T. Wyall
4	3 January 1895	James Fisher Thomas Ellen Josephine Murphy	James Fisher Thurston Ellen Josephine Murphy 💍 1895/3066	Bachelor Spinster	Teacher	21 33	Wellington Wellington	11 days 11 days	St. Mary of the Angels	95/460	4 January 1895	Very Rev. F. D. Every
5	4 January 1895	Stephen Bryant Maria Annie Spice	Stephen Bryant Maria Annie Spicer 💍 1895/3056	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	23 22	Ohariu Ohariu	4 years 4 years	Anglican Church Ohariu	95/473	4 January 1895	Archdeacon Fancourt
6	4 January 1895	Henry Eversfield Anne Parker	Henry Eversfield Anne Parker 💍 1895/2877	Widower Widow	Butcher	44 49	Kaiwhara Kaiwhara	6 weeks 3 months	Registrars Office Wellington	95/410	4 January 1895	W. T. Wyall
7	5 January 1895	Robert Walter Hamilton Mary Jane Draper	Robert Wallace Hamilton Mary Jane Draper 💍 1895/3830	Bachelor Spinster	Tinsmith	27 24	Petone Wellington	4 years 4 years	Home of Mr. Draper, Taranaki Street	95/469	5 January 1895	Rev. A. Thomson
8	7 January 1895	Henry Richardson Anne Hesk	Henry Richardson Elder Anne Hesk 💍 1895/2950	Widower Widow	Run Holder	35 37	Wellington Wellington	3 days 3 days	St. Pauls Cathedral	95/439	7 January 1895	Rev. J. H. Sprott
9	7 January 1895	Daniel Sullivan Ellen Reidy	Daniel Sullivan Ellen Reidy 💍 1895/3067	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	36 32	Wellington Wellington	3 months 3 months	St. Mary of the Angels	95/461	7 January 1895	Very Rev. F. D. Every
10	7 January 1895	Alexander Angus Louise Elizabeth March	Alexander Angus Louise Elizabeth Marsh 💍 1895/3062	Bachelor Widow	Cooper	48 26	Petone Wellington	1 month 4 years	House of Mr. Clark, Upper Hutt	95/478	7 January 1895	Rev. Andrew Gray
11	8 January 1895	Stephen Ernest Collison Elizabeth Bridget Pinton	Stephen Ernest Collison Elizabeth Bridget Burton 💍 1895/2951	Bachelor Widow	Steward	28 40	Wellington Wellington	2 weeks 2 weeks	St. Pauls Cathedral	95/440	8 January 1895	Rev. J. H. Sprott
12	8 January 1895	Anthony Arthur Rose Fanny Amelia Baney	Anthony Arthur Rose Fanny Amelia Barrett 💍 1895/3058	Bachelor Spinster	Carter	22 27	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	Home of Mr. Baney, Wordsworth Street	95/475	8 January 1895	Rev. W. Baranber
13	8 January 1895	Richard Frederick Purcell Margaret McGillivray	Richard Frederick Purser Margaret McGillivray 💍 1895/2818	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	30 29	Masterton Wellington	3 days 3 weeks	Anglican Church Masterton	95/339	8 January 1895	Rev. A. G. Yorke
14	9 January 1895	James William Smith Mary Jane Sidswell	James William Smith Mary Jane Tidswell 💍 1895/2878	Bachelor Spinster	Brushmaker	24 24	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	Registrars Office Wellington	95/411	9 January 1895	W. T. Wyall
15	11 January 1895	George Henry Brood Annie Rosamond Gibbons	George Henry Broad Annie Rosamond Gibbons 💍 1895/2952	Widower Spinster	Bookbinder	41 36	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	St. Pauls Cathedral	95/441	11 January 1895	Rev. J. H. Sprott

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).