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 277

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1895 Registrar M. M. Buller

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

1 January 1895

Alfred Ernest Donne
Jeanne Napier Ramsay

Alfred Ernest Donne
Jeannie Napier Ramsay
💍 1895/465

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

31
27

Wellington
Christchurch

6 years
6 days

Church of St Paul, Cashel Street

95/1649

1 January 1895

Rev. S. S. Lindsay, Presbyterian

No	1
Date of Notice	1 January 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Ernest Donne	Jeanne Napier Ramsay
BDM Match (98%)	Alfred Ernest Donne	Jeannie Napier Ramsay
	💍 1895/465
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	31	27
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	6 days
Marriage Place	Church of St Paul, Cashel Street
Folio	95/1649
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 January 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. S. Lindsay, Presbyterian

2 January 1895

Richard White Hall
Fanny Laird

Richard White Hall
Fanny Laird
💍 1895/40

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer

49
36

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 days
5 days

Andrew's Church, Durham Street

95/1673

2 January 1895

Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian

No	2
Date of Notice	2 January 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard White Hall	Fanny Laird
	💍 1895/40
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	49	36
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 days	5 days
Marriage Place	Andrew's Church, Durham Street
Folio	95/1673
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 January 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian

2 January 1895

William Holland Stewart
Amy Walkinson

William Holland De Luen
Amy Wilkinson
💍 1895/2855

Bachelor
Spinster

Jeweller
Shop Assistant

29
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

29 years
27 years

Wesleyan Church, Durham Street

95/1633

2 January 1895

Rev. H. R. Dewsbury, Wesleyan

No	3
Date of Notice	2 January 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Holland Stewart	Amy Walkinson
BDM Match (81%)	William Holland De Luen	Amy Wilkinson
	💍 1895/2855
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Jeweller	Shop Assistant
Age	29	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	29 years	27 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Durham Street
Folio	95/1633
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 January 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. R. Dewsbury, Wesleyan

2 January 1895

Ernest Albert Hill
Christina McCormick

Ernest Albert Hill
Christina McCormick
💍 1895/3178

Bachelor
Spinster

Salary Officer

31
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 days
1 month

House of James Wilson, Sumner

95/709

2 January 1895

Mr. R. Bailey, Salvation Army

No	4
Date of Notice	2 January 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Albert Hill	Christina McCormick
	💍 1895/3178
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salary Officer
Age	31	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 days	1 month
Marriage Place	House of James Wilson, Sumner
Folio	95/709
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 January 1895
Officiating Minister	Mr. R. Bailey, Salvation Army

2 January 1895

Vincent George Carter
Florence Sophia McCarthy

Vincent George Carter
Florence Eugene McCarthy
💍 1895/35

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

25
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 years
2 years

St. Luke's Church

95/1668

Felix O'Sullivan McCarthy, Father

2 January 1895

Rev. Arch. Lingard, Church of England

No	5
Date of Notice	2 January 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Vincent George Carter	Florence Sophia McCarthy
BDM Match (88%)	Vincent George Carter	Florence Eugene McCarthy
	💍 1895/35
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church
Folio	95/1668
Consent	Felix O'Sullivan McCarthy, Father
Date of Certificate	2 January 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. Arch. Lingard, Church of England

2 January 1895

William Warman
Ada Gibbs

William Warmar
Ada Gibbs
💍 1895/3165

Bachelor
Spinster

Moulder
Servant

27
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

20 years
5 years

House of Rev. W. Birch

95/1648

Joseph Gibbs, Father

2 January 1895

Rev. W. Birch, Baptist

No	6
Date of Notice	2 January 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Warman	Ada Gibbs
BDM Match (96%)	William Warmar	Ada Gibbs
	💍 1895/3165
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Moulder	Servant
Age	27	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	20 years	5 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. W. Birch
Folio	95/1648
Consent	Joseph Gibbs, Father
Date of Certificate	2 January 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Birch, Baptist

2 January 1895

Augustus Kelly
Annie Fraser

Augustus Kelly
Annie Fraser
💍 1895/3041

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer

38
31

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 week
10 years

St. John's Church, Latimer Square

95/1628

2 January 1895

Rev. H. C. M. Watson, Church of England

No	7
Date of Notice	2 January 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Augustus Kelly	Annie Fraser
	💍 1895/3041
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer
Age	38	31
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 week	10 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Latimer Square
Folio	95/1628
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 January 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. C. M. Watson, Church of England

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 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).