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 299

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1895 Registrar J. M. Vauderson

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

111

21 March 1895

James Allan Kay
Sarah Ann Greening

James Allen Kay Junior
Sarah Ann Greening
💍 1895/3147

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

33
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

32 years
3 years

House of Mr. Kay, Hart Street

95/646

21 March 1895

Rev. W. Buch, Baptist

No	111
Date of Notice	21 March 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Allan Kay	Sarah Ann Greening
BDM Match (82%)	James Allen Kay Junior	Sarah Ann Greening
	💍 1895/3147
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	33	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	32 years	3 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Kay, Hart Street
Folio	95/646
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 March 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Buch, Baptist

112

21 March 1895

Edward John Wills
Eliza Harrow

Edward John Wills
Kate Eliza Harrow
💍 1895/2979

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker
Tailoress

22
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

19 years
14 years

St. Michael's Church, Oxford Terrace

95/696

21 March 1895

Rev. A. W. Averill, Church of England

No	112
Date of Notice	21 March 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward John Wills	Eliza Harrow
BDM Match (85%)	Edward John Wills	Kate Eliza Harrow
	💍 1895/2979
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker	Tailoress
Age	22	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	19 years	14 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church, Oxford Terrace
Folio	95/696
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 March 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. W. Averill, Church of England

113

23 March 1895

Charles de Joux
Helen Whelan

Charles de Joux
Helen Whelan
💍 1895/3038

Bachelor
Spinster

Watchmaker

27
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 months
3 days

Registrar's Office

95/625

Henry Adams

23 March 1895

Deputy Registrar of Marriages

No	113
Date of Notice	23 March 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles de Joux	Helen Whelan
	💍 1895/3038
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Watchmaker
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 months	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	95/625
Consent	Henry Adams
Date of Certificate	23 March 1895
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar of Marriages

114

23 March 1895

Sydney Spencer Smith
Millicent Cudworth Rowe

Sydney Spencer Smith
Millicent Cudworth Romer
💍 1895/3183

Bachelor
Spinster

Gentleman

26
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
4 years

Matrimonial Agency, Chancery Lane

95/714

23 March 1895

Rev. J. Hosking, United Methodist

No	114
Date of Notice	23 March 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney Spencer Smith	Millicent Cudworth Rowe
BDM Match (96%)	Sydney Spencer Smith	Millicent Cudworth Romer
	💍 1895/3183
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gentleman
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Matrimonial Agency, Chancery Lane
Folio	95/714
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 March 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Hosking, United Methodist

115

23 March 1895

William John George Henderson
Margaret Roy

William John George Henderson
Margaret Boag
💍 1895/43

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

28
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

28 years
27 years

House of Mr. William Roy, Fendalton

95/696

23 March 1895

Rev. C. Webster, Presbyterian

No	115
Date of Notice	23 March 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John George Henderson	Margaret Roy
BDM Match (88%)	William John George Henderson	Margaret Boag
	💍 1895/43
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	28 years	27 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. William Roy, Fendalton
Folio	95/696
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 March 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Webster, Presbyterian

116

25 March 1895

John Usher Kelly
Isabella Hewitt

John Usher Kelly
Isabella Hewitt
💍 1895/3157

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

39
31

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
1 month

House of Mr. David Monro, Bligh Road, Papanui

95/653

25 March 1895

Rev. Robert Erwin, Presbyterian

No	116
Date of Notice	25 March 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Usher Kelly	Isabella Hewitt
	💍 1895/3157
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	39	31
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	1 month
Marriage Place	House of Mr. David Monro, Bligh Road, Papanui
Folio	95/653
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert Erwin, Presbyterian

117

27 March 1895

John Evans
Margaret Ann Milburn

John Evans
Margaret Ann Milburn
💍 1895/3820

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

26
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
5 months

Church of England, Halkett

95/712

27 March 1895

Rev. H. Y. Halkin, Church of England

No	117
Date of Notice	27 March 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Evans	Margaret Ann Milburn
	💍 1895/3820
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	5 months
Marriage Place	Church of England, Halkett
Folio	95/712
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 March 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Y. Halkin, Church of England

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).