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 479

District of Auckland Quarter ending 30 June 1895 Registrar E. H. Lyons

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

2215

11 June 1895

John Cruickshank
Sarah Ann Shields

John Caine
Sarah Ann Sheils
💍 1895/3499

Bachelor
Spinster

Cook

53
43

Auckland
Auckland

44 years
44 years

St. Patrick's Cathedral

95/1199

11 June 1895

Rev. W. J. Madden, Roman Catholic

No	2215
Date of Notice	11 June 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Cruickshank	Sarah Ann Shields
BDM Match (66%)	John Caine	Sarah Ann Sheils
	💍 1895/3499
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cook
Age	53	43
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	44 years	44 years
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Cathedral
Folio	95/1199
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 June 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Madden, Roman Catholic

2216

11 June 1895

Thomas Taylor
Annie Rodrigues

Thomas Taylor
Annie Roderiquez
💍 1895/3486

Bachelor
Spinster

Jockey

30
24

Auckland
Auckland

30 years
24 years

Roman Catholic Church, Ponsonby

95/1209

11 June 1895

Rev. N. McDonald, Roman Catholic

No	2216
Date of Notice	11 June 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Taylor	Annie Rodrigues
BDM Match (91%)	Thomas Taylor	Annie Roderiquez
	💍 1895/3486
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Jockey
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	30 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Ponsonby
Folio	95/1209
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 June 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. N. McDonald, Roman Catholic

2217

11 June 1895

Joseph McEvoy
Eleanor Frances Palin

Joseph McEvoy
Eleanor Frances Palin
💍 1895/3398

Bachelor
Spinster

Settler

33
29

Auckland
Auckland

44 years
44 years

Registrar's Office

95/1143

11 June 1895

E. H. Lyons, Registrar

No	2217
Date of Notice	11 June 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph McEvoy	Eleanor Frances Palin
	💍 1895/3398
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Settler
Age	33	29
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	44 years	44 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	95/1143
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 June 1895
Officiating Minister	E. H. Lyons, Registrar

2218

12 June 1895

Joseph Spraggon
Martha Eliza Lord

Joseph Spraggon
Martha Eliza Lord
💍 1895/3390

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

34
25

Devonport
Devonport

14 years
14 years

House of Rev. J. Lord, Devonport

95/1159

12 June 1895

Rev. J. Crump, Wesleyan

No	2218
Date of Notice	12 June 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Spraggon	Martha Eliza Lord
	💍 1895/3390
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	34	25
Dwelling Place	Devonport	Devonport
Length of Residence	14 years	14 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. J. Lord, Devonport
Folio	95/1159
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 June 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Crump, Wesleyan

2219

12 June 1895

John Henry Buddle
Margaret Smith Maclaurin

John Henry Rudall
Margaret Smith Maclaurin
💍 1895/389

Bachelor
Spinster

Teacher

22
23

Auckland
Auckland

7 years
7 years

School House, Whitford

95/1570

12 June 1895

Rev. D. J. Steele, Presbyterian

No	2219
Date of Notice	12 June 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Buddle	Margaret Smith Maclaurin
BDM Match (91%)	John Henry Rudall	Margaret Smith Maclaurin
	💍 1895/389
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Teacher
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	7 years	7 years
Marriage Place	School House, Whitford
Folio	95/1570
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 June 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. J. Steele, Presbyterian

2220

14 June 1895

James Alexander Boswell
Caroline Pickrell

James Alexander Boswell
Caroline Pickrell
💍 1895/3483

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

25
19

New Plymouth
Auckland

25 years
3 months

Church of England, Ellerslie

95/1206

Alfred Pickrell, father

14 June 1895

Rev. M. E. Gillam, Church of England

No	2220
Date of Notice	14 June 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Alexander Boswell	Caroline Pickrell
	💍 1895/3483
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	New Plymouth	Auckland
Length of Residence	25 years	3 months
Marriage Place	Church of England, Ellerslie
Folio	95/1206
Consent	Alfred Pickrell, father
Date of Certificate	14 June 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. E. Gillam, Church of England

2221

14 June 1895

John Bruce Bell
Dorothy Brook

John Bruce Bell
Dorothy Brook
💍 1895/3404

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer

31
27

Auckland
Auckland

10 years
10 years

St. Luke's Church, Remuera

95/1149

14 June 1895

Rev. G. B. Monro, Presbyterian

No	2221
Date of Notice	14 June 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Bruce Bell	Dorothy Brook
	💍 1895/3404
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer
Age	31	27
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	10 years	10 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church, Remuera
Folio	95/1149
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 June 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. B. Monro, 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).