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 545

District of Tauranga Quarter ending 30 June 1895 Registrar John Thomas

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

275

7 April 1895

George Watkins
Elizabeth Pickens

George Watkins
Elizabeth Bickers
💍 1895/59

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Nil

23
23

Te Puke
Tauranga

3 years
13 months

The Dwelling house of Mr. Pickens, Tauranga

95/1050

7 April 1895

The Rev. W. A. Sinclair, Wesleyan Minister, Tauranga

No	275
Date of Notice	7 April 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Watkins	Elizabeth Pickens
BDM Match (94%)	George Watkins	Elizabeth Bickers
	💍 1895/59
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Nil
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Te Puke	Tauranga
Length of Residence	3 years	13 months
Marriage Place	The Dwelling house of Mr. Pickens, Tauranga
Folio	95/1050
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 April 1895
Officiating Minister	The Rev. W. A. Sinclair, Wesleyan Minister, Tauranga

276

29 May 1895

Edward William Robinson
Christina Barbara McRae

Edward William Robinson
Christina Barbara McRae
💍 1895/3473

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Nil

27
18

Galatea
Te Puke

3 days
6 months

The Meeting Hall at Te Puke

95/1055

29 May 1895

The Rev. W. Goodyear, Church of England Minister at Ma Ketu

No	276
Date of Notice	29 May 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward William Robinson	Christina Barbara McRae
	💍 1895/3473
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Nil
Age	27	18
Dwelling Place	Galatea	Te Puke
Length of Residence	3 days	6 months
Marriage Place	The Meeting Hall at Te Puke
Folio	95/1055
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 May 1895
Officiating Minister	The Rev. W. Goodyear, Church of England Minister at Ma Ketu

277

29 May 1895

William Arthur Porter
Eliza Annie Spooner

William Arthur Porter
Eliza Annie Spooner
💍 1895/60

Bachelor
Spinster

Wheelwright
Nil

25
24

Te Puke
Te Puke

3 years
3 years

The Dwelling house of Mr. Spooner, Te Puke

95/1051

30 May 1895

The Rev. A. Ashcroft, Wesleyan Minister, Tauranga

No	277
Date of Notice	29 May 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Arthur Porter	Eliza Annie Spooner
	💍 1895/60
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wheelwright	Nil
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Te Puke	Te Puke
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling house of Mr. Spooner, Te Puke
Folio	95/1051
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1895
Officiating Minister	The Rev. A. Ashcroft, Wesleyan Minister, Tauranga

278

30 May 1895

John Brown
Elizabeth Woodland

John Brown
Elizabeth Woodland
💍 1895/3454

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Nil

37
30

Ma Ketu
Greerton

14 years
11 years

The Wesleyan Church at Tauranga

95/1052

30 May 1895

The Rev. A. Ashcroft, Wesleyan Minister, Tauranga

No	278
Date of Notice	30 May 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Brown	Elizabeth Woodland
	💍 1895/3454
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Nil
Age	37	30
Dwelling Place	Ma Ketu	Greerton
Length of Residence	14 years	11 years
Marriage Place	The Wesleyan Church at Tauranga
Folio	95/1052
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1895
Officiating Minister	The Rev. A. Ashcroft, Wesleyan Minister, Tauranga

279

10 June 1895

Herbert Cox
Lydia Alicia Mosley

Herbert Cox
Lydia Alicia Marley
💍 1895/3474

Bachelor
Spinster

Dentist
Nil

30
31

Auckland
Tauranga

4 years
20 days

The Dwelling House of Mr. Mosley at Valdemar, Tauranga

95/1056

10 June 1895

The Rev. W. Goodyear, Church of England Minister at Ma Ketu

No	279
Date of Notice	10 June 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Cox	Lydia Alicia Mosley
BDM Match (95%)	Herbert Cox	Lydia Alicia Marley
	💍 1895/3474
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dentist	Nil
Age	30	31
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Tauranga
Length of Residence	4 years	20 days
Marriage Place	The Dwelling House of Mr. Mosley at Valdemar, Tauranga
Folio	95/1056
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 June 1895
Officiating Minister	The Rev. W. Goodyear, Church of England Minister at Ma Ketu

280

17 June 1895

Stephen Cox
Jane Wright

Stephen Earl Junr
Jane Wright
💍 1895/3465

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Nil

29
20

Katikati
Greerton

9 years
15 years

The Wesleyan Church at Tauranga

95/1053

17 June 1895

The Rev. A. Ashcroft, Wesleyan Minister, Tauranga

No	280
Date of Notice	17 June 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stephen Cox	Jane Wright
BDM Match (74%)	Stephen Earl Junr	Jane Wright
	💍 1895/3465
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Nil
Age	29	20
Dwelling Place	Katikati	Greerton
Length of Residence	9 years	15 years
Marriage Place	The Wesleyan Church at Tauranga
Folio	95/1053
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 June 1895
Officiating Minister	The Rev. A. Ashcroft, Wesleyan Minister, Tauranga

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).