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 665

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30 June 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	Consent	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
127	24 April 1895	William Chegwidden Agnes Emily Knapp	William Chegwidden Agnes Emily Knapp 💍 1895/3998	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	31 23	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mrs Knapp, Arthur Street	95/1487		24 April 1895	Rev. J. R. Glasson
128	25 April 1895	Patrick O'Halloran Emma Harriet Banks	Patrick O'Halloran Emma Harriet Maule 💍 1895/4171	Bachelor Widow	Expressman	23 28	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrar's Office	95/1396		25 April 1895	W. D. Wray
129	27 April 1895	William Henry Filched Clara Matilda Gingle	William Henry Fitchett Clara Matilda Gingell 💍 1895/3602	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	27 30	Wellington Wellington	14 days 14 days	House of Mr Filched, Nainui Street	95/1458		27 April 1895	Rev. James Guy
130	27 April 1895	James Gordon Ann Eliza Perkins	James Gordon Ann Eliza Perkins 💍 1895/4173	Bachelor Widow	Butcher	26 29	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrar's Office	95/1398		27 April 1895	W. D. Wray
131	1 May 1895	Max Oswald Kreissig Annie McGowan	Max Oswald Kreissig Annie McGowan 💍 1895/4174	Bachelor Spinster	Cabinetmaker	30 24	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrar's Office	95/1399		1 May 1895	W. D. Wray
132	1 May 1895	Freeman Rainey Perry Eliza Jane Simmons	Freeman Rainey Piercy Eliza Jane Simmons 💍 1895/4175	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	35 17	Porirua Porirua	years years	Registrar's Office	95/1400	Mother	1 May 1895	W. D. Wray
133	3 May 1895	Patrick O'Meara Elizabeth Hyland	Patrick Omeara Elizabeth Hyland 💍 1895/3709	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	28 26	Wellington Wellington	years years	St Mary of the Angels	95/1441		3 May 1895	Rev. W. Goggan
134	3 May 1895	Henry Town Mary Ann Williams	Henry Town Mary Ann Williams 💍 1895/4176 John George Bason Mary Ann Williams 💍 1895/95	Widower Spinster	Labourer	40 24	Wellington Wellington	1 Week 1 Week	Registrar's Office	95/1401		3 May 1895	W. D. Wray
135	3 May 1895	William Wynn Parke Sarah Jane Hughes	William Wynn Parke Sarah Jane Hughes 💍 1895/3997	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	30 30	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mrs Hughes, Kent Terrace	95/1486		3 May 1895	Mr. R. Edwards
136	6 May 1895	Alexander Thedore Mary Ann Mann	Alexander McDonald Mary Ann Mann 💍 1895/3601	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	37 33	Wellington Wellington	1 Week 3 days	St John's Church	95/1457		6 May 1895	Rev. J. Paterson
137	6 May 1895	Daniel Hickey Theresa Grogan	Daniel Hickey Theresa Grogan 💍 1895/3710	Bachelor Spinster	Contractor	32 29	Wellington Wellington	years years	St Mary of the Angels	95/1442		6 May 1895	Rev. W. Goggan
138	7 May 1895	John Nicol Caroline Emma Iggulden	John Nicol Caroline Emma Iggulden 💍 1895/4177	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	22 19	Pahautanui Pahautanui	years years	Registrar's Office	95/1402	Father	7 May 1895	W. D. Wray
139	7 May 1895	Michael Roche Bertha Gunderson	Michael Roche Bertha Gunderson 💍 1895/4154	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	35 22	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrar's Office	95/1403		7 May 1895	W. D. Wray
140	8 May 1895	John Beauchamp Kate O'Brien	John Beauchamp Kate O'Brien 💍 1895/3711	Bachelor Spinster	Miner	38 26	Wellington Wellington	1 month 3 days	St Mary of the Angels	95/1443		8 May 1895	Rev. W. Goggan
141	8 May 1895	Francis Joseph Marshall Mary Smith	Francis Joseph Marshall May Smith 💍 1895/3607	Bachelor Spinster	Journalist	22 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	St Mary of the Angels	95/1445		8 May 1895	Rev. W. Goggan

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 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).