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 743

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 1895 Registrar J. M. Macpherson

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

208

28 May 1895

Thomas Smith
Susan Lyttle

Thomas Smith
Susan Lyttle
💍 1895/482

Widower
Spinster

81
35

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 week
6 years

House of Rev. J. Hosking, Deanham

95/1699

28 May 1895

Rev. J. Hosking, Methodist

No	208
Date of Notice	28 May 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Smith	Susan Lyttle
	💍 1895/482
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession
Age	81	35
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 week	6 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. J. Hosking, Deanham
Folio	95/1699
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 May 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Hosking, Methodist

209

28 May 1895

John Lawrence
Gilbert Currie

Bachelor
Spinster

Manager

27
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
22 years

House of Mr. Wm. Weddock, Christchurch

95/1628

28 May 1895

Rev. J. Balter, Congregational

No	209
Date of Notice	28 May 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Lawrence	Gilbert Currie
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Manager
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	22 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Wm. Weddock, Christchurch
Folio	95/1628
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 May 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Balter, Congregational

210

28 May 1895

Charles George Anderson Cheyne
Mary Bennet

Charles George Anderson Cheyne
Mary Lennose
💍 1895/455

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder

33
29

Christchurch
Halkett

32 years

Presbyterian Church

95/1631

28 May 1895

Rev. N. McCallum, Presbyterian

No	210
Date of Notice	28 May 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles George Anderson Cheyne	Mary Bennet
BDM Match (83%)	Charles George Anderson Cheyne	Mary Lennose
	💍 1895/455
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder
Age	33	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Halkett
Length of Residence	32 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church
Folio	95/1631
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 May 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. N. McCallum, Presbyterian

211

29 May 1895

John Llewellyn Morgan
Fanny Cassels Martin

John Llewellyn Morgan
Fanny Cassels Martin
💍 1895/535

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

25
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

25 years
20 years

House of Mr. Jas. Bowden, Bowen St., Christchurch

95/1767

29 May 1895

Rev. P. R. Mours, Presbyterian

No	211
Date of Notice	29 May 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Llewellyn Morgan	Fanny Cassels Martin
	💍 1895/535
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	25	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	25 years	20 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Jas. Bowden, Bowen St., Christchurch
Folio	95/1767
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 May 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. R. Mours, Presbyterian

212

30 May 1895

Edwin Whittle
Esther Marguerite Gilmore

Edwin Whittle
Esther Marguerite Gilmore
💍 1895/487

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

24
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

9 years
2 years

Thomas Street

95/1702

30 May 1895

Rev. J. Foley, Roman Catholic

No	212
Date of Notice	30 May 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin Whittle	Esther Marguerite Gilmore
	💍 1895/487
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	9 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Thomas Street
Folio	95/1702
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Foley, Roman Catholic

213

31 May 1895

William John Cole
Cecilia Blanche Lockley

William John Cole
Cecilia Blanche Lockley
💍 1895/441

Bachelor
Divorced absolute

Waiter

23
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 years
3 years

Registrars Office

95/1624

31 May 1895

Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Macpherson

No	213
Date of Notice	31 May 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Cole	Cecilia Blanche Lockley
	💍 1895/441
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced absolute
Profession	Waiter
Age	23	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office
Folio	95/1624
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1895
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Macpherson

214

3 June 1895

Henry Darwin Wilkinson
Olive Hall

Henry Edwin Wilkinson
Olive Hall
💍 1895/462

Bachelor
Spinster

Settler
Dressmaker

23
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 month
22 years

House of Mr. W. W. Hall, Merivale

95/1646

3 June 1895

Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian

No	214
Date of Notice	3 June 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Darwin Wilkinson	Olive Hall
BDM Match (93%)	Henry Edwin Wilkinson	Olive Hall
	💍 1895/462
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Settler	Dressmaker
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 month	22 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. W. W. Hall, Merivale
Folio	95/1646
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 June 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Webster, 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).