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 881

District of Popotunoa Quarter ending 30 June 1895 Registrar H. G. Clifford

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

124

3 April 1895

Walter McInnes
Mary Christina Purvis

Walter McKinna
Mary Christina Purvis
💍 1895/719

Bachelor
Spinster

Turner
Domestic Duties

31
24

Clinton
Waiwera

4 years Popotunoa
15 years Popotunoa

The residence of Mary Christina Purvis, Waiwera

95/1976

4 April 1895

Rev. W. M. Tinsley, Wesleyan

No	124
Date of Notice	3 April 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter McInnes	Mary Christina Purvis
BDM Match (86%)	Walter McKinna	Mary Christina Purvis
	💍 1895/719
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Turner	Domestic Duties
Age	31	24
Dwelling Place	Clinton	Waiwera
Length of Residence	4 years Popotunoa	15 years Popotunoa
Marriage Place	The residence of Mary Christina Purvis, Waiwera
Folio	95/1976
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 April 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. M. Tinsley, Wesleyan

127

8 April 1895

Rowland Thomas Scott
Margaret Scott

Rowland Thomas
Margaret Scott
💍 1895/720

Bachelor
Spinster

Gentleman
Domestic Duties

34
32

Waiwera South
Waiwera South

3 years
3 years

The dwelling house of William Scott, Waiwera South

95/1977

8 April 1895

Rev. J. M. Spence, Presbyterian

No	127
Date of Notice	8 April 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Rowland Thomas Scott	Margaret Scott
BDM Match (85%)	Rowland Thomas	Margaret Scott
	💍 1895/720
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gentleman	Domestic Duties
Age	34	32
Dwelling Place	Waiwera South	Waiwera South
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	The dwelling house of William Scott, Waiwera South
Folio	95/1977
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 April 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Spence, Presbyterian

128

17 April 1895

Benjamin Sutherland
Isabel Jane Clifford

Benjamin Sutherland
Isabel Jane Clifford
💍 1895/721

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Domestic Duties

24
20

Clinton
Clinton

3 years
3 years

Presbyterian Church, Clinton

95/1978

George Clifford, father

17 April 1895

Rev. J. M. Spence, Presbyterian

No	128
Date of Notice	17 April 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Benjamin Sutherland	Isabel Jane Clifford
	💍 1895/721
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Domestic Duties
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Clinton	Clinton
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Clinton
Folio	95/1978
Consent	George Clifford, father
Date of Certificate	17 April 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Spence, Presbyterian

129

18 May 1895

William Turner
Marion McKenzie

William Turner
Marion McKenzie
💍 1895/729

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic Duties

32
23

Waiwera South
Waiwera South

10 years
23 years

Presbyterian Church, Waiwera

95/1979

18 May 1895

Rev. J. M. Spence, Presbyterian

No	129
Date of Notice	18 May 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Turner	Marion McKenzie
	💍 1895/729
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	32	23
Dwelling Place	Waiwera South	Waiwera South
Length of Residence	10 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Waiwera
Folio	95/1979
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 May 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Spence, Presbyterian

130

20 May 1895

Charles Redpath
Catherine McKay

Charles Redpath
Catherine McKay
💍 1895/740

Widower
Widow

Baker
Boarding Home Keeper

61
40

Clinton
Clinton

20 years
9 months

Commercial Hotel, Clinton

95/1980

20 May 1895

Rev. J. M. Spence, Presbyterian

No	130
Date of Notice	20 May 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Redpath	Catherine McKay
	💍 1895/740
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Baker	Boarding Home Keeper
Age	61	40
Dwelling Place	Clinton	Clinton
Length of Residence	20 years	9 months
Marriage Place	Commercial Hotel, Clinton
Folio	95/1980
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 May 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Spence, 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).