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 883

District of Port Chalmers Quarter ending 30 June 1895 Registrar Thomas H. Macandrew

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

1 April 1895

Albert Edward Steel
Helen Gray

Albert Edward Steel
Hellen Gray
💍 1895/4057

Bachelor
Widow

Fireman
Nil

26
47

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

7 months
70 years

Registrar's Office, Port Chalmers

95/1983

1 April 1895

Thos. H. Macandrew, Registrar

No	10
Date of Notice	1 April 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Edward Steel	Helen Gray
BDM Match (95%)	Albert Edward Steel	Hellen Gray
	💍 1895/4057
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Fireman	Nil
Age	26	47
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	7 months	70 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Port Chalmers
Folio	95/1983
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 April 1895
Officiating Minister	Thos. H. Macandrew, Registrar

6 April 1895

August Nelson
Elizabeth Harry Henderson

August Nelson
Elizabeth Harvey Henderson
💍 1895/746

Bachelor
Widow

Seaman
Nil

42
44

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

One year
10 years

House of E. H. Henderson, Port Chalmers

95/1981

6 April 1895

Rev. W. H. Salter, Wesleyan

No	11
Date of Notice	6 April 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	August Nelson	Elizabeth Harry Henderson
BDM Match (96%)	August Nelson	Elizabeth Harvey Henderson
	💍 1895/746
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Seaman	Nil
Age	42	44
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	One year	10 years
Marriage Place	House of E. H. Henderson, Port Chalmers
Folio	95/1981
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 April 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Salter, Wesleyan

15 April 1895

William Samuel Macfarlane
Louisa Ellen Meese

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Nil

36
23

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

3 days
8 days

House of J. Macfarlane, Port Chalmers

95/1985

15 April 1895

Rev. W. H. Salter, Wesleyan

No	12
Date of Notice	15 April 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Samuel Macfarlane	Louisa Ellen Meese
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Nil
Age	36	23
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	3 days	8 days
Marriage Place	House of J. Macfarlane, Port Chalmers
Folio	95/1985
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 April 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Salter, Wesleyan

22 April 1895

John Hampson
Margaret Dow

John Henry Tunnage
Margaret Dow
💍 1895/4125

John Crosfield Oddie
Margaret Dow
💍 1895/2424

Bachelor
Spinster

Fisherman
Nil

21
22

Port Chalmers
Macandrew Bay, Port Chalmers

2 years
2 years

House of Rev. F. C. Platts, Port Chalmers

95/1982

22 April 1895

Rev. F. C. Platts, Church of England

No	13
Date of Notice	22 April 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Hampson	Margaret Dow
BDM Match (69%)	John Henry Tunnage	Margaret Dow
	💍 1895/4125
BDM Match (63%)	John Crosfield Oddie	Margaret Dow
	💍 1895/2424
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fisherman	Nil
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Macandrew Bay, Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. F. C. Platts, Port Chalmers
Folio	95/1982
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 April 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. C. Platts, Church of England

8 May 1895

Andrew Cathcart Macdonald
Selina Catherine Gibbs

Andrew Lothian MacDonald
Selina Catherine Gibles
💍 1895/749

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman
Nil

29
20

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

20 years
20 years

House of S. Gibbs, Port Chalmers

95/1980

S. Gibbs, Mother

8 May 1895

Rev. T. H. Griffin, Wesleyan

No	14
Date of Notice	8 May 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Cathcart Macdonald	Selina Catherine Gibbs
BDM Match (84%)	Andrew Lothian MacDonald	Selina Catherine Gibles
	💍 1895/749
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman	Nil
Age	29	20
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	20 years	20 years
Marriage Place	House of S. Gibbs, Port Chalmers
Folio	95/1980
Consent	S. Gibbs, Mother
Date of Certificate	8 May 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. H. Griffin, Wesleyan

12 June 1895

Robert Marshall
Hannah Elizabeth Rutherford

Robert Marshall
Hannah Elizabeth Rutherford
💍 1895/750

Bachelor
Spinster

Joiner
Tailoress

35
20

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

9 years
14 years

House of G. Rutherford, Port Chalmers

95/1989

G. Rutherford, Father

12 June 1895

Rev. P. H. Fisher, Congregational

No	15
Date of Notice	12 June 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Marshall	Hannah Elizabeth Rutherford
	💍 1895/750
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Joiner	Tailoress
Age	35	20
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	9 years	14 years
Marriage Place	House of G. Rutherford, Port Chalmers
Folio	95/1989
Consent	G. Rutherford, Father
Date of Certificate	12 June 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. H. Fisher, Congregational

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).