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 746

District of Christchurch 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	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
229	18 June 1895	Rowland Hill Jessie Fraser	Rowland Hill Jessie Fraser 💍 1895/499	Bachelor Spinster	Tinsmith	26 25	Christchurch Sydenham	20 years 20 years	House of Mr. Chas. Fraser, Willowbank	95/1691	18 June 1895	Rev. W. Scorgie, Presbyterian
230	18 June 1895	William Edward Ayers Elizabeth Carter	William Edward Ayers Elizabeth Carter 💍 1895/464	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	22 22	Christchurch Christchurch	20 years 22 years	St. Andrews Church	95/1648	18 June 1895	Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian
231	20 June 1895	Samuel Devon Besley Barbara Jane Duncan	Samuel Dixon Besley Barbara Jane Duncan 💍 1895/500	Bachelor Spinster	Baker	26 22	Christchurch Christchurch	2 years 22 years	House of Mr. Alex. Duncan, Buffon St. Sydenham	95/1692	20 June 1895	Rev. W. Scorgie, Presbyterian
232	20 June 1895	James Balfour Fowler Charlotte Louisa Fowler	James Balfour Charlotte Louisa Fowler 💍 1895/453	Bachelor Spinster	Station Manager	34 32	Christchurch Christchurch	12 months 4 years	House of Mr. G. R. Baker	95/1629	20 June 1895	Rev. J. Baker, Congregational
233	22 June 1895	John Thompson Davis Rosa Hillen Davis	John Thompson Rosa Helen Davis 💍 1895/781	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	32 22	Christchurch Christchurch	15 years 22 years	St. Matthews Church	95/2018	22 June 1895	Rev. H. G. Hawken, Church of England
234	24 June 1895	Robert Bradshaw Pritchett Ellen Betts Pritchett	Robert Bradshaw Ellen Betts Pritchett 💍 1895/450	Bachelor Spinster	Carter	21 21	Christchurch Christchurch	21 years 1 year	Registrars Office	95/1626	24 June 1895	Registrar of Marriages
235	24 June 1895	Frank Frederick Gray Matilda Gray	Frank Frederick Turvey Matilda Gray 💍 1895/501	Bachelor Spinster	Stonemason Domestic	22 21	Christchurch Christchurch	20 years 5 years	House of Mr. Jos. Smith, Ferry Road, Woolston	95/1693	24 June 1895	Rev. W. Scorgie, Presbyterian

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 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).