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 668

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
172	29 May 1895	George Willington Sophia Booker	George Wellington Myers Sophia Brooker 💍 1895/4169	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	22 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	95/1417		29 May 1895	W. L. Wyay
173	30 May 1895	William George Bell Alice Sarah Quinn	William George Brett Alice Sarah Quin 💍 1895/3617	Bachelor Spinster	Plumber	27 23	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Mary of the Angels	95/1449		30 May 1895	Rev. W. Goggon
174	30 May 1895	Alexander Watson Lucy Mary Morgan	Alexander Watson Lucy Mary Margaret Baker 💍 1895/3702	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	30 20	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of R. Coffey, Sussex Street	95/1435	Sarah Ann Baker, mother	30 May 1895	Rev. R. Coffey
175	30 May 1895	Herbert William Martha Dixon	Herbert Williams Martha Dixon 💍 1895/3694	Bachelor Spinster	Coachman	27 20	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	95/1419	Herbert Isaac Dixon, father	30 May 1895	W. L. Wyay
176	3 June 1895	James Wright Harriet Mason	James Wright Harriet Mason 💍 1895/4103	Bachelor Spinster	Carter	24 22	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mrs. Mason, Aro Street	95/1459		3 June 1895	Rev. J. Guy
177	3 June 1895	Walter Henry Honour Mary Caroline Phelps	Walter Henry Honour Mary Caroline Phelps 💍 1895/3703	Bachelor Spinster	Plumber	22 23	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Mark's Church	95/1436		3 June 1895	Rev. R. Coffey
178	3 June 1895	Charles John Williamson Annie Smith	Charles John Williamson Annie Smith 💍 1895/3712	Widower Widow	Mariner	43 39	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	95/1421		3 June 1895	W. L. Wyay
179	3 June 1895	William Page Janet Folley	William Page Janet Jolley 💍 1895/3705	Widower Widow	Merchant	53 44	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	95/1420		3 June 1895	W. L. Wyay
180	4 June 1895	William Henry Eades Jane Donovan	William Henry Eades Jane Donovan 💍 1895/3618	Bachelor Spinster	General Carrier	24 23	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Mary of the Angels	95/1450		4 June 1895	Very Rev. J. Devoy
181	5 June 1895	Hugh Dougherty Mary Hogan	Hugh Dougherty Mary Hogan 💍 1895/3605 Arthur George Thomas Coleman Mary Hogan 💍 1895/133	Bachelor Spinster	Cab Proprietor	27 26	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Mary's Cathedral	95/1462		5 June 1895	Rev. J. Dawson
182	5 June 1895	Norman Aulay Isabella Gillwright	Norman McAulay Isabella Gillwright 💍 1895/3563	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	26 21	Wellington Wellington	years 6 months	Residence of Rev. C. J. Ogg, Tenaco	95/1492		5 June 1895	Rev. C. J. Ogg
183	6 June 1895	William Walter Smith Elizabeth Cunningham	Walter Spark Smith Elizabeth Cunningham 💍 1895/1164	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	39 26	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of E. Smith, Emmett Street	95/2485		6 June 1895	Mr. A. J. Turner
184	6 June 1895	Daniel Semkey Charlotte Annie Rossetter	Daniel Sankey Charlotte Annie Rossiter 💍 1895/3619	Bachelor Spinster	Tailor	26 28	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Joseph's	95/1451		6 June 1895	Very Rev. D. Devoy
185	7 June 1895	Albert Edward Boyd Agnes Marie Olson	Albert Edward Boyd Agnes Maria Olson 💍 1895/3713	Bachelor Spinster	Insurance	27 24	Petone Petone	5 months years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	95/1422		7 June 1895	W. L. Wyay
186	7 June 1895	Huntley John Harry Elliott Laura Kate Kennedy	Huntly John Harry Eliott Laura Kate Kennedy 💍 1895/3558	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	27 27	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Paul's Cathedral	95/1484		7 June 1895	Rev. H. E. Luckey

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).