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 548

District of Thames Quarter ending 30 June 1895 Registrar I. Thomiss

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

16 April 1895

George Ernest Buckland
Laura Ellen Butt

George Ernest Buckland
Laura Ellen Butt
💍 1895/420

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer
None

25
24

Thames
Thames

25 years
24 years

The Dwelling of Mr. Butt, Hope Road

95/1578

16 April 1895

Rev. J. O'Callaghan D.D., Church of England

No	12
Date of Notice	16 April 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Ernest Buckland	Laura Ellen Butt
	💍 1895/420
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer	None
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	25 years	24 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Mr. Butt, Hope Road
Folio	95/1578
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 April 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. O'Callaghan D.D., Church of England

20 April 1895

William John Rowe Witheridge Comer
Mary Jane Williams

William John Rowe Witheridge Comer
Mary Jane Williams
💍 1895/3456

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic Servant

20
17

Thames
Thames

20 years
5 years

The Dwelling of Mr. Corbett, Upper Albert Street

95/1062

William Witheridge Comer, Father; Sarah Corbett, Guardian

20 April 1895

Rev. W.R. Woolley, Baptist

No	13
Date of Notice	20 April 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Rowe Witheridge Comer	Mary Jane Williams
	💍 1895/3456
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic Servant
Age	20	17
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	20 years	5 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Mr. Corbett, Upper Albert Street
Folio	95/1062
Consent	William Witheridge Comer, Father; Sarah Corbett, Guardian
Date of Certificate	20 April 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. W.R. Woolley, Baptist

2 May 1895

Thomas Howry Delamore
Caroline Ripley

Thomas Henry Delamore
Caroline Ripley
💍 1895/421

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

23
22

Thames
Thames

23 years
21 years

The Dwelling of Ann Pickett, Bird in Hand Hotel

95/1579

2 May 1895

Rev. J. O'Callaghan D.D., Church of England

No	14
Date of Notice	2 May 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Howry Delamore	Caroline Ripley
BDM Match (95%)	Thomas Henry Delamore	Caroline Ripley
	💍 1895/421
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	23 years	21 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Ann Pickett, Bird in Hand Hotel
Folio	95/1579
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 May 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. O'Callaghan D.D., Church of England

6 May 1895

Andrew Hunter
Rose Constable

Andrew Hunter
Rosina Constable
💍 1895/3475

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Tailoress

32
21

Thames
Thames

6 days
6 days

The Dwelling of John McDonald, Edward Street, Block 27

95/1057

6 May 1895

Rev. J.J. Neill, Unsectarian

No	15
Date of Notice	6 May 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Hunter	Rose Constable
BDM Match (91%)	Andrew Hunter	Rosina Constable
	💍 1895/3475
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Tailoress
Age	32	21
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	6 days	6 days
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of John McDonald, Edward Street, Block 27
Folio	95/1057
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 May 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. J.J. Neill, Unsectarian

9 May 1895

Charles John Johnson
Janet Sharp Horman

Charles John Johnson
Janet Sharp Norman
💍 1895/3461

Bachelor
Widow

Engine Driver
None

30
33

Kopu, Thames
Thames

2 years
26 years

The Dwelling of William Waddell, Karaka Creek

95/1067

9 May 1895

Rev. Samuel J. Serpell, Wesleyan

No	16
Date of Notice	9 May 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles John Johnson	Janet Sharp Horman
BDM Match (97%)	Charles John Johnson	Janet Sharp Norman
	💍 1895/3461
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Engine Driver	None
Age	30	33
Dwelling Place	Kopu, Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	2 years	26 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of William Waddell, Karaka Creek
Folio	95/1067
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 May 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. Samuel J. Serpell, Wesleyan

13 May 1895

William John Adams
Mary Hammond

William John Adams
Mary Hammond
💍 1895/3457

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Draper's Assistant

38
30

Thames
Thames

20 years
25 years

The Dwelling of Thos. Hammond, Pollen Street

95/1063

13 May 1895

Rev. W.R. Woolley, Baptist

No	17
Date of Notice	13 May 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Adams	Mary Hammond
	💍 1895/3457
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Draper's Assistant
Age	38	30
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	20 years	25 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Thos. Hammond, Pollen Street
Folio	95/1063
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 May 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. W.R. Woolley, Baptist

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).