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 298

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1895 Registrar J. M. Wullesson

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

104

19 March 1895

George John Maber
Agnes Greig

George John Maber
Agnes Greig
💍 1895/3155

Widower
Spinster

Joiner
Milliner

43
38

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
20 years

House of Mrs. Greig, Carlton St., St. Albans

95/654

19 March 1895

Rev. R. Previum, Presbyterian

No	104
Date of Notice	19 March 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George John Maber	Agnes Greig
	💍 1895/3155
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Joiner	Milliner
Age	43	38
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. Greig, Carlton St., St. Albans
Folio	95/654
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Previum, Presbyterian

105

19 March 1895

John Grenfell
Decima Hall Dutton

John Grenfell
Decina Hall Dulton
💍 1895/57

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Dressmaker

28
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

14 years
28 years

St. Saviours Church

95/666

19 March 1895

Rev. J. A. Scott, Church of England

No	105
Date of Notice	19 March 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Grenfell	Decima Hall Dutton
BDM Match (94%)	John Grenfell	Decina Hall Dulton
	💍 1895/57
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Dressmaker
Age	28	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	14 years	28 years
Marriage Place	St. Saviours Church
Folio	95/666
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Scott, Church of England

106

20 March 1895

Henry Gillott
Helen Cowell

Henry Gillott
Helen Cowell
💍 1895/2991

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor

33
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
7 years

House of Mr. W. Cowell, Creagh St.

95/709

20 March 1895

Rev. J. Lawson, Methodist

No	106
Date of Notice	20 March 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Gillott	Helen Cowell
	💍 1895/2991
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor
Age	33	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	7 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. W. Cowell, Creagh St.
Folio	95/709
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Lawson, Methodist

107

20 March 1895

William Clark
Mary Allan

William Clark
Mary Allan
💍 1895/3036

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

25
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

7 weeks
11 weeks

Registrar's Office

95/623

20 March 1895

Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Wullesson

No	107
Date of Notice	20 March 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Clark	Mary Allan
	💍 1895/3036
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	7 weeks	11 weeks
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	95/623
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1895
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Wullesson

108

20 March 1895

Charles Edwin Uren
Emma Drinkwater

Charles Edwin Uren
Emma Drinkwater
💍 1895/3146

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker
Fitter

21
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

11 years
13 years

House of Mr. Jos. Drinkwater, Montreal St.

95/645

20 March 1895

Rev. W. Birche, Baptist

No	108
Date of Notice	20 March 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Edwin Uren	Emma Drinkwater
	💍 1895/3146
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker	Fitter
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	11 years	13 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Jos. Drinkwater, Montreal St.
Folio	95/645
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Birche, Baptist

109

20 March 1895

Thomas Cannon Morton Rollinshaw
Ellen Hobbs

Thomas Cannon Morton Rallinshaw
Ellen Hobbs
💍 1895/2978

Bachelor
Spinster

Warehouseman

27
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
23 years

St. Michaels Church

95/695

20 March 1895

Rev. A. W. Cuerice, Church of England

No	109
Date of Notice	20 March 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Cannon Morton Rollinshaw	Ellen Hobbs
BDM Match (98%)	Thomas Cannon Morton Rallinshaw	Ellen Hobbs
	💍 1895/2978
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warehouseman
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	23 years
Marriage Place	St. Michaels Church
Folio	95/695
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. W. Cuerice, Church of England

110

20 March 1895

Anthony Harland
Mabel Perry

Anthony Harland
Mabel Perry
💍 1895/3161

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer

23
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 days
10 days

Durham Street Wesleyan

95/631

20 March 1895

Rev. H. R. Startbury, Wesleyan

No	110
Date of Notice	20 March 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Anthony Harland	Mabel Perry
	💍 1895/3161
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 days	10 days
Marriage Place	Durham Street Wesleyan
Folio	95/631
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. R. Startbury, Wesleyan

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).