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 292

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

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

18 February 1895

George Hampton
Kerice Firkins

George Hampton
Kezia Firkins
💍 1895/44

Bachelor
Spinster

Mail Carrier

37
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
8 years

House of George Hampton, Christchurch

95/659

18 February 1895

Rev. M. Simpson, Presbyterian

No	62
Date of Notice	18 February 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Hampton	Kerice Firkins
BDM Match (89%)	George Hampton	Kezia Firkins
	💍 1895/44
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mail Carrier
Age	37	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	8 years
Marriage Place	House of George Hampton, Christchurch
Folio	95/659
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Simpson, Presbyterian

18 February 1895

John de Courcy Hathaway
Ella Rosa Smith

John de Courcey Hathaway
Ella Rose Smith
💍 1895/2853

Bachelor
Spinster

Chemist

41
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 months
3 days

St. John's, Christchurch

95/631

18 February 1895

Rev. H. C. W. Watson, Church of England

No	63
Date of Notice	18 February 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John de Courcy Hathaway	Ella Rosa Smith
BDM Match (95%)	John de Courcey Hathaway	Ella Rose Smith
	💍 1895/2853
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chemist
Age	41	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 months	3 days
Marriage Place	St. John's, Christchurch
Folio	95/631
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. C. W. Watson, Church of England

18 February 1895

Frederick Curton Webster
Ada Isabel Burton

Frederick Airton Webster
Ada Isabel Buxton
💍 1895/2975

Widower
Spinster

Fellmonger

43
32

Christchurch
Christchurch

14 years
2 years

St. Michael's, Christchurch

95/692

18 February 1895

Rev. W. A. Averill, Church of England

No	64
Date of Notice	18 February 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Curton Webster	Ada Isabel Burton
BDM Match (93%)	Frederick Airton Webster	Ada Isabel Buxton
	💍 1895/2975
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Fellmonger
Age	43	32
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	14 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's, Christchurch
Folio	95/692
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Averill, Church of England

19 February 1895

Robert John Keasley Ilford
Alice Lord

Robert John Beasley Elford
Alice Lord
💍 1895/3027

Widower
Spinster

Maltster

31
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

15 years
5 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

95/615

19 February 1895

Registrar, J. M. Vautier

No	65
Date of Notice	19 February 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert John Keasley Ilford	Alice Lord
BDM Match (96%)	Robert John Beasley Elford	Alice Lord
	💍 1895/3027
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Maltster
Age	31	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	15 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	95/615
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1895
Officiating Minister	Registrar, J. M. Vautier

19 February 1895

Donald McIntosh
Grace Carr

Donald McIntosh
Grace Carr
💍 1895/3181

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

26
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
3 months

Wesleyan Chapel, Greenhills

95/711

19 February 1895

Rev. C. Griffin, Wesleyan

No	66
Date of Notice	19 February 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald McIntosh	Grace Carr
	💍 1895/3181
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	3 months
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Chapel, Greenhills
Folio	95/711
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Griffin, Wesleyan

20 February 1895

Hugh Samuel McCausland
Florence Harry Jollans

Hugh Samuel McCausland
Florence Fanny Sellars
💍 1895/36

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

21
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

20 years
20 years

St. Luke's, Christchurch

95/669

20 February 1895

Ven. Arch. Lingard, Church of England

No	67
Date of Notice	20 February 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Samuel McCausland	Florence Harry Jollans
BDM Match (86%)	Hugh Samuel McCausland	Florence Fanny Sellars
	💍 1895/36
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	20 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's, Christchurch
Folio	95/669
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1895
Officiating Minister	Ven. Arch. Lingard, Church of England

20 February 1895

Arthur Andrew Whittington
Martha Margaret Beare

Arthur Andrew Whittington
Martha Margaret Deare
💍 1895/45

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

21
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

21 years
19 years

Church of Good Shepherd, Linwood

95/677

William James Beare, Father

20 February 1895

Rev. H. J. C. Gilbert, Church of England

No	68
Date of Notice	20 February 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Andrew Whittington	Martha Margaret Beare
BDM Match (98%)	Arthur Andrew Whittington	Martha Margaret Deare
	💍 1895/45
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	21 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Church of Good Shepherd, Linwood
Folio	95/677
Consent	William James Beare, Father
Date of Certificate	20 February 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. J. C. Gilbert, Church of England

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).