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 214

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 March 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
46	6 February 1895	Joseph William Hancock Mabel Francis Hall	Joseph William Hancock Mabel Frances Hall 💍 1895/3063	Bachelor Spinster	Fireman	35 23	Lower Hutt Lower Hutt	6 years 7 years	House of Mr Joseph Hall, Lower Hutt	95/479		6 February 1895	Rev. Andrew Gray
47	7 February 1895	Angus McDonald Janet Miller	Angus MacDonald Janet Miller 💍 1895/2863	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd	33 28	Wellington Wellington	3 years 1 month 1 month	Registrar's Office, Wellington	95/420		7 February 1895	W. E. Wyall
48	8 February 1895	William Edward Wells Amelia Maria Palmer	William Edward Wells Amelia Maria Palmer 💍 1895/3059	Bachelor Spinster	Labour	22 19	Wellington Taranaki St.	4 years 3 years	Wesley Parsonage, Taranaki St.	95/476	Sarah Ann Palmer, mother	8 February 1895	Rev. W. Baumber
49	9 February 1895	John Joseph Cotter Edith May Rickard	John Joseph Cotter Edith May Ticehurst 💍 1895/2865	Bachelor Spinster	Trainer	23 21	Wellington Wellington	4 months 4 years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	95/422		9 February 1895	W. E. Wyall
50	9 February 1895	Frederick William Boys Hannah Jane Hardie	Frederick William Boys Hannah Jane Hardie 💍 1895/2905	Bachelor Spinster	Clergyman	25 27	Wellington Wellington	4 days 3 months	Primitive Methodist Church, Sydney St.	95/481		9 February 1895	Rev. James Guy
51	12 February 1895	Edward James Thomas Hamblett Harriette Kate Lawson Pettit	Edward James Thomas Henrietta Kate Lawson Pettit 💍 1895/2923	Bachelor Spinster	Draper	28 22	Wellington Wellington	3 days 2 months	St. Marks Church	95/485		12 February 1895	Rev. R. Coffey
52	12 February 1895	Ernest Valentine Hunt Mary Harriet Page	Ernest Valentine Hunt Mary Harriet Page 💍 1895/2924	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	28 25	Wellington Wellington	3 days 4 years	St. Marks Church	95/486		12 February 1895	Rev. R. Coffey
53	12 February 1895	Alexander Robert Johnson Sarah Annie Dowsey	Alexander Robert Johnson Sarah Anne Dowsett 💍 1895/3055	Bachelor Spinster	Presser	29 24	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	Cathedral	95/472		12 February 1895	Rev. J. Dawson
54	12 February 1895	John Keegan Isabella Rawnsley	John Keegan Isabella Rawnsley 💍 1895/3050	Bachelor Spinster	Labour	24 23	Wellington Wellington	1 month 12 months	St. Mary of the Angels	95/465		12 February 1895	Very Rev. J. Devoy
55	13 February 1895	Alexander Donaldson Smith Mary Harriet Aldersley	Alexander Donaldson Smith Mary Harriet Aldersley 💍 1895/3061	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	32 24	Wellington Wellington	3 days 4 years	Wesley Church	95/477		12 February 1895	Rev. W. Baumber
56	13 February 1895	George Page Bridget Halpin	George Page Bridget Halpin 💍 1895/2965	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	34 32	Wellington Wellington	4 years 3 years	Home of Mr Page, Holland Street	95/453		13 February 1895	Rev. Josiah Ward
57	13 February 1895	Charles Richard Cunliffe Alice Cower	Charles Richard Cunliffe Alice Lower 💍 1895/2972	Bachelor Spinster	Compositor	23 21	Johnsonville Johnsonville	4 months 4 years	Wesleyan Church	95/437		13 February 1895	Rev. R. J. Murray
58	14 February 1895	Albert Edward Knight Edith Dalcombe Brown	Albert Edward Kight Edith Batcombe Brown 💍 1895/2954	Bachelor Spinster	Insurance Accountant	31 33	Wellington Wellington	1 month 4 years	St. Pauls Cathedral	95/443		14 February 1895	Rev. N. E. Tuckey
59	14 February 1895	Henry Bryden Evans Kathleen Squires	Henry Boyden Evans Kathleen Squires 💍 1895/2866	Bachelor Spinster	Fireman	25 24	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	95/423		14 February 1895	W. E. Wyall
60	14 February 1895	Walter Scott Reid Emma Hales	Walter Scott Reid Emma Halse 💍 1895/2955	Widower Spinster	Solicitor & General	55 42	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	St. Pauls Cathedral	95/414		14 February 1895	Rev. I. N. Sprott

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).