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 140

District of Napier Quarter ending 31 March 1895 Registrar S. J. Jago

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 January 1895

James Smeaton Smith
Mary In Conochie

James Smeaton Smith
Mary McConochie
💍 1895/2758

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

26
22

Napier
Ineannee

6 days
22 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Napier

95/1272

18 January 1895

S. J. Jago, Registrar

No	7
Date of Notice	18 January 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Smeaton Smith	Mary In Conochie
BDM Match (91%)	James Smeaton Smith	Mary McConochie
	💍 1895/2758
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Napier	Ineannee
Length of Residence	6 days	22 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Napier
Folio	95/1272
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 January 1895
Officiating Minister	S. J. Jago, Registrar

29 January 1895

Henry Edward Franklin
Annie Elizabeth Jennings

Henry Edward Franklin
Annie Elizabeth Jennings
💍 1895/2762

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

19
19

Napier
Napier

1 year
12 years

Residence of Bridegroom's Father, Milton Rd, Napier

95/1276

Albert John Franklin, Father; Martha Almquist, Mother

29 January 1895

Rev. J. W. Worboys, Wesleyan

No	8
Date of Notice	29 January 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Edward Franklin	Annie Elizabeth Jennings
	💍 1895/2762
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	19	19
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	1 year	12 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Bridegroom's Father, Milton Rd, Napier
Folio	95/1276
Consent	Albert John Franklin, Father; Martha Almquist, Mother
Date of Certificate	29 January 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Worboys, Wesleyan

30 January 1895

Robert John Nicholson Gifford
Florence Johnshend

Robert John Nicholson Gifford
Florence Townshend
💍 1895/2763

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

35
30

Napier
Napier

3 years
5 years

Methodist Free Church, Napier

95/1277

30 January 1895

Rev. J. W. Worboys, Wesleyan

No	9
Date of Notice	30 January 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert John Nicholson Gifford	Florence Johnshend
BDM Match (94%)	Robert John Nicholson Gifford	Florence Townshend
	💍 1895/2763
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	35	30
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Free Church, Napier
Folio	95/1277
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 January 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Worboys, Wesleyan

31 January 1895

Heber Gebbie
Emma Baillie

Heber Gebbie
Emma Baillie
💍 1895/4007

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker
Machinist

26
24

Napier
Napier

3 years
2 years

Presbyterian Manse, Napier

95/1235

31 January 1895

Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	10
Date of Notice	31 January 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Heber Gebbie	Emma Baillie
	💍 1895/4007
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker	Machinist
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Napier
Folio	95/1235
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 January 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

1 February 1895

David Graham Speedy
Catherine Bain Buchanan

David Graham Speedy
Catherine Bain Buchanan
💍 1895/3508

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer
School Teacher

30
24

Waipukurau
Napier

4 years
8 years

Presbyterian Church, Waipukurau

95/1234

1 February 1895

Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	11
Date of Notice	1 February 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Graham Speedy	Catherine Bain Buchanan
	💍 1895/3508
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer	School Teacher
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Waipukurau	Napier
Length of Residence	4 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Waipukurau
Folio	95/1234
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

9 February 1895

Talton Gardiner Fraser
Linda Clementina Weber

Tatton Gardiner Fraser
Linda Clemintina Webber
💍 1895/3509

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd

27
22

Maraekakaho
Napier

6 months
6 months

Presbyterian Manse, Napier

95/1236

9 February 1895

Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	12
Date of Notice	9 February 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Talton Gardiner Fraser	Linda Clementina Weber
BDM Match (93%)	Tatton Gardiner Fraser	Linda Clemintina Webber
	💍 1895/3509
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Maraekakaho	Napier
Length of Residence	6 months	6 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Napier
Folio	95/1236
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 February 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

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 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).