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 034

District of Gisborne Quarter ending 31 March 1895

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

814

11 February 1895

William George Willson
Emma Elizabeth Baugen

William George Willson
Emma Elizabeth Bougen
💍 1895/312

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Domestic Servant

22 years
19 years

Te Arai
Matawhere

10 years
17 years

Holy Trinity Church, Gisborne

95/136

Rose Ashdown, mother of the said Emma Elizabeth Dangen

11 February 1895

Rev. Herbert William Williams, Church of England Minister

No	814
Date of Notice	11 February 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William George Willson	Emma Elizabeth Baugen
BDM Match (98%)	William George Willson	Emma Elizabeth Bougen
	💍 1895/312
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Domestic Servant
Age	22 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Te Arai	Matawhere
Length of Residence	10 years	17 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Gisborne
Folio	95/136
Consent	Rose Ashdown, mother of the said Emma Elizabeth Dangen
Date of Certificate	11 February 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. Herbert William Williams, Church of England Minister

815

19 February 1895

Alexander Francis Kennedy
Rosina Adour

Alexander Francis Kennedy
Rosina Adair
💍 1895/328

Bachelor
Spinster

Mercantile Manager
None

33 years
24 years

Gisborne
Gisborne

4 years
20 years

Presbyterian Manse, Gisborne

95/131

19 February 1895

Rev. J. Ryburn, Presbyterian Minister

No	815
Date of Notice	19 February 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Francis Kennedy	Rosina Adour
BDM Match (92%)	Alexander Francis Kennedy	Rosina Adair
	💍 1895/328
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mercantile Manager	None
Age	33 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	4 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Gisborne
Folio	95/131
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Ryburn, Presbyterian Minister

816

26 February 1895

Carolan Wilson
Katie Crisp

Carolan Wilson
Katie Crisp
💍 1895/329

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic Servant

22 years
21 years

Gisborne
Gisborne

10 years
5 years

at the residence of Theo Jackson, North Gisborne

95/132

26 February 1895

Rev. R. Ryburn, Presbyterian Minister

No	816
Date of Notice	26 February 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Carolan Wilson	Katie Crisp
	💍 1895/329
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Servant
Age	22 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	10 years	5 years
Marriage Place	at the residence of Theo Jackson, North Gisborne
Folio	95/132
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ryburn, Presbyterian Minister

817

28 February 1895

Henry Withers
Mary Ann Austin
formerly Dawson

Henry Withers
Mary Anne Austin
💍 1895/322

Bachelor
Widow

Laborer
Domestic Servant

33 years
39 years

Gisborne
Gisborne

5 years
15 years

at the Roman Catholic Chapel

95/127

28 February 1895

Rev. Patrick Costello, Roman Catholic Minister

No	817
Date of Notice	28 February 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Withers	Mary Ann Austin formerly Dawson
BDM Match (97%)	Henry Withers	Mary Anne Austin
	💍 1895/322
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Servant
Age	33 years	39 years
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	5 years	15 years
Marriage Place	at the Roman Catholic Chapel
Folio	95/127
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 February 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. Patrick Costello, Roman Catholic Minister

818

1 March 1895

Arthur William Clayden
Mary Ann Scragg

Arthur William Clayden
Mary Ann Scragg
💍 1895/330

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic Servant

24 years
19 years

Gisborne
Patutahi

3 years
4 years

at the Presbyterian Manse, Gisborne

95/133

1 March 1895

Rev. R. Ryburn, Presbyterian Minister

No	818
Date of Notice	1 March 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur William Clayden	Mary Ann Scragg
	💍 1895/330
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Servant
Age	24 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Patutahi
Length of Residence	3 years	4 years
Marriage Place	at the Presbyterian Manse, Gisborne
Folio	95/133
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 March 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ryburn, Presbyterian Minister

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).