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 014

District of Auckland 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

25 February 1895

Hilliam Maxwell
Eva Isabel Bates

William Maxwell
Eva Isabella Eales
💍 1895/221

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

21
17

Auckland
Auckland

6 months
3 months

All Saints Church, Ponsonby

95/35

Mary Amy Wynn, Mother

25 February 1895

Rev. W. Calder, Church of England

No	78
Date of Notice	25 February 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hilliam Maxwell	Eva Isabel Bates
BDM Match (86%)	William Maxwell	Eva Isabella Eales
	💍 1895/221
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	21	17
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	6 months	3 months
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Ponsonby
Folio	95/35
Consent	Mary Amy Wynn, Mother
Date of Certificate	25 February 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Calder, Church of England

26 February 1895

William Watson Boyes
Louisa Johanna Dorothy Bullen

William Watson Boyes
Louisa Johanna Dorothy Bullen
💍 1895/277

Bachelor
Widow

Gardener

56
39

Otahuhu
Otahuhu

9 years
10 years

St. Sepulchres Church, Auckland

95/95

26 February 1895

Ven. Arch. B. T. Dudley, Church of England

No	79
Date of Notice	26 February 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Watson Boyes	Louisa Johanna Dorothy Bullen
	💍 1895/277
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Gardener
Age	56	39
Dwelling Place	Otahuhu	Otahuhu
Length of Residence	9 years	10 years
Marriage Place	St. Sepulchres Church, Auckland
Folio	95/95
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1895
Officiating Minister	Ven. Arch. B. T. Dudley, Church of England

26 February 1895

Thomas White Hoolby
Elizabeth Ann Maughan

Thomas White
Elizabeth Ann Woolby
💍 1895/282

Widower
Widow

Draper

35
40

Auckland
Auckland

8 years
10 years

House of Mr. G. E. Spence, Surrey Hills

95/78

26 February 1895

Rev. S. F. Prior, Wesleyan

No	80
Date of Notice	26 February 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas White Hoolby	Elizabeth Ann Maughan
BDM Match (65%)	Thomas White	Elizabeth Ann Woolby
	💍 1895/282
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Draper
Age	35	40
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	8 years	10 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. G. E. Spence, Surrey Hills
Folio	95/78
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. F. Prior, Wesleyan

26 February 1895

Alexander Morton
Annie Elizabeth Law

Alexander Morton
Annie Elizabeth Maugham
💍 1895/218

Bachelor
Spinster

Merchant

41
34

Auckland
Auckland

11 years
1 week

House of Mr. B. Law, Devonport

95/26

26 February 1895

Rev. J. Hill, Presbyterian

No	81
Date of Notice	26 February 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Morton	Annie Elizabeth Law
BDM Match (87%)	Alexander Morton	Annie Elizabeth Maugham
	💍 1895/218
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Merchant
Age	41	34
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	11 years	1 week
Marriage Place	House of Mr. B. Law, Devonport
Folio	95/26
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Hill, Presbyterian

27 February 1895

Onesimus Howe Short
Frances Eleanor Newton

Onesimus Howe
Frances Eleanor Short
💍 1895/233

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

21
22

Awhitu
Awhitu

4 years
20 years

St. Benedicts Church, Newton

95/49

27 February 1895

Rev. J. B. Downey, Roman Catholic

No	82
Date of Notice	27 February 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Onesimus Howe Short	Frances Eleanor Newton
BDM Match (71%)	Onesimus Howe	Frances Eleanor Short
	💍 1895/233
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Awhitu	Awhitu
Length of Residence	4 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Benedicts Church, Newton
Folio	95/49
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Downey, Roman Catholic

28 February 1895

John Henry Houghton
Janet Inchville Edgar

John Henry Houghton
Janet Victoria Edgar
💍 1895/262

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter

26
29

Auckland
Auckland

11 years
23 years

St. Davids Presbyterian Church, Symonds St.

95/57

28 February 1895

Rev. R. Scott West, Presbyterian

No	83
Date of Notice	28 February 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Houghton	Janet Inchville Edgar
BDM Match (81%)	John Henry Houghton	Janet Victoria Edgar
	💍 1895/262
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter
Age	26	29
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	11 years	23 years
Marriage Place	St. Davids Presbyterian Church, Symonds St.
Folio	95/57
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 February 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Scott West, 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).