Intentions to Marry, 1895 July-December

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840408, 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 092

District of Thames Quarter ending 30 September 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

3 June 1895

James Patterson
Florence Maria Rogers

James Patterson
Florence Maria Rogers
💍 1895/1011

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
None

20
20

Waikawau, Thames
Tapu, Thames

20 years
15 years

The Office of the Registrar, Thames

95/2288

James Patterson, Father; Julia Rogers, Mother

30 July 1895

Edward Howls, Registrar

No	21
Date of Notice	3 June 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Patterson	Florence Maria Rogers
	💍 1895/1011
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	None
Age	20	20
Dwelling Place	Waikawau, Thames	Tapu, Thames
Length of Residence	20 years	15 years
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar, Thames
Folio	95/2288
Consent	James Patterson, Father; Julia Rogers, Mother
Date of Certificate	30 July 1895
Officiating Minister	Edward Howls, Registrar

18 July 1895

James Donaldson Steedman
Maria Mary McMahon

James Donaldson Steedman
Maria Mary McMahon
💍 1895/995

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
None

30
21

Thames
Tapu, Thames

25 years
21 years

The Dwelling of Michael McMahon, Tapu

95/2291

18 July 1895

Rev. S. J. Neill, Presbyterian

No	24
Date of Notice	18 July 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Donaldson Steedman	Maria Mary McMahon
	💍 1895/995
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	None
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Thames	Tapu, Thames
Length of Residence	25 years	21 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Michael McMahon, Tapu
Folio	95/2291
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 July 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. J. Neill, Presbyterian

29 July 1895

John Campbell Smith
Margaret Elizabeth Rea

John Campbell Smith
Margaret Elizabeth Rea
💍 1895/994

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Dress Maker

24
20

Thames
Thames

24 years
20 years

The Dwelling of Peter McGregor, Mackay St., Thames

95/2294

Margaret Sherry, Mother

29 July 1895

Rev. W. R. Woolley, Baptist

No	25
Date of Notice	29 July 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Campbell Smith	Margaret Elizabeth Rea
	💍 1895/994
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Dress Maker
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	24 years	20 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Peter McGregor, Mackay St., Thames
Folio	95/2294
Consent	Margaret Sherry, Mother
Date of Certificate	29 July 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. R. Woolley, Baptist

5 August 1895

David Lindsay
Margaret Mullett

David Lindsay
Margaret Mellett
💍 1895/991

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Dress Maker

26
25

Thames
Thames

10 years
25 years

St. Francis Church, Willoughby St.

95/2290

5 August 1895

Rev. Patrick O'Reilly

No	26
Date of Notice	5 August 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Lindsay	Margaret Mullett
BDM Match (97%)	David Lindsay	Margaret Mellett
	💍 1895/991
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Dress Maker
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	10 years	25 years
Marriage Place	St. Francis Church, Willoughby St.
Folio	95/2290
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 August 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. Patrick O'Reilly

10 August 1895

James Buchan
Margaret Ann Cochrane

James Buchan
Margaret Ann Cochrane
💍 1895/3846

Bachelor
Spinster

Iron Moulder
Book Sewer

31
30

Thames
Thames

8 months
4 days

The Dwelling of John Buchan, Beach Road

95/2295

10 August 1895

Rev. Samuel J. Serpell, Wesleyan

No	27
Date of Notice	10 August 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Buchan	Margaret Ann Cochrane
	💍 1895/3846
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Iron Moulder	Book Sewer
Age	31	30
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	8 months	4 days
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of John Buchan, Beach Road
Folio	95/2295
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 August 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. Samuel J. Serpell, Wesleyan

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).