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 136

District of Napier Quarter ending 30 September 1895 Registrar Sydney 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

2 July 1895

Joseph Hy. Richard
Lizzie Bower

Joseph Henry Rickard
Jessie Bower
💍 1895/1647

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker
Domestic

21
20

Napier
Napier

5 years
10 years

Cathedral, Napier

95/2977

John Bower, father

2 July 1895

Rev. F. S. Howell, Church of England

No	55
Date of Notice	2 July 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Hy. Richard	Lizzie Bower
BDM Match (71%)	Joseph Henry Rickard	Jessie Bower
	💍 1895/1647
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker	Domestic
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	5 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Cathedral, Napier
Folio	95/2977
Consent	John Bower, father
Date of Certificate	2 July 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. S. Howell, Church of England

3 July 1895

William Charles Burton
Sarah Ann Petty

William Charles Burtton
Sarah Ann Petty
💍 1895/1075

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer

24
28

Napier
Napier

3 years
4 years

Common Road Baptist Church

95/2364

3 July 1895

Rev. G. E. Cox, Baptist Church

No	56
Date of Notice	3 July 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Charles Burton	Sarah Ann Petty
BDM Match (98%)	William Charles Burtton	Sarah Ann Petty
	💍 1895/1075
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer
Age	24	28
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Common Road Baptist Church
Folio	95/2364
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 July 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. E. Cox, Baptist Church

4 July 1895

Samuel Joseph Ruston
Susannah Victoria Britton

Samuel Joseph Ruston
Susannah Victoria Britton
💍 1895/1077

Widower
Widow

Builder

53
39

Napier
Napier

20 years
6 months

Residence of Bride's Mother, Napier

95/2366

4 July 1895

Rev. W. J. Beck, Wesleyan Methodist

No	57
Date of Notice	4 July 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Joseph Ruston	Susannah Victoria Britton
	💍 1895/1077
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Builder
Age	53	39
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	20 years	6 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Bride's Mother, Napier
Folio	95/2366
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 July 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Beck, Wesleyan Methodist

10 July 1895

Edward Henry Grange
Emily Bowden Ashworth

Edward Henry Orange
Emily Bowden Ashworth
💍 1895/2517

Bachelor
Spinster

Fellmonger

24
17

Greenmeadows
Napier

12 months
11 years

Presbyterian Manse, Napier

95/4059

George Ashworth, Father

10 July 1895

Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	58
Date of Notice	10 July 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Henry Grange	Emily Bowden Ashworth
BDM Match (97%)	Edward Henry Orange	Emily Bowden Ashworth
	💍 1895/2517
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fellmonger
Age	24	17
Dwelling Place	Greenmeadows	Napier
Length of Residence	12 months	11 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Napier
Folio	95/4059
Consent	George Ashworth, Father
Date of Certificate	10 July 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

23 July 1895

Robert Bell Cole
Blanche Burley

Robert Bell Cole
Blanche Burley
💍 1895/1076

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper's Assistant

33
24

Moawhango
Napier

3 years
2 years

Residence of Mrs. Burley, Marine Parade, Napier

95/2365

23 July 1895

Rev. W. J. Miller, Congregational Church

No	59
Date of Notice	23 July 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Bell Cole	Blanche Burley
	💍 1895/1076
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper's Assistant
Age	33	24
Dwelling Place	Moawhango	Napier
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Burley, Marine Parade, Napier
Folio	95/2365
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 July 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Miller, Congregational Church

24 July 1895

Cornelius Deane
Harriet Lonergan

Cornelius Deane
Harriett Lonergan
💍 1895/1649

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

31
24

Napier
Napier

3 years
2 years

Cathedral, Napier

95/2977

27 July 1895

Rev. De Berdt Hovell, Church of England

No	60
Date of Notice	24 July 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cornelius Deane	Harriet Lonergan
BDM Match (97%)	Cornelius Deane	Harriett Lonergan
	💍 1895/1649
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	31	24
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Cathedral, Napier
Folio	95/2977
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 July 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. De Berdt Hovell, Church of England

5 August 1895

James McKay
Annie Sinclair

James McKay
Annie Sinclair
💍 1895/2518

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Dressmaker

32
33

Napier
Napier

13 years
20 years

Residence of Bride's Mother, Enfield Road, Napier

95/4060

5 August 1895

Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	61
Date of Notice	5 August 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James McKay	Annie Sinclair
	💍 1895/2518
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Dressmaker
Age	32	33
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	13 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Bride's Mother, Enfield Road, Napier
Folio	95/4060
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 August 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

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).