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 204

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30 September 1895

No	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
264	27 August 1895	Richard William Uher Ellen Jane Musgrave		Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	24 26	Wellington Wellington	1 Week 6 months	Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/2455		27 August 1895	W. Wyall
265	28 August 1895	Francis Spouner Mary Higgins	Francis Spooner Mary Higgins 💍 1895/1113	Bachelor Widow	Plate Layer	32 42	Wellington Wellington	3 days	Registrar's Office, Wellington	95/2456		28 August 1895	W. Wyall
266	28 August 1895	Alfred Avery Alice Lethbridge Perry	Alfred Avery Alice Lethbridge Perry 💍 1895/1604	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	25 25	Wellington Carterton	4 years 3 days	House of Mrs. Penrose, Carterton	95/2927		28 August 1895	Rev. R. Wood
267	31 August 1895	William Kennerley Bridget Furry	William Kennedy Bridget Furey 💍 1895/1162 William Quirke Bridget Finn 💍 1895/1324	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	40 27	Wellington Wellington	4 days	St. Mary's Cathedral	95/2475		31 August 1895	Rev. T. Dawson
268	31 August 1895	Walter Cantrell Amelia Taylor	Walter Cantrell Amelia Taylor 💍 1895/1167 Walter Carey Lovell Emily Read Taylor 💍 1895/2667	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	20 30	Wellington Petone	4 years 3 days	House of Mrs. Perry, Petone	95/2489		2 September 1895	W. Wyall
269	2 September 1895	Graham David Down Mary Elizabeth Meenan		Widower Spinster	Financial	27 23	Wellington Wellington	4 years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	95/2457		2 September 1895	W. Wyall
270	5 September 1895	Peter Brown Carmichael Elizabeth Johanna Faber	Peter Brown Carmichael Lizzette Joanna Faber 💍 1895/1172	Bachelor Spinster	Steward	24 17	Wellington Thomston	20 days 4 years	House of Mr. Read, Thorndon	95/2493	Elizabeth D. Faber, mother	5 September 1895	Rev. W. Thiner
271	7 September 1895	John Francis Sinclair Frances Fannie Rye	John Francis Mercier Frances Fanny Rye 💍 1895/4150	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	31 26	Wellington Wellington	6 months 12 months	House of Mr. Allen, Garrett Street	95/2486		7 September 1895	Mr. A. T. Turner
272	7 September 1895	Stephen Alfred Jordan Hannah Duckfield	Stephen Alfred Judd Hannah Duckett 💍 1895/1093	Bachelor Spinster	Florist	21 19	Wellington Wellington	4 years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	95/2460	No relation in Colony	21 September 1895	W. Wyall
273	9 September 1895	Charles Stuart Charlotte Barrow	Charles Stuart Charlotte Barrow 💍 1895/1590	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	41 35	Wellington Pahautanui	6 days 4 years	House of Mr. J. Barrow, Pahautanui	95/2937		9 September 1895	Rev. J. Paterson
274	9 September 1895	John Young Eleanor Smyth Hand	John Young Eleanor Smyth Hand 💍 1895/1183	Bachelor Spinster	Marine Engineer	29 28	Wellington Wellington	4 years	St. Peter's Church	95/2481		9 September 1895	Rev. W. G. Waters
275	10 September 1895	Timothy Patrick O'Leary Margaret Winifred Welbourne	Timothy Patrick O'Leary Margaret Winifrid Weybourne 💍 1895/1505	Bachelor Spinster	Cordial Manufacturer	32 27	Wellington Wellington	2 days 4 years	St. Mary of the Angels	95/2849		11 September 1895	Very Rev. T. Berry
276	11 September 1895	John Griffiths Fanny Booth	John Griffiths Frances Booth 💍 1895/1506	Bachelor Spinster	Tailor	23 22	Wellington Wellington	1 month 14 days	St. Mary of the Angels	95/2850		11 September 1895	Very Rev. T. Berry
277	12 September 1895	John Riley Louie Lane	John Riley Louie Lane 💍 1895/1165	Bachelor Divorced	Mariner	31 30	Wellington Wellington	4 years	Salvation Home, Cuba Street	95/2487		12 September 1895	Mr. R. Edwards
278	12 September 1895	Alfred Clarence Mitchel Clara Lee	Alfred Clarence Mitchell Clara Lee 💍 1895/1115	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith	24 21	Wellington Wellington	4 years 6 months	Registrar's Office, Wellington	95/2458		12 September 1895	W. Wyall

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 1898. More registers will be added when the Archives NZ Wellington reading room re-opens in September 2025.

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).