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 442

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 December 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

371

12 October 1895

Thomas Nan Kwai
Margaret McMenamy

Thomas Wan Kwai
Margaret McMenamy
💍 1895/116

Bachelor
Spinster

Cook

30
32

Auckland
Auckland

5 years
12 months

St. Patrick's Church, Auckland

95/3089

12 October 1895

Rev. S. Haddren, Roman Catholic

No	371
Date of Notice	12 October 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Nan Kwai	Margaret McMenamy
BDM Match (97%)	Thomas Wan Kwai	Margaret McMenamy
	💍 1895/116
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cook
Age	30	32
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	5 years	12 months
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Church, Auckland
Folio	95/3089
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 October 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Haddren, Roman Catholic

372

12 October 1895

Albert Edgar Hammond
Georgina Eliza Burgess

Albert Edgar Hammond
Georgina Eliza Burgess
💍 1895/2584

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

28
21

Tauranga
Auckland

11 years
10 months

Primitive Methodist Church, Newmarket

95/4083

12 October 1895

Rev. S. H. Guardee, Primitive Methodist

No	372
Date of Notice	12 October 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Edgar Hammond	Georgina Eliza Burgess
	💍 1895/2584
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Tauranga	Auckland
Length of Residence	11 years	10 months
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Newmarket
Folio	95/4083
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 October 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. H. Guardee, Primitive Methodist

373

14 October 1895

John Ramage
Elizabeth Thom

John Ramage
Elizabeth Thorn
💍 1895/1718

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

21
22

Auckland
Auckland

10 years
22 months

House of Mr. Peters

95/3098

14 October 1895

Rev. W. Peters, Baptist

No	373
Date of Notice	14 October 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Ramage	Elizabeth Thom
BDM Match (93%)	John Ramage	Elizabeth Thorn
	💍 1895/1718
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	10 years	22 months
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Peters
Folio	95/3098
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 October 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Peters, Baptist

374

14 October 1895

Samuel John Harding
Martha Courtney

Samuel John Harding
Martha Courtney
💍 1895/1679

Bachelor
Spinster

Surveyor

34
37

Auckland
Auckland

34 years
37 years

Registrar's Office, Auckland

95/3058

14 October 1895

H. W. Lyons, Registrar

No	374
Date of Notice	14 October 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel John Harding	Martha Courtney
	💍 1895/1679
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Surveyor
Age	34	37
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	34 years	37 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Auckland
Folio	95/3058
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 October 1895
Officiating Minister	H. W. Lyons, Registrar

375

15 October 1895

Arthur Osborne Shepherd
Mary Bamford Hesketh

Arthur Osborn Shipherd
Mary Bamford Hesketh
💍 1895/2475

Bachelor
Spinster

Warehouseman

31
25

Auckland
Remuera

31 years
25 years

St. Mark's Church, Remuera

95/3988

15 October 1895

Rev. W. Beatty, Church of England

No	375
Date of Notice	15 October 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Osborne Shepherd	Mary Bamford Hesketh
BDM Match (96%)	Arthur Osborn Shipherd	Mary Bamford Hesketh
	💍 1895/2475
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warehouseman
Age	31	25
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Remuera
Length of Residence	31 years	25 years
Marriage Place	St. Mark's Church, Remuera
Folio	95/3988
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 October 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Beatty, Church of England

376

15 October 1895

William Stanley Cooper
Mabel Constance Shortt

William Stanley Cooper
Mabel Constance Shortt
💍 1895/1738

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

25
23

Auckland
Auckland

15 years
20 years

St. Matthew's Church, Auckland

95/3122

15 October 1895

Rev. T. Calder, Church of England

No	376
Date of Notice	15 October 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Stanley Cooper	Mabel Constance Shortt
	💍 1895/1738
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	15 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church, Auckland
Folio	95/3122
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 October 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Calder, Church of England

377

16 October 1895

Patrick Michael Geraghty
Charlotte Attrill

Patrick Michael Geraghty
Charlotte Attrill
💍 1895/1757

Bachelor
Spinster

Flax-dresser

23
22

Rangiriri
Rangiriri

4 years
20 months

Roman Catholic Church, Pukemiro

95/3167

16 October 1895

Very Rev. H. W. Donald, Roman Catholic

No	377
Date of Notice	16 October 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick Michael Geraghty	Charlotte Attrill
	💍 1895/1757
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Flax-dresser
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Rangiriri	Rangiriri
Length of Residence	4 years	20 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Pukemiro
Folio	95/3167
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 October 1895
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. H. W. Donald, Roman Catholic

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 1908. 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).