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 530

District of Thames Quarter ending 31 December 1895 Registrar J. Honiss

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

5 October 1895

John Alexander Agnew
Ellen Solan

John Alexander Agnew
Ellen Solan
💍 1895/1805

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Dressmaker

23
22

Thames
Thames

5 years
22 years

St. Francis Church, Willoughby Street, Thames

95/3219

5 October 1895

Rev. Patrick O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

No	35
Date of Notice	5 October 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Alexander Agnew	Ellen Solan
	💍 1895/1805
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Dressmaker
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	5 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Francis Church, Willoughby Street, Thames
Folio	95/3219
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 October 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. Patrick O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

5 October 1895

Francis Godwin
Ellen Donnelly

Francis Frank Godwin
Ellen Donnelly
💍 1895/1799

Bachelor
Spinster

Fisherman
None

21
21

Thames
Thames

21 years
21 years

The Dwelling of Pollen St, Thames

95/3212

5 October 1895

Rev. J. Neill, Unitarian

No	36
Date of Notice	5 October 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Godwin	Ellen Donnelly
BDM Match (85%)	Francis Frank Godwin	Ellen Donnelly
	💍 1895/1799
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fisherman	None
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	21 years	21 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Pollen St, Thames
Folio	95/3212
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 October 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Neill, Unitarian

9 November 1895

Ralph George Stock
Gertrude Beatrice White

Ralph George Stock
Gertrude Beatrice White
💍 1895/1808

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Servant

25
19

Hikutaia
Thames

13 years
19 years

The Dwelling of William White, Mackay Street, Thames

95/3220

William White, Grandfather

9 November 1895

Rev. Frank W. Bays, Primitive Methodist

No	37
Date of Notice	9 November 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ralph George Stock	Gertrude Beatrice White
	💍 1895/1808
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Servant
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Hikutaia	Thames
Length of Residence	13 years	19 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of William White, Mackay Street, Thames
Folio	95/3220
Consent	William White, Grandfather
Date of Certificate	9 November 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. Frank W. Bays, Primitive Methodist

22 November 1895

John Eden Brown
Dora Reed

John Eden Brown
Dora Reed
💍 1895/1797

Widower
Widow

Storekeeper
Housekeeper

45
38

Puriri
Puriri

7 years
4 years

The Office of The Registrar, Thames

95/3210

22 November 1895

Edward Honiss, Registrar

No	38
Date of Notice	22 November 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Eden Brown	Dora Reed
	💍 1895/1797
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Storekeeper	Housekeeper
Age	45	38
Dwelling Place	Puriri	Puriri
Length of Residence	7 years	4 years
Marriage Place	The Office of The Registrar, Thames
Folio	95/3210
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 November 1895
Officiating Minister	Edward Honiss, Registrar

23 November 1895

Charles Henry Whitehead
Edith Ellen Brown

Charles Henry Whitehead
Edith Helen Brown
💍 1895/1801

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker
Dressmaker

24
23

Thames
Thames

24 years
23 years

The Dwelling of Richmond St, Thames

95/3214

23 November 1895

Rev. W. R. Woodley, Baptist

No	39
Date of Notice	23 November 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Whitehead	Edith Ellen Brown
BDM Match (94%)	Charles Henry Whitehead	Edith Helen Brown
	💍 1895/1801
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker	Dressmaker
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	24 years	23 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Richmond St, Thames
Folio	95/3214
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 November 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. R. Woodley, Baptist

7 December 1895

John Mackenzie
Janet Torry Ramsay

John MacKenzie
Janet Torry Ramsey
💍 1895/2199

Bachelor
Spinster

Clergyman
None

26
23

Thames
Dunedin

2 months
23 years

First Church, Dunedin

95/3703

7 December 1895

Rev. James Gibb, Presbyterian

No	40
Date of Notice	7 December 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Mackenzie	Janet Torry Ramsay
BDM Match (94%)	John MacKenzie	Janet Torry Ramsey
	💍 1895/2199
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clergyman	None
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Thames	Dunedin
Length of Residence	2 months	23 years
Marriage Place	First Church, Dunedin
Folio	95/3703
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 December 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Gibb, 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 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).