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 626

District of Hunterville Quarter ending 31 December 1895 Registrar Albert Ashcroft

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

17 October 1895

Charles In Howell
Mary Sarah Smith

Charles McDonell
Mary Sarah Smith
💍 1895/2480

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Residing with parent

22
20

Hunterville
Hunterville

Two weeks
Two years

Private residence of W. Smith, Hunterville

95/3999

Robert James Smith, Father

17 October 1895

Rev. P. W. Hyman, Roman Catholic

No	41
Date of Notice	17 October 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles In Howell	Mary Sarah Smith
BDM Match (85%)	Charles McDonell	Mary Sarah Smith
	💍 1895/2480
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Residing with parent
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Hunterville	Hunterville
Length of Residence	Two weeks	Two years
Marriage Place	Private residence of W. Smith, Hunterville
Folio	95/3999
Consent	Robert James Smith, Father
Date of Certificate	17 October 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. W. Hyman, Roman Catholic

30 October 1895

Henry John Joseph Rose
Dorothy Sophia Maria Margaret Beiseman

Henry John Joseph Rose
Dorothy Sophia Maria Margaret Benseman
💍 1895/2588

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic

33
29

Rata
Rata

5 years
3 days

Private residence of H. J. Rose, Rata

95/4088

30 October 1895

David Martin, Presbyterian

No	42
Date of Notice	30 October 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry John Joseph Rose	Dorothy Sophia Maria Margaret Beiseman
BDM Match (99%)	Henry John Joseph Rose	Dorothy Sophia Maria Margaret Benseman
	💍 1895/2588
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic
Age	33	29
Dwelling Place	Rata	Rata
Length of Residence	5 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Private residence of H. J. Rose, Rata
Folio	95/4088
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 October 1895
Officiating Minister	David Martin, Presbyterian

21 November 1895

Frank Wilson Pope
Ada Martha Taylor

Frank Wilson Pope
Ada Martha Taylor
💍 1895/1880

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmiller
Residing with parent

22
19

Rata
Rata

2 years
5 years

Private residence of W. Pope, Rata

95/3319

Fanny Ellen Clems, Mother

21 November 1895

G. Grindley, Primitive Methodist

No	43
Date of Notice	21 November 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Wilson Pope	Ada Martha Taylor
	💍 1895/1880
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmiller	Residing with parent
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Rata	Rata
Length of Residence	2 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Private residence of W. Pope, Rata
Folio	95/3319
Consent	Fanny Ellen Clems, Mother
Date of Certificate	21 November 1895
Officiating Minister	G. Grindley, Primitive Methodist

13 December 1895

William Andrew Officer
Lydia Annie Mills

William Andrew Officer
Lydia Annie Mills
💍 1895/1879

Widower
Spinster

Storekeeper
Residing with parent

35
16

Ohangaiti
Ohangaiti

3 years
4 years

Presbyterian Church, Ohangaiti

95/3318

Samuel Mills, Father

13 December 1895

David Martin, Presbyterian

No	44
Date of Notice	13 December 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Andrew Officer	Lydia Annie Mills
	💍 1895/1879
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Residing with parent
Age	35	16
Dwelling Place	Ohangaiti	Ohangaiti
Length of Residence	3 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Ohangaiti
Folio	95/3318
Consent	Samuel Mills, Father
Date of Certificate	13 December 1895
Officiating Minister	David Martin, Presbyterian

27 December 1895

John Laver Dawkins
Margaret Jessie Ellis

John Laver Dawkins
Margaret Jessie Ellis
💍 1896/4226

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

29
20

Mangaweka
Mangaweka

9 months
6 months

Private residence of Mr. Cole, Mangaweka

96/377

Isabella Annie Cole, Mother

27 December 1895

David Martin, Presbyterian

No	45
Date of Notice	27 December 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Laver Dawkins	Margaret Jessie Ellis
	💍 1896/4226
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	29	20
Dwelling Place	Mangaweka	Mangaweka
Length of Residence	9 months	6 months
Marriage Place	Private residence of Mr. Cole, Mangaweka
Folio	96/377
Consent	Isabella Annie Cole, Mother
Date of Certificate	27 December 1895
Officiating Minister	David Martin, 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).