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 628

District of Masterton 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

4 October 1895

Richard Warren
Hannah McCarthy

Richard Warren
Hannah McCarthy
💍 1895/1907

Bachelor
Spinster

Warehouse-man
Cook

33
28

Masterton
Masterton

3 days
9 days

The Roman Catholic Church, Masterton

95/3325

4 October 1895

Rev. John McKenna, Roman Catholic

No	30
Date of Notice	4 October 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Warren	Hannah McCarthy
	💍 1895/1907
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warehouse-man	Cook
Age	33	28
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	3 days	9 days
Marriage Place	The Roman Catholic Church, Masterton
Folio	95/3325
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 October 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. John McKenna, Roman Catholic

22 October 1895

David Harris
Lillian May Knowles Dixon

David Harris Knowls
Lillian May Dixon
💍 1895/1882

Bachelor
Spinster

Ploughman
Dressmaker

23
24

Masterton
Masterton

2 years
2 years

The Residence of Mr. David Dixon, Hall Street, Masterton

95/3321

22 October 1895

Rev. John Dakes, Wesleyan

No	31
Date of Notice	22 October 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Harris	Lillian May Knowles Dixon
BDM Match (66%)	David Harris Knowls	Lillian May Dixon
	💍 1895/1882
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ploughman	Dressmaker
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	The Residence of Mr. David Dixon, Hall Street, Masterton
Folio	95/3321
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 October 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Dakes, Wesleyan

31 October 1895

William Allan Cameron
Maggie Lang

William Allan Cameron
Maggie Lang
💍 1895/2579

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep-farmer
Domestic duties

29
26

Bideford
Bideford

1 year
1 year

The Residence of Mr. John Maxwell, Makora, Masterton

95/3882

31 October 1895

Rev. John Dakes, Wesleyan

No	32
Date of Notice	31 October 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Allan Cameron	Maggie Lang
	💍 1895/2579
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep-farmer	Domestic duties
Age	29	26
Dwelling Place	Bideford	Bideford
Length of Residence	1 year	1 year
Marriage Place	The Residence of Mr. John Maxwell, Makora, Masterton
Folio	95/3882
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 October 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Dakes, Wesleyan

15 November 1895

Walter George Carey
May Smith Martin

Walter George Carey
May Smith Martin
💍 1895/2580

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Cook

23
27

Masterton
Masterton

11 years
8 years

The Presbyterian Manse, Masterton

95/3883

15 November 1895

Rev. Robert Wood, Presbyterian

No	33
Date of Notice	15 November 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter George Carey	May Smith Martin
	💍 1895/2580
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Cook
Age	23	27
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	11 years	8 years
Marriage Place	The Presbyterian Manse, Masterton
Folio	95/3883
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 November 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert Wood, Presbyterian

18 November 1895

Jens Peder Larsen
Hansina Christina Halberg

Jens Peder Larsen
Hansina Christina Halberg
💍 1895/1910

Widower
Spinster

Settler
Domestic duties

33
28

Kopuaranga
Mauriceville

4 years
1 year

The Lutheran Church, Mauriceville

95/3328

18 November 1895

Rev. J. J. Legarth, Lutheran

No	34
Date of Notice	18 November 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jens Peder Larsen	Hansina Christina Halberg
	💍 1895/1910
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Settler	Domestic duties
Age	33	28
Dwelling Place	Kopuaranga	Mauriceville
Length of Residence	4 years	1 year
Marriage Place	The Lutheran Church, Mauriceville
Folio	95/3328
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 November 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Legarth, Lutheran

23 November 1895

Patrick Gleeson
Alice Carroll

Patrick Gleeson
Alice Carroll
💍 1895/1908

Bachelor
Spinster

Station manager
Domestic duties

32
19

Mauriceville
Mauriceville

5 years
15 years

The Residence of Mr. John Carroll, Mauriceville

95/3326

John Carroll, father

23 November 1895

Rev. John McKenna, Roman Catholic

No	35
Date of Notice	23 November 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick Gleeson	Alice Carroll
	💍 1895/1908
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Station manager	Domestic duties
Age	32	19
Dwelling Place	Mauriceville	Mauriceville
Length of Residence	5 years	15 years
Marriage Place	The Residence of Mr. John Carroll, Mauriceville
Folio	95/3326
Consent	John Carroll, father
Date of Certificate	23 November 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. John McKenna, 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 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).