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 716

District of Greymouth Quarter ending 31 December 1895 Registrar Benjamin Harper

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

2 October 1895

William Henry Green
Letitia Catherine Gibson

William Henry Green
Letitia Catherine Gibson
💍 1895/2059

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

18 years
16 years

Greymouth
Greymouth

8 years
16 years

The Office of the Registrar

95/3497

John Green, father of groom; Peter Gibson, father of bride

2 October 1895

Benjamin Harper Registrar

No	24
Date of Notice	2 October 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Green	Letitia Catherine Gibson
	💍 1895/2059
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	18 years	16 years
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	8 years	16 years
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar
Folio	95/3497
Consent	John Green, father of groom; Peter Gibson, father of bride
Date of Certificate	2 October 1895
Officiating Minister	Benjamin Harper Registrar

8 October 1895

Paul Eugene Bressey
Ellen Williams

Paul Eugene Cressey
Ellen Williams
💍 1895/2264

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

26 years
22 years

Greymouth
Greymouth

4 years
22 years

The private residence of Mr Henry Williams

95/3771

8 October 1895

Rev. Geo. J. Spence

No	28
Date of Notice	8 October 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Paul Eugene Bressey	Ellen Williams
BDM Match (97%)	Paul Eugene Cressey	Ellen Williams
	💍 1895/2264
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	26 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	4 years	22 years
Marriage Place	The private residence of Mr Henry Williams
Folio	95/3771
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 October 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. J. Spence

22 October 1895

Frank Doweling Forrest
Elizabeth Cairney

Frank Doweling Forrest
Elizabeth Cairney
💍 1895/2077

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker
Dressmaker

28 years
24 years

Greymouth
Greymouth

26 years
9 years

The private residence of Frank D. Forrest, Cowper Street, Greymouth

95/3500

22 October 1895

Rev. Geo W. York

No	29
Date of Notice	22 October 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Doweling Forrest	Elizabeth Cairney
	💍 1895/2077
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker	Dressmaker
Age	28 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	26 years	9 years
Marriage Place	The private residence of Frank D. Forrest, Cowper Street, Greymouth
Folio	95/3500
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 October 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo W. York

5 November 1895

William Henry Woodmore
Mary Jane Tonkin

William Henry Woodmore
Mary Jane Tonkin
💍 1895/2070

Bachelor
Spinster

Pastry Cook

31 years
22 years

Greymouth
Greymouth

8 months
3 months

The Office of the Registrar of Marriages

95/3498

5 November 1895

Benjamin Harper Registrar

No	30
Date of Notice	5 November 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Woodmore	Mary Jane Tonkin
	💍 1895/2070
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Pastry Cook
Age	31 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	8 months	3 months
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	95/3498
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 November 1895
Officiating Minister	Benjamin Harper Registrar

12 November 1895

Jacob Slade
Harriett Emma Clifton

Jacob Slade
Harriett Emma Clifton
💍 1895/2076

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Dressmaker

53 years
33 years

Rimu
Rimu

5 days
5 days

The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Greymouth

95/3499

12 November 1895

Benjamin Harper Registrar

No	31
Date of Notice	12 November 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jacob Slade	Harriett Emma Clifton
	💍 1895/2076
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Dressmaker
Age	53 years	33 years
Dwelling Place	Rimu	Rimu
Length of Residence	5 days	5 days
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Greymouth
Folio	95/3499
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 November 1895
Officiating Minister	Benjamin Harper Registrar

9 December 1895

James Henry Tourell
Mary Doyle

James Henry Jourell
Mary Doyle
💍 1895/2496

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Servant

42 years
19 years

Fiji Terrace, Grey County
Greymouth

8 months
10 years

The Roman Catholic Church

95/4000

Susan Doyle, Mother, not being resident within the Colony

9 December 1895

Rev. D. P. Carew

No	32
Date of Notice	9 December 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Henry Tourell	Mary Doyle
BDM Match (97%)	James Henry Jourell	Mary Doyle
	💍 1895/2496
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Servant
Age	42 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Fiji Terrace, Grey County	Greymouth
Length of Residence	8 months	10 years
Marriage Place	The Roman Catholic Church
Folio	95/4000
Consent	Susan Doyle, Mother, not being resident within the Colony
Date of Certificate	9 December 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. P. Carew

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).