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 737

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 December 1895 Registrar J. J. Maullens

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

380

2 November 1895

James Henry Smith
Ellen Thompson

James Henry Smith
Ellen Thompson
💍 1895/2127

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Machinist

23
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

23 years
21 years

House of Mr. P. Thompson

95/3553

2 November 1895

Rev. A. Mutatole, Bible Christian

No	380
Date of Notice	2 November 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Henry Smith	Ellen Thompson
	💍 1895/2127
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Machinist
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	23 years	21 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. P. Thompson
Folio	95/3553
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 November 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Mutatole, Bible Christian

381

2 November 1895

William Walter Winter
Emily Christina Winter

William Walter Waite
Emily Christina Fantham
💍 1895/4069

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

30
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

30 years
24 years

House of Mr. Faulkner

95/3924

2 November 1895

Rev. W. G. Gow, Presbyterian

No	381
Date of Notice	2 November 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Walter Winter	Emily Christina Winter
BDM Match (82%)	William Walter Waite	Emily Christina Fantham
	💍 1895/4069
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	30 years	24 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Faulkner
Folio	95/3924
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 November 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. G. Gow, Presbyterian

382

2 November 1895

Robert Holliday
Agnes Reeve

Robert Halliday
Agnes Reeve
💍 1895/2132

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Domestic

28
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

28 years
22 years

House of Mr. John Reeve, Nursery Road, Linwood

95/3558

2 November 1895

Rev. R. J. Allan, Presbyterian

No	382
Date of Notice	2 November 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Holliday	Agnes Reeve
BDM Match (97%)	Robert Halliday	Agnes Reeve
	💍 1895/2132
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Domestic
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	28 years	22 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. John Reeve, Nursery Road, Linwood
Folio	95/3558
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 November 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Allan, Presbyterian

383

2 November 1895

John Richmond Jones
Mary Edith Rose-Smith

John Richmond Jones
Mary Edith Rose-Smith
💍 1895/2272

Bachelor
Spinster

Tobacconist
Dressmaker

25
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

23 years
22 years

House of Rev. J. Dawson, Cambridge Terrace, Christchurch

95/3778

2 November 1895

Rev. J. Dawson, Methodist

No	383
Date of Notice	2 November 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Richmond Jones	Mary Edith Rose-Smith
	💍 1895/2272
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tobacconist	Dressmaker
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	23 years	22 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. J. Dawson, Cambridge Terrace, Christchurch
Folio	95/3778
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 November 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Dawson, Methodist

384

4 November 1895

William Newall
Annie Carmichael

William Newall
Annie Carmichael
💍 1895/2623

Bachelor
Spinster

Journeyman
Domestic

24
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

8 years
3 years

House of Rev. G. Glennie

95/3910

4 November 1895

Rev. G. Glennie, Presbyterian

No	384
Date of Notice	4 November 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Newall	Annie Carmichael
	💍 1895/2623
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Journeyman	Domestic
Age	24	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	8 years	3 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. G. Glennie
Folio	95/3910
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 November 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Glennie, Presbyterian

385

4 November 1895

Albert Smith
Alice Maud Goodall

Albert Smith
Alice Maud Gooden
💍 1895/2116

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter

23
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

20 years
15 years

House of Mr. Beardsley

95/3566

4 November 1895

Rev. W. Birch, Baptist

No	385
Date of Notice	4 November 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Smith	Alice Maud Goodall
BDM Match (92%)	Albert Smith	Alice Maud Gooden
	💍 1895/2116
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	20 years	15 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Beardsley
Folio	95/3566
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 November 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Birch, Baptist

386

4 November 1895

Charles Thomas Stewart
Eliza Painly

Charles Thomas Stewart
Eliza Emily Burcher
💍 1895/2111

Clerk
Spinster

31
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

31 years
20 years

Mr. Matthews, Christchurch

95/3561

4 November 1895

Rev. H. Williams, Church of England

No	386
Date of Notice	4 November 1895
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Thomas Stewart	Eliza Painly
BDM Match (71%)	Charles Thomas Stewart	Eliza Emily Burcher
	💍 1895/2111
Condition	Clerk	Spinster
Profession
Age	31	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	31 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Mr. Matthews, Christchurch
Folio	95/3561
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 November 1895
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Williams, Church of England

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).