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 201

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30 September 1895

No	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
219	15 July 1895	Charles Firth Woodhead Alexandina Cordelia Alice Hamill	Charles Firth Woodhead Alexandra Cordelia Alice Sidney Smith 💍 1895/1640	Bachelor Spinster	Timber Merchant	41 29	Wellington Wellington	4 years 6 months	St. Pauls Cathedral	95/2991		15 July 1895	Rev. H. E. Tuckey
220	15 July 1895	Alpha Patrick Mead Isabella Haloun		Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	23 21	Johnsonville Johnsonville	4 years 4 years	House of Mr. Johnsonville	95/2504		15 July 1895	Rev. E. Donnelly
221	16 July 1895	Samuel George Ross Elizabeth Mary McKeegan	Samuel George Ross Elizabeth Mary McKeegan 💍 1895/1481	Bachelor Spinster	Engraver	27 26	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	St. Mary of the Angels	95/2846		16 July 1895	Very Rev. S. Berry
222	16 July 1895	James Duncan Isabella Ritchie	James Durrant Isabella Ritchie 💍 1895/1185 William Henry Thomas Isabella Ritchie 💍 1895/572	Bachelor Spinster	Boiler Maker	21 21	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	House of Mr. Duncan, Kilbirnie	95/2483		16 July 1895	Mr. A. F. Turner
223	16 July 1895	James Wilson Rosa Stewart	James Wilson Rosa Stewart 💍 1895/1227 James Kirby Hannah Stewart 💍 1896/593	Widower Widow	Coach Painter	34 35	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	House of Mr. Stewart	95/2501		16 July 1895	Rev. J. K. Elliott
224	17 July 1895	Henry Thomas Tonks Ada Harriet Diamond Osborne	Henry Thomas Tonks Ada Harriet Seaward Osborne 💍 1895/1175	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith	22 20	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	House of Ellen Osborne, Webb Street	95/2497	Mother	17 July 1895	Rev. R. S. Lumley
225	17 July 1895	Frederick Bowles Ellen McDonald	Frederick Bowlett Ellen McDonald 💍 1895/1582	Bachelor Spinster	Baker	30 32	Wellington Wellington	18 months 4 years	House of Mr. W. A. Evans, Ellice Avenue	95/2929		17 July 1895	Rev. W. A. Evans
226	17 July 1895	Alfred Bamfield Annette Mary Newman	Alfred Baumfield Annie Mary Newman 💍 1895/1103	Bachelor Spinster	Clothier	33 24	Wellington Wellington	4 months 3 months	Wesley Church, Taranaki Street	95/2469		17 July 1895	Rev. W. Bamber
227	22 July 1895	John Jarvis Gillies Agnes Isabella Hopkirk	John Jarvie Gillies Agnes Isabella Hopkirk 💍 1895/1587	Bachelor Spinster	Manager	29 26	Wellington Wellington	8 years 4 years	House of Mr. Hopkirk, Mein Street, Mount Cook	95/2934		22 July 1895	Rev. J. Paterson
228	22 July 1895	Daniel Ernest Beaglehole Jane Butler	David Ernest Beaglehole Jane Butler 💍 1895/1583	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	28 28	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	House of Mr. Butler, Cuba Street	95/2930		22 July 1895	Rev. W. A. Evans
229	23 July 1895	Charles Gason Margaret Rubina Dagg	Charles Gason Margaret Rubina Dagg 💍 1895/1163	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	28 24	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	House of Mr. Marshall, Grainger Street	95/2484		23 July 1895	Mr. A. F. Turner
230	26 July 1895	Robert Bryden Philipina Emily Wood	Robert Bryden Phillipina Emily Wood 💍 1895/88	Bachelor Spinster	Clicker	24 24	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	95/2443		26 July 1895	Mr. W. D. Way
231	26 July 1895	Joseph Busfield Beckley Alice Lawrence Watling	Joseph Busfield Beckley Alice Lawrence Watling 💍 1895/1171	Bachelor Spinster	Draper	28 27	Wellington Wellington	6 months 4 weeks	St. Peter's Presbyterian Church	95/2494		26 July 1895	Rev. W. Skinner
232	27 July 1895	James Henry Howe Catherine Sullivan	James Henry Howe Catherine Sullivan 💍 1895/3902	Bachelor Widow	Labourer	26 33	Johnsonville Johnsonville	1 year 4 years	Roman Catholic Church, Johnsonville	95/2505		27 July 1895	Rev. E. Donnelly
233	27 July 1895	George Alexander Leigh Annie Kennerley	George Alexander Leigh Annie Kennerley 💍 1895/85	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	23 25	Wellington Wellington	4 weeks 3 months	Registrar's Office, Wellington	95/2443		27 July 1895	Mr. W. D. Way

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 1898. More registers will be added when the Archives NZ Wellington reading room re-opens in September 2025.

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).