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 669

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 December 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	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
404	23 December 1895	William Henry Albert Goones Ellen Jane Murie	William Henry Albert Scoones Ellen Jane Durie 💍 1895/1927	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	23 22	Wellington Kent Terrace	7 years 7 years	Presbyterian Church	95/3394	23 December 1895	Rev. J. K. Elliott
405	23 December 1895	John Clapham Jameson Georgina Innes	John Olof Jansan Georgina Theirs 💍 1895/1938	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	40 40	Wellington Wellington	1 year 1 year	Registrar's Office, Wellington	95/3381	23 December 1895	W. E. Wray
406	23 December 1895	Edwin John Hotten Florence Woodhead	Edwin John Hodren Florence Woodhead 💍 1895/144	Bachelor Spinster	Water Carrier	23 20	Wellington Wanganui	2 weeks 4 days	House of Mr. Hotten, Wanganui	95/3357	23 December 1895	Rev. Harold Peters
407	23 December 1895	John Joseph Bridge Katie Corner	John Joseph Uridge Katie Connor 💍 1895/1997	Bachelor Spinster	Grocer	21 21	Wellington Wellington	7 years 7 years	St. Mary of the Angels	95/3448	23 December 1895	Very Rev. T. Devoy
408	23 December 1895	Joseph Benjamin Finnigan Emily Sarah Keene	Joseph Benjamin Finnigan Emily Sarah Keeirl 💍 1895/1915	Bachelor Spinster	Portmanteau Maker	27 23	Wellington Wellington	7 days 7 days	Registrar's Office	95/3382	23 December 1895	W. E. Wray
409	23 December 1895	Charlton Douglas Sherriff Florence Euphemia Pope	Charlton Douglas Morpeth Florence Euphemia Pope 💍 1896/4372	Bachelor Spinster	Accountant	27 24	Wellington Wellington	7 years 7 years	St. John's Presbyterian Church	96/550	24 December 1895	Rev. J. Paterson
410	24 December 1895	Arthur Charles Gold Sarah Ernest Beauchamp	Arthur Charles Croll Sarah Elliott Beauchamp 💍 1895/1928	Bachelor Spinster	Ironmonger	25 25	Wellington Brougham Street	3 days 7 years	House of Mr. J. Beauchamp	95/3395	24 December 1895	Rev. J. K. Elliott
411	30 December 1895	George Grierson Cork Elizabeth Mary Grant	George Grierson Cork Elizabeth Mary Grant 💍 1895/2003	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	26 23	Wellington Buckle Street	1 week 7 years	Roman Catholic Church	95/3449	30 December 1895	Very Rev. T. Devoy
412	30 December 1895	Thomas Edward Nixon Isabella Cassidy	Thomas Edward Nixon Isabella Casseby 💍 1896/4374	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	25 24	Wellington Wellington	7 years 7 years	House of Mr. Nixon	96/552	30 December 1895	Rev. C. Copas
413	30 December 1895	William Henry Leamy Annie Fogerty	William Henry McKenzie Annie Fogerty 💍 1895/1956	Bachelor Spinster	Bookmaker	26 23	Wellington Hopper Street	10 days 7 years	House of Mr. Fogerty	95/3403	30 December 1895	Rev. J. Paterson
414	30 December 1895	Arthur Baker Kate Cameron	Arthur Baker Kate Cameron 💍 1895/1916	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	26 23	Wellington Wellington	1 week 1 week	Registrar's Office	95/3383	30 December 1895	W. E. Wray
415	30 December 1895	Richard Image Batham Eleanor Greenfield	Richard Wridge Bathurst Eleanor Greenfield 💍 1896/4373	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	25 28	Wellington Vivian Street	10 days 7 years	Baptist Church	96/551	30 December 1895	Rev. C. Dallaston
416	30 December 1895	James Bricklehurst Jessie McArthur	James Brocklehurst Jessie McArthur 💍 1895/2409	Bachelor Spinster	Carrier	32 21	Petone Petone	7 years 7 years	House of Mr. McArthur, Petone	95/3968	30 December 1895	Rev. A. Thomson
417	31 December 1895	Archibald Burnett Esther Jeffrey	Archibald Burnett Ellis Esther Jeffery 💍 1895/1929	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	27 28	Wellington Oxford Road	3 weeks 7 years	House of Mr. Weber	95/3396	31 December 1895	Rev. J. K. Elliott
418	31 December 1895	Charles Prendergast Knight Selena Davy	Charles Prendergast Knight Selina Davy 💍 1896/4375	Bachelor Spinster	Barrister	24 21	Wellington Wellington	7 years 7 years	St. Paul's Cathedral	96/553	31 December 1895	Rev. J. H. Sprott

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).