Intentions to Marry, 1896 January-June

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840409, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, June 11 2025

1896 is bound in two volumes, January-June and July-December.

Page 029

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 March 1896 Registrar E. N. Lyons

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

134

18 March 1896

Joseph Green
Esther Williams

Joseph Green
Esther Williams
💍 1896/4032

Bachelor
Spinster

Fruit Preserver

25
28

Auckland
Auckland

18 years
9 years

Registrars Office, Auckland

96/136

18 March 1896

E. N. Lyons, Registrar

No	134
Date of Notice	18 March 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Green	Esther Williams
	💍 1896/4032
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fruit Preserver
Age	25	28
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	18 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Auckland
Folio	96/136
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 March 1896
Officiating Minister	E. N. Lyons, Registrar

135

19 March 1896

Henry Goulstone
Margaret Alice Haslett

Henry Goulstone
Margaret Alice Haslett
💍 1896/1584

Widower
Spinster

Accountant

60
43

Auckland
Auckland

30 years
30 years

House of Mr J. Haslett, Parliament Street

96/2284

19 March 1896

Rev. Y. H. Robertson, Presbyterian

No	135
Date of Notice	19 March 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Goulstone	Margaret Alice Haslett
	💍 1896/1584
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	60	43
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	30 years	30 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr J. Haslett, Parliament Street
Folio	96/2284
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. Y. H. Robertson, Presbyterian

136

19 March 1896

Arthur Strother Jackson
Margaret Pellenger

Arthur Strother Jackson
Margaret Pillinger
💍 1896/3841

Widower
Widow

Farmer

51
47

Auckland
Auckland

3 months
30 years

St Sepulchre's Church

96/81

19 March 1896

Rev. Arch. B. Y. Dudley, Church of England

No	136
Date of Notice	19 March 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Strother Jackson	Margaret Pellenger
BDM Match (94%)	Arthur Strother Jackson	Margaret Pillinger
	💍 1896/3841
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	51	47
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 months	30 years
Marriage Place	St Sepulchre's Church
Folio	96/81
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. Arch. B. Y. Dudley, Church of England

137

19 March 1896

Frederick John Philpott
Grace Stringer

Frederick John Philpott
Grace Stringer
💍 1896/513

Widower
Spinster

Farmer

42
40

Manurewa
Otahuhu

15 years
29 years

House of Mr J. Stringer, Otahuhu

96/1239

19 March 1896

Rev. G. Burgess, Congregational Indps

No	137
Date of Notice	19 March 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick John Philpott	Grace Stringer
	💍 1896/513
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	42	40
Dwelling Place	Manurewa	Otahuhu
Length of Residence	15 years	29 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr J. Stringer, Otahuhu
Folio	96/1239
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Burgess, Congregational Indps

138

19 March 1896

William Henry Harris
Elizabeth May

William Henry Harris
Elizabeth May
💍 1896/4033

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener

42
32

Onehunga
Mangere

11 years
10 years

Registrars Office, Auckland

96/37

19 March 1896

E. N. Lyons, Registrar

No	138
Date of Notice	19 March 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Harris	Elizabeth May
	💍 1896/4033
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener
Age	42	32
Dwelling Place	Onehunga	Mangere
Length of Residence	11 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Auckland
Folio	96/37
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1896
Officiating Minister	E. N. Lyons, Registrar

139

20 March 1896

Thomas Robinson White
Mary Robinson

Thomas Robinson White
Mary Robinson
💍 1896/340

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

26
24

Panmure
Auckland

26 years
24 years

House of Mr G. E. White

96/1123

20 March 1896

Rev. S. Hawry, Wesleyan Method

No	139
Date of Notice	20 March 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Robinson White	Mary Robinson
	💍 1896/340
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Panmure	Auckland
Length of Residence	26 years	24 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr G. E. White
Folio	96/1123
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Hawry, Wesleyan Method

140

21 March 1896

Francis Arthur Joseph Gough
Catherine Mary Wallace

Francis Arthur Joseph Gough
Catherine Mary Wallace
💍 1896/4663

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

25
28

Auckland
Waipu

25 years
20 years

St Andrews Church

96/121

21 March 1896

Rev. R. Sommerville, Presbyterian

No	140
Date of Notice	21 March 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Arthur Joseph Gough	Catherine Mary Wallace
	💍 1896/4663
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	25	28
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Waipu
Length of Residence	25 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St Andrews Church
Folio	96/121
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 March 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Sommerville, Presbyterian

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 1908. 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).