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 149

District of Stratford Quarter ending 31 March 1896 Registrar J. St. James

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

6 January 1896

Henry Judge Callingham
Mary Ann Holmes Waters

Henry Judge Callingham
Mary Ann Holmes Waters
💍 1896/4135

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer

33
33

Stratford
Napier

9 months
4 months at Stratford

In the Office of the Registrar at Stratford

96/274

6 January 1896

J. St. James, Registrar, Stratford

No	1
Date of Notice	6 January 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Judge Callingham	Mary Ann Holmes Waters
	💍 1896/4135
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer
Age	33	33
Dwelling Place	Stratford	Napier
Length of Residence	9 months	4 months at Stratford
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar at Stratford
Folio	96/274
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1896
Officiating Minister	J. St. James, Registrar, Stratford

18 January 1896

George Beckerton
Matilda Ann Mary Plews

George Cockerton
Matilda Ann Mary Plews
💍 1896/4254

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

Stratford
Stratford

2 months
6 years

In Holy Trinity Church at Stratford

96/424

18 January 1896

Rev. W. H. Kay, Church of England

No	2
Date of Notice	18 January 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Beckerton	Matilda Ann Mary Plews
BDM Match (94%)	George Cockerton	Matilda Ann Mary Plews
	💍 1896/4254
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	27
Dwelling Place	Stratford	Stratford
Length of Residence	2 months	6 years
Marriage Place	In Holy Trinity Church at Stratford
Folio	96/424
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 January 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Kay, Church of England

21 January 1896

William Archibald Barron Turner
Eleanor Elizabeth Davies

William Archibald Barron Turner
Eleanor Elizabeth Davis
💍 1896/3927

Bachelor
Spinster

Factory manager

27
27

Stratford
Hawera

4 weeks
4 days

At St. Mary's Church at Hawera

96/236

21 January 1896

Rev. W. H. Kay, Church of England

No	3
Date of Notice	21 January 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Archibald Barron Turner	Eleanor Elizabeth Davies
BDM Match (98%)	William Archibald Barron Turner	Eleanor Elizabeth Davis
	💍 1896/3927
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Factory manager
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Stratford	Hawera
Length of Residence	4 weeks	4 days
Marriage Place	At St. Mary's Church at Hawera
Folio	96/236
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 January 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Kay, Church of England

31 January 1896

Richard Hower
Emma Smith

Richard Hewer
Emma Smith
💍 1896/4136

Bachelor
Spinster

Coach driver

22
19

Stratford
Stratford

6 years
12 years

In the Wesleyan Church at Stratford

96/275

John Castor Smith, father

31 January 1896

Rev. H. B. Bellhouse, Wesleyan

No	4
Date of Notice	31 January 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Hower	Emma Smith
BDM Match (96%)	Richard Hewer	Emma Smith
	💍 1896/4136
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coach driver
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Stratford	Stratford
Length of Residence	6 years	12 years
Marriage Place	In the Wesleyan Church at Stratford
Folio	96/275
Consent	John Castor Smith, father
Date of Certificate	31 January 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. B. Bellhouse, Wesleyan

19 February 1896

Henry Edward Hartwell
Christina Douglas Reid

Henry Edward Hartwell
Christina Douglas Reid
💍 1896/4137

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller

24
21

Stratford
Waipuku

9 months
14 days

In the residence of Sydney Madgwick at Waipuku

96/276

19 February 1896

Rev. T. Clement, Primitive Methodist

No	5
Date of Notice	19 February 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Edward Hartwell	Christina Douglas Reid
	💍 1896/4137
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Stratford	Waipuku
Length of Residence	9 months	14 days
Marriage Place	In the residence of Sydney Madgwick at Waipuku
Folio	96/276
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Clement, Primitive Methodist

26 February 1896

John William Hanley
Emma Middleton

John William Hanley
Emma Middleton
💍 1896/4138

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

29
31

Waitara
Waitara

18 months
7 months

In Holy Trinity Church at Stratford

96/277

26 February 1896

Rev. N. D. Boyes, Church of England

No	6
Date of Notice	26 February 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Hanley	Emma Middleton
	💍 1896/4138
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	29	31
Dwelling Place	Waitara	Waitara
Length of Residence	18 months	7 months
Marriage Place	In Holy Trinity Church at Stratford
Folio	96/277
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. N. D. Boyes, 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).