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 161

District of Napier Quarter ending 31 March 1896 Registrar Sydney J. Jago

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

4 January 1896

Conrad Brishon Rice
Lavina May McClelland

Conrad Crishon Biel
Lavinia May McClelland
💍 1896/653

Bachelor
Spinster

Fellmonger

23
22

Greenmeadows
Greenmeadows

3 years
4 years

Presbyterian Manse, Napier

96/1417

4 January 1896

Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	1
Date of Notice	4 January 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Conrad Brishon Rice	Lavina May McClelland
BDM Match (87%)	Conrad Crishon Biel	Lavinia May McClelland
	💍 1896/653
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fellmonger
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Greenmeadows	Greenmeadows
Length of Residence	3 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Napier
Folio	96/1417
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 January 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

13 January 1896

William Palmer
Dorothea Taylor

William Palmer
Sarhellen Taylor
💍 1896/654

William Painter
Clara Taylor
💍 1897/863

Bachelor
Spinster

Compositor
Domestic

29
21

Napier
Western Spit

29 years
10 years

Residence of Bride's Father

96/1418

13 January 1896

Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	2
Date of Notice	13 January 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Palmer	Dorothea Taylor
BDM Match (78%)	William Palmer	Sarhellen Taylor
	💍 1896/654
BDM Match (67%)	William Painter	Clara Taylor
	💍 1897/863
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Compositor	Domestic
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Napier	Western Spit
Length of Residence	29 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Bride's Father
Folio	96/1418
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

22 January 1896

Arthur James Clapham
Frances Pritchard

Arthur James Clapham
Frances Pritchard
💍 1896/4165

Bachelor
Spinster

Book
Domestic

25
24

Napier
Napier

9 months
24 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Napier

96/307

22 January 1896

Registrar S. J. Jago

No	3
Date of Notice	22 January 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur James Clapham	Frances Pritchard
	💍 1896/4165
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Book	Domestic
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	9 months	24 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Napier
Folio	96/307
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 January 1896
Officiating Minister	Registrar S. J. Jago

23 January 1896

John Morris Langley
Catherine Brown

John Morris Langley
Catherine Brown
💍 1896/655

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic

27
27

Napier
Napier

27 years
7 years

The Cathedral at Napier

96/1419

23 January 1896

Rev. De Berdt Hovell, Church of England

No	4
Date of Notice	23 January 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Morris Langley	Catherine Brown
	💍 1896/655
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	27 years	7 years
Marriage Place	The Cathedral at Napier
Folio	96/1419
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 January 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. De Berdt Hovell, Church of England

24 January 1896

Harry Hastings Capon
Elizabeth Alice Stephens

Harry Hastings Capon
Elizabeth Alice Stephens
💍 1896/656

Bachelor
Spinster

Waiter

22
21

Napier
Napier

4 weeks
3 days

Residence of Mrs. Oliver, Carlylest, Napier

96/1420

24 January 1896

Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	5
Date of Notice	24 January 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Hastings Capon	Elizabeth Alice Stephens
	💍 1896/656
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Waiter
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	4 weeks	3 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Oliver, Carlylest, Napier
Folio	96/1420
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

24 January 1896

Henry Edward Skelton
Amy Elizabeth Neale

Henry Edward Skelton
Amy Elizabeth Neale
💍 1896/657

Bachelor
Spinster

Warehouseman

28
22

Napier
Napier

26 years
10 years

The Cathedral at Napier

96/1421

24 January 1896

Rev. De Berdt Hovell, Church of England

No	6
Date of Notice	24 January 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Edward Skelton	Amy Elizabeth Neale
	💍 1896/657
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warehouseman
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	26 years	10 years
Marriage Place	The Cathedral at Napier
Folio	96/1421
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. De Berdt Hovell, 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).