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 412

District of Gabriels Quarter ending 31 March 1894 Registrar J. H. Able

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

508

24 January 1894

James Alexander Fraser Pollock
Elizabeth McAvoy

James Alexander Fraser Pollok
Elizabeth McAulay
💍 1896/229

Bachelor
Spinster

Work Classer
House Maid

29
24

Laurence
Blue Spur

3 days
3 days

At the Home of Mrs. McAvoy, at Blue Spur

96/963

24 January 1894

The Rev. James A. Will, Presbyterian Minister

No	508
Date of Notice	24 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Alexander Fraser Pollock	Elizabeth McAvoy
BDM Match (90%)	James Alexander Fraser Pollok	Elizabeth McAulay
	💍 1896/229
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Work Classer	House Maid
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Laurence	Blue Spur
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	At the Home of Mrs. McAvoy, at Blue Spur
Folio	96/963
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1894
Officiating Minister	The Rev. James A. Will, Presbyterian Minister

509

6 February 1894

James Real
Mary Ann Meehan

James Real
Margaret Sheehan
💍 1896/354

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Servant

39
19

Mapuka Hill
Mapuka Hill

13 years
11 years

At the Roman Catholic Church

96/967

Father

6 February 1894

The Rev. Patrick Cleary, Roman Catholic Priest

No	509
Date of Notice	6 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Real	Mary Ann Meehan
BDM Match (78%)	James Real	Margaret Sheehan
	💍 1896/354
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Servant
Age	39	19
Dwelling Place	Mapuka Hill	Mapuka Hill
Length of Residence	13 years	11 years
Marriage Place	At the Roman Catholic Church
Folio	96/967
Consent	Father
Date of Certificate	6 February 1894
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Patrick Cleary, Roman Catholic Priest

510

11 February 1894

John James O'Leary
Hannah Jessie Barreto

John James O'Leary
Harriet Jessie Barrett
💍 1896/343

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Servant

34
29

Gabriels Gully
Laurence

30 years
3 weeks

At the Roman Catholic Church

96/966

11 February 1894

The Rev. Patrick Cleary, Roman Catholic Priest

No	510
Date of Notice	11 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John James O'Leary	Hannah Jessie Barreto
BDM Match (86%)	John James O'Leary	Harriet Jessie Barrett
	💍 1896/343
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Servant
Age	34	29
Dwelling Place	Gabriels Gully	Laurence
Length of Residence	30 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	At the Roman Catholic Church
Folio	96/966
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1894
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Patrick Cleary, Roman Catholic Priest

511

13 February 1894

George Willis
Elizabeth Margaret Terry

George Willis
Emma Neale
💍 1896/3269

Bachelor
Spinster

Hyphen Driver
Domestic Servant

24
22

Laurence
Laurence

24 years
3 years

At the Home of the Rev. James A. Will, Laurence

96/964

13 February 1894

The Rev. James A. Will, Presbyterian Minister

No	511
Date of Notice	13 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Willis	Elizabeth Margaret Terry
BDM Match (60%)	George Willis	Emma Neale
	💍 1896/3269
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hyphen Driver	Domestic Servant
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Laurence	Laurence
Length of Residence	24 years	3 years
Marriage Place	At the Home of the Rev. James A. Will, Laurence
Folio	96/964
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1894
Officiating Minister	The Rev. James A. Will, Presbyterian Minister

512

25 March 1894

James Menzies
Hannah Henry

James Menzies
Hannah Henry
💍 1896/1305

Bachelor
Spinster

Station Manager
None

32
21

Laurence
Drum Hill

4 days
15 years

At Bellamy Station, Drum Hill

96/2127

25 March 1894

The Rev. G. P. Beaumont, Anglican Clergy, England

No	512
Date of Notice	25 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Menzies	Hannah Henry
	💍 1896/1305
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Station Manager	None
Age	32	21
Dwelling Place	Laurence	Drum Hill
Length of Residence	4 days	15 years
Marriage Place	At Bellamy Station, Drum Hill
Folio	96/2127
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1894
Officiating Minister	The Rev. G. P. Beaumont, Anglican Clergy, England

513

30 March 1894

William Sandow Woodhouse
Julia O'Leary

William Lamders Woodhouse
Julia O Leary
💍 1896/231

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Dressmaker

30
22

Laurence
Blue Spur

14 days
3 months

At the Home of Mrs. O'Leary, at Blue Spur

96/965

30 March 1894

The Rev. Patrick Cleary, Roman Catholic Priest

No	513
Date of Notice	30 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Sandow Woodhouse	Julia O'Leary
BDM Match (86%)	William Lamders Woodhouse	Julia O Leary
	💍 1896/231
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Dressmaker
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Laurence	Blue Spur
Length of Residence	14 days	3 months
Marriage Place	At the Home of Mrs. O'Leary, at Blue Spur
Folio	96/965
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1894
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Patrick Cleary, Roman Catholic Priest

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).