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 514

District of Auckland Quarter ending 30 June 1896 Registrar E. H. 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

281

3 June 1896

John Henderson
Jessie Scott

John Henderson
Jessie Scott
💍 1896/499

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper

29
22

Auckland
Auckland

6 years
22 years

House of M. J. Scott, Mangere

96/1218

3 June 1896

Rev. J. Hendrich, Presbyterian

No	281
Date of Notice	3 June 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henderson	Jessie Scott
	💍 1896/499
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	6 years	22 years
Marriage Place	House of M. J. Scott, Mangere
Folio	96/1218
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 June 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Hendrich, Presbyterian

282

3 June 1896

Henry John Mansell
Mary Ann Rayner

Henry John Mansell
Mary Ann Rayner
💍 1896/444

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

24
22

Auckland
Auckland

16 years
6 years

House of M. J. Rayner, Eden Terrace

96/1216

3 June 1896

Rev. G. H. Mason, Primitive Methodist

No	282
Date of Notice	3 June 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry John Mansell	Mary Ann Rayner
	💍 1896/444
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	16 years	6 years
Marriage Place	House of M. J. Rayner, Eden Terrace
Folio	96/1216
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 June 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. H. Mason, Primitive Methodist

283

5 June 1896

Samuel John Smith
Ellen Elley

Samuel John Smith
Ellen Elley
💍 1896/445

Widower
Spinster

Hotel Keeper

38
27

Helensville
Auckland

18 months
1 week

St. Paul's Church

96/1217

5 June 1896

Rev. C. H. Nelson, Church of England

No	283
Date of Notice	5 June 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel John Smith	Ellen Elley
	💍 1896/445
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Hotel Keeper
Age	38	27
Dwelling Place	Helensville	Auckland
Length of Residence	18 months	1 week
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church
Folio	96/1217
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 June 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Nelson, Church of England

284

5 June 1896

Thomas Russell Cox
Mabel Elizabeth Pope

Thomas Russell
Mabel Elizabeth Cox
💍 1896/510

Widower
Spinster

Shipping agent

43
27

Auckland
Auckland

15 years
14 years

St. Mary's Church, Parnell

96/1219

5 June 1896

Rev. F. G. Evans, Church of England

No	284
Date of Notice	5 June 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Russell Cox	Mabel Elizabeth Pope
BDM Match (81%)	Thomas Russell	Mabel Elizabeth Cox
	💍 1896/510
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Shipping agent
Age	43	27
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	15 years	14 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Parnell
Folio	96/1219
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 June 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. G. Evans, Church of England

285

5 June 1896

Edward Mayner Murdoch
Caroline Edmondson

Edward Nayner Murdock
Caroline Edmondson
💍 1896/441

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

27
18

Auckland
Auckland

16 years
5 months

House of M. E. Edmondson, Renall Street, Ponsonby

96/1213

M. E. Edmondson, Father

5 June 1896

Rev. R. Raine, Primitive Methodist

No	285
Date of Notice	5 June 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Mayner Murdoch	Caroline Edmondson
BDM Match (95%)	Edward Nayner Murdock	Caroline Edmondson
	💍 1896/441
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	27	18
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	16 years	5 months
Marriage Place	House of M. E. Edmondson, Renall Street, Ponsonby
Folio	96/1213
Consent	M. E. Edmondson, Father
Date of Certificate	5 June 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Raine, Primitive Methodist

286

5 June 1896

Peter Ganley
Agnes Main

Peter Gauley
Agnes Main
💍 1896/442

Bachelor
Spinster

Bus driver

26
24

Auckland
Auckland

26 years
24 years

Roman Catholic Church, Howick

96/1214

5 June 1896

Very Rev. W. McDonald, Roman Catholic

No	286
Date of Notice	5 June 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Ganley	Agnes Main
BDM Match (96%)	Peter Gauley	Agnes Main
	💍 1896/442
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bus driver
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	26 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Howick
Folio	96/1214
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 June 1896
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. W. McDonald, Roman Catholic

287

8 June 1896

Richard Henry Haynes
Tamar Fenton

Richard Henry Haynes
Tamar Fenton
💍 1896/329

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

32
30

Northcote
Northcote

20 years
18 months

Registrar's Office, Auckland

96/1094

8 June 1896

J. Thompson Jr., Dep. Registrar

No	287
Date of Notice	8 June 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Henry Haynes	Tamar Fenton
	💍 1896/329
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	32	30
Dwelling Place	Northcote	Northcote
Length of Residence	20 years	18 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Auckland
Folio	96/1094
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 June 1896
Officiating Minister	J. Thompson Jr., Dep. Registrar

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).