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 698

District of Hunterville Quarter ending 30 June 1896 Registrar J. H. Norris

No	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
53	28 April 1896	James Alexander Bartley Margaret Ellen Parker	James Alexander Bailey Margaret Ellen Parker 💍 1896/744	Bachelor Spinster	Sawmiller Domestic	26 21	Silverhope Paraekaretu	3 days 18 years	Residence of Charles Parker	96/1489		28 April 1896	Rev. J. M. Howarth
54	11 May 1896	John Gilmore Charlotte Anne Barton	John Gilmour Charlotte Anne Barton 💍 1896/745	Bachelor Widow	Workman Domestic	24 30	Hunterville Hunterville	3 years 4 years	Methodist Manse	96/1490		11 May 1896	Rev. D. Martin
55	4 June 1896	John Mason Jane Fraser	John Mason Jane Fraser 💍 1896/746 John Thomson Janet Cameron Fraser 💍 1896/2027	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic	29 19	Poukawa Poukawa	3 years 7 years	Residence of Christina Fraser, Poukawa	96/1491	Christina Fraser, mother	4 June 1896	Rev. D. Martin
56	10 June 1896	William Gaco Elizabeth Amos	William Gass Elizabeth Amor 💍 1896/747 William Ash Elizabeth Jarvis 💍 1896/1005 William Lee Elizabeth Roberts 💍 1896/2199 William Gibson Marr Elizabeth Wood 💍 1896/1582 William Carline Elizabeth Travis 💍 1897/4966 William Wallace Elizabeth Kennedy 💍 1896/3565 William Law Elizabeth Cunningham 💍 1896/3292 William Pimm Elizabeth Ella Joll 💍 1896/2590 William Wallace Elizabeth Emma Purvis 💍 1896/3570 William Thomas Elizabeth Boyer 💍 1896/4803 William Bernard Elizabeth Ann Lloyd 💍 1896/2132 William Luther Gubb Elizabeth Edmond 💍 1896/2488 William Sheard Elizabeth Hutcheson 💍 1897/4421 William Moxham Elizabeth Stevens 💍 1896/973 William Spencer Nairn Elizabeth Sims 💍 1897/4239	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer Domestic	33 23	Mangawhare Mangawhare	12 months 1 month	Office of Registrar, Hunterville	96/1492		10 June 1896	J. H. Norris
57	4 April 1896	John William Thomas Rean Annie Thomas	John Williams Rosa Annie Thomas 💍 1896/742	Bachelor Spinster	Contractor Domestic	29 19	Rata Hunterville	6 months 2 years	Residence of A. Beauchamp, Mangawhare	96/1489		4 April 1896	Rev. David Martin
57	7 April 1896	Harold Francis Chubb Charlotte Dorothea Alexander	Harold Francis Chubb Charlotte Dorothea Alexander 💍 1896/743	Bachelor Spinster	Contractor Domestic	35 24	Mangawhare Mangawhare	2 years 2 years	Registrar's Office, Hunterville	96/1488		7 April 1896	J. H. Norris
57	15 June 1896	Eugene Albert Campbell Lilian May Cuff	Eugene Albert Campbell Lillian May Cuff 💍 1896/665	Bachelor Spinster	Band Assistant Domestic	28 21	Napier Rata	4 months 15 months	Church of England, Napier (Hastings)	96/1412		15 June 1896	Rev. John Hobbs
58	16 June 1896	Herbert William Pope Emily Louisa Pope	Herbert William Oliver Emily Louisa Pope 💍 1896/759	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer Domestic	24 19	Manawatu Rata	1 month 4 years	Public Hall, Rata	96/1481	Reginald H. Pope, father	16 June 1896	Rev. James Coe, Baptist
59	25 June 1896	Alexander Ross Jean McLennon	Alexander Ross Jean McKinnon 💍 1896/748	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith Domestic	32 25	Hunterville Hunterville	3 years 4 days	Private Residence of John Wilson, Hunterville	96/1493		25 June 1896	Rev. D. Martin
60	25 June 1896	Frederick William Frampton Ada Baldwin	Fredrick William Frampton Ada Baldwin 💍 1896/750	Widower Spinster	Carter Domestic	32 25	Hunterville Hunterville	12 years 18 months	Private Residence of Sidney Gordon, Hunterville	96/1494		25 June 1896	Rev. D. Martin

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 1899. 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).