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 731

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30 June 1896 Registrar William Summer

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
99	1 April 1896	Alexander Clark Matilda How	Alexander Clark Matilda Charlotte How 💍 1896/813	Bachelor Spinster	Paper Hanger	21 26	Wellington Petone	years years	House of Mrs. Butler, Mooday Terrace	96/1573		1 April 1896	Mr. A. J. Emma
100	2 April 1896	John McQuistan Julia Sarah Robertson	John McQuistan Julia Sarah Robertson 💍 1896/4712	Bachelor Spinster	Painter	27 22	Wellington Wellington	years years	Home of Mrs. Burford, Aro Street	96/1574		2 April 1896	Rev. J. K. Elliott
101	2 April 1896	Thomas Charles Mono Dorothy Sephina Hughes	Thomas Charles Moore Dorothy Septima Hughes 💍 1896/812	Widower Spinster	Surgeon	39 19	Wellington Wellington	4 days years	Home of Mr. Hughes	96/1572	Henry Hughes, Father	2 April 1896	Rev. J. Paterson
102	2 April 1896	Thomas William Richard Maud Cordelle	Thomas William Richard Hood Maud Condell 💍 1896/868	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	29 26	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	96/1575		2 April 1896	Mr. M. Dwan
103	2 April 1896	Albert Edward Russ Mildred Neal	Albert Edward Russ Hansen Mildenhalt Mildred Neal 💍 1896/879	Bachelor Spinster	Carter	20 17	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	96/1576	Hannah Audenhaw, Mother; Henry Neal, Father	2 April 1896	Mr. M. Dwan
104	2 April 1896	Herbert Austin Ellen Barber Holder	Herbert Austin Ellen Barbara Hodder 💍 1896/885	Bachelor Spinster	Seaman	22 24	Wellington Petone	4 days 4 months	House of Mrs. Rushbrook, Petone	96/1577		2 April 1896	Rev. A. Thomson
105	7 April 1896	John James Cassells Marion Gore	John James Cassells Marian Gore 💍 1896/886	Bachelor Spinster	Police Constable	25 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Mary of the Angels	96/1578		7 April 1896	Rev. J. Ainsworth
106	7 April 1896	Edward Bradley Kathleen Francis Reardon	Edward Bradey Kathleen Frances Reardon 💍 1896/887	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	24 23	Wellington Wellington	5 days years	St. Mary of the Angels	96/1579		7 April 1896	Rev. W. Goggan
107	7 April 1896	Charles Clark Mary Frances Murray	Charles Clark Mary Frances Murray 💍 1896/888	Bachelor Spinster	Fruiterer	24 24	Wellington Horokini Road	years years	House of Mrs. Murray, Horokini Road	96/1580		7 April 1896	Rev. John Lane
108	7 April 1896	John Gummle Jane Hebbend	John Dumble Jane Hebberd 💍 1896/889	Bachelor Widow	Hairdresser	26 37	Wellington Wellington	years years	Catholic Church, Lower Hutt	96/1581		7 April 1896	Rev. John Lane
109	8 April 1896	George Alexander Williams Edith Ida Cooper	George Alexander Williams Edith Ida Cooper 💍 1896/890	Bachelor Spinster	Auctioneer	34 24	Wellington Karori	3 days years	Anglican Church, Karori	96/1582		8 April 1896	Rev. C. Crickshank Williams
110	8 April 1896	Alfred Maurice Lewis Lilian Margaret Tonks	Alfred Maurice Lewis Lilian Margaret Tonks 💍 1896/891	Widower Spinster	Cordial Manufacturer	33 23	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mrs. Tonks, Tonks Grove	96/1583		8 April 1896	Rev. B. J. Hallowes
111	8 April 1896	Alick Evan Crithness Letitia Pang		Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	26 24	Wellington Wellington	2 days years	St. Mary of the Angels	96/1584	Mary Pang, Mother	8 April 1896	Very Rev. J. Dwan
112	8 April 1896	Charles Ridding Emily Maria Trim	Charles Ridding Emily Maria Trim 💍 1896/870	Bachelor Spinster	Farrier	26 22	Wellington Wellington	years years	Primitive Methodist Church, Domett Street, Leamington	96/1585		8 April 1896	Rev. Edward Teaker
113	8 April 1896	Edward Henry Rickards Emily Miller	Edward Henry Ricketts Emily Miller 💍 1896/871	Bachelor Spinster	Draper	26 23	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. Miller, Courtenay Street	96/1586		8 April 1896	Rev. A. Gray

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).