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 737

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30 June 1896 Registrar William Thomas Wyatt

No	Date of Notice	Names and Surnames of Parties	BDM Match	Condition	Calling or Profession	Age	Dwelling Place	Length of Residence	Marriage Place	Folio	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
159	12 May 1896	Admiral James Fulton Purchase Edith Margaret Jones	Admiral James Tatham Sutcliffe Edith Marguerite Jones 💍 1896/854	Bachelor Spinster	Brewer	34 23	Wellington Wellington	4 days 14 days	St. Mark's Church	96/1628	12 May 1896	Rev. R. Coffey
160	12 May 1896	Thomas McArthur Nellie Sharp	Thomas Scot McArthur Nellie Sharpe 💍 1896/856	Bachelor Spinster	Ironman	26 22	Petone Petone		House of Mr. Sharp, Petone	96/1629	12 May 1896	Rev. A. Thomson
161	12 May 1896	Frank Grubb Jessie McDonald	Frank Gruble Jessie McDonald 💍 1896/857	Bachelor Spinster	Miner	27 29	Wellington Wellington		Clergyman's House, Taranaki Street	96/1630	12 May 1896	Rev. W. Brummer
162	12 May 1896	James Uma Kyle Marnie de Roa	James Vance Kyle Mamie de Rosa 💍 1896/858	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	28 21	Lower Hutt Taita		The Church at Petone	96/1631	12 May 1896	Rev. A. Thomson
163	13 May 1896	Herbert Beale Catherine Martin	Herbert Beale Catherine Martin 💍 1896/1576	Bachelor Spinster	Engine Driver and Plumber	28 28	Wellington Wellington	3 days	House of Mrs. Martin, Aro Street	96/2301	13 May 1896	Rev. J. Guy
164	13 May 1896	Alfred John Pomfrey Emma Chaney	Alfred John Pomfrey Emma Chaney 💍 1896/859	Bachelor Spinster	Master Mariner	27 21	Ngahauranga Wellington		Registrar's Office, Wellington	96/1632	13 May 1896	Mr. T. W. Wyatt
165	13 May 1896	Thomas Waugh Kate Florence Gibbins	Thomas Waugh Kate Florence Gibbons 💍 1896/860	Bachelor Spinster	Nurseryman	28 30	Lower Hutt Wellington		Presbyterian Church, Kent Terrace	96/1633	13 May 1896	Rev. J. K. Elliott
166	13 May 1896	Thomas Thompson Marion Little	Thomas Thompson Marion Little 💍 1896/892	Bachelor Widow	Clerk	35 40	Wellington Wellington		Registrar's Office, Wellington	96/1634	13 May 1896	Mr. T. W. Wyatt
167	14 May 1896	Frederick Puckmaster Louisa Alberta Philpott	Fred Buckmaster Louisa Alberta Philpott 💍 1896/1578	Bachelor Spinster	Carter	25 25	Wellington Kilbirnie		House of Mr. George Philpott, Kilbirnie	96/2278	14 May 1896	Rev. Josiah Ward
168	15 May 1896	Bernard Mulholland Kate Breen	Bernard Mulholland Kate Breen 💍 1896/893	Widower Spinster	Steward	36 22	Wellington Wellington		St. Peter's Church	96/1635	15 May 1896	Rev. W. C. Waters
169	15 May 1896	John Matthews Catherine Charlotte Smith	John Matthews Catherine Charlotte Smith 💍 1896/894	Bachelor Spinster	Overseer	32 28	Lower Hutt Lower Hutt	3 days	St. James' Church, Lower Hutt	96/1636	15 May 1896	Rev. Joshua Jones
170	16 May 1896	Frank James Ward Lizzie Looker	Frank James Hind Lizzie Coker 💍 1896/895	Bachelor Widow	Contractor	47 57	Kilbirnie Wellington	2 months	Registrar's Office, Wellington	96/1637	16 May 1896	Mr. T. W. Wyatt
171	16 May 1896	Alexander Frederick Field Ada Herman Valentine	Alexander Frederick Field Ada Leman Valentine 💍 1896/896	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	29 22	Wellington Wellington		St. Peter's Church	96/1638	16 May 1896	Rev. W. C. Waters
172	18 May 1896	Donald McDonald Elizabeth Blanchfield	Donald McDonald Elizabeth Blanchfield 💍 1896/897	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	42 39	Wellington Wellington		House of Bridegroom, Mitchelltown	96/1639	18 May 1896	Very Rev. J. Berry
173	18 May 1896	John Henry Beck Gressina Amelia Dentice	John Henry Beck Trissina Amelia Dentice 💍 1896/898	Bachelor Spinster	Bookmaker	28 21	Wellington Wellington		House of Mr. Dentice, Alpha Street	96/1640	18 May 1896	Rev. H. B. Redstone

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).