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 739

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

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
189	3 June 1896	John William Hickson Ann Olive Linley	John William Pickersgill Ann Olive Linley 💍 1896/1667	Bachelor Widow	Bank Clerk	46 51	Wellington Wellington	5 years	St. Peters Church	96/2372	3 June 1896	Rev. W. C. Walmsley
190	4 June 1896	John Evans Caroline Hope Spencer	John Evans Caroline Susannah Boyle 💍 1896/928 John Evans Mary Henderson 💍 1896/4685	Widower Spinster	Carpenter	49 42	Wellington Wellington	4 days 14 years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	96/1655	4 June 1896	Mr. W. Wray
191	6 June 1896	Robert Vincent Jane Smith	Robert Vincent Jane Smith 💍 1896/929	Bachelor Spinster	Painter	37 27	Wellington Wellington	5 years	St. Mary of the Angels	96/1656	6 June 1896	Rev. J. Dawson
192	9 June 1896	David Scott Martha Jane Hatton	David Scott Martha Jane Sutton 💍 1896/930	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	34 31	Wellington Wellington	3 days	St. John's Church, Dixon Street	96/1657	9 June 1896	Rev. J. Paterson
193	9 June 1896	William Henry Sharp Mary Ann Cole Simmons	William Henry Sharp Mary Ann Cole Simmons 💍 1896/931	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	32 25	Wellington Wellington	5 years	House of Mr. Player, Garrett Street	96/1658	9 June 1896	Rev. W. Bamford
194	10 June 1896	Frank Gardiner Eliza Randell	Frank Gardiner Eliza Randell 💍 1896/1668	Bachelor Spinster	Carter	21 24	Wellington Wellington	5 years	House of Mr. Randell, Alpha Street	96/2373	11 June 1896	Rev. W. Ghiner
195	12 June 1896	Ernest Nicholson Arabella Amelia May	Ernest Nicholson Arabella Amelia Playle 💍 1896/932	Bachelor Spinster	Railway Clerk	27 25	Wellington Wellington	5 years	Mr. Playle's House, Majoribanks Street	96/1659	12 June 1896	Rev. J. Paterson
196	15 June 1896	Thomas Rowley Lees Caroline Gertrude Hyde	Thomas Rowley Lees Caroline Gertrude Hyde 💍 1896/933	Bachelor Spinster	Bookkeeper	23 24	Wellington Wellington	4 days 12 days	Registrar's Office, Wellington	96/1660	15 June 1896	Mr. W. Wray
197	16 June 1896	John Halliburton Lilian Preace		Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	28 27	Wellington Wellington	1 year 4 years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	96/1661	16 June 1896	Mr. W. Wray
198	17 June 1896	Ross Boustell Florence Elizabeth Singh	Ross Bouttell Florence Elizabeth Smith 💍 1896/967	Bachelor Spinster	Grocer	33 23	Wellington Wellington	5 years	House of Mr. Smith, Majoribanks Street	96/1672	17 June 1896	Rev. L. M. Keith
199	18 June 1896	Edward John Ansley Bessie Leverton Smith	Edward John Anstis Bessie Liverton Smith 💍 1896/935	Bachelor Spinster	Gardener	30 20	Lower Hutt Lower Hutt	5 years	St. James Church, Lower Hutt	96/1662	18 June 1896	Rev. J. Jones
200	19 June 1896	William Barr Georgina Cockburn	William Barr Georgina Cockburn 💍 1896/937	Bachelor Spinster	Bootmaker	26 27	Wellington Wellington	5 years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	96/1663	19 June 1896	Mr. W. Wray
201	19 June 1896	Phillip Hand Davies Emily Alice Judd	Phillip David Davis Emily Alice Judd 💍 1896/938	Bachelor Spinster	Settler	24 22	Upper Hutt Upper Hutt	5 years	St. James Church, Lower Hutt	96/1664	19 June 1896	Rev. P. L. M. Cameron
202	22 June 1896	Andrew Wray Ada Green	Andrew Freyne Ada Dean 💍 1896/939	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	35 30	Wellington Wellington	14 days	St. Mary's Cathedral	96/1665	22 June 1896	Rev. J. Dawson
203	23 June 1896	Patrick O'Connor Mary Ellen Dolan	Patrick O'Connor Mary Ellen Dolan 💍 1896/940	Bachelor Spinster	Artilleryman	32 27	Wellington Wellington	3 months 2 weeks	St. Mary of the Angels	96/1666	23 June 1896	Very Rev. J. Devoy

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).