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 738

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30 June 1896 Registrar W. S. 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	Consent	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
174	18 May 1896	John Terris Barnett Helen Page	John Denis Barnett Helen Page 💍 1896/4849	Bachelor Spinster	Jeweller	26 23	Wellington Wellington	4 years	St. Mark's Church	96/1641		18 May 1896	Rev. R. Coffey
175	18 May 1896	William Meacham Elizabeth Tevins	William Moxham Elizabeth Stevens 💍 1896/973 William Cranshaw Elizabeth Pearce 💍 1896/2795 William Ash Elizabeth Jarvis 💍 1896/1005 William Carline Elizabeth Travis 💍 1897/4966 William Spencer Nairn Elizabeth Sims 💍 1897/4239 William Wallace Elizabeth Kennedy 💍 1896/3565 William Lee Elizabeth Roberts 💍 1896/2199 William Gass Elizabeth Amor 💍 1896/747 William Thomas Elizabeth Boyer 💍 1896/4803 William Philip Lane Elizabeth Cain 💍 1896/150 William Law Elizabeth Cunningham 💍 1896/3292	Widower Widow	Settler	74 53	Wellington Wellington	4 years	Home of Mr. McDonald, Budge's Creek	96/1951		18 May 1896	Rev. W. Baumber
176	19 May 1896	Robert Harris Helen Pattison	Robert Manis Helen Pattison 💍 1896/923	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	26 24	Wellington Wellington	3 weeks 3 days	Registrar's Office	96/1642		19 May 1896	W. S. Wyatt
177	21 May 1896	George Jordan Ella Blanche Townsend	George Jordan Ella Blanche Townsend 💍 1896/934	Bachelor Spinster	Carter	29 26	Wellington Wellington	4 years	Home of Mr. Hall, Adelaide Road	96/1643		21 May 1896	Rev. W. Baumber
178	21 May 1896	John Wheatley Blackshaw Frances Marie Fuller	John Wheately Blackshaw Frances Marie Fuller 💍 1896/941	Bachelor Spinster	Warehouseman	28 22	Wellington Wellington	4 months	St. Mary of the Angels	96/1644		21 May 1896	Very Rev. F. Devoy
179	22 May 1896	Thomas Henry Joseph Bassett Mary Lydia Hawthorne	Thomas Henry Joseph Bassett May Lydia Hawthorne 💍 1896/942	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	26 22	Ohariu Wellington	4 years	St. Paul's Cathedral	96/1645		22 May 1896	The Rev. N. Sprott
180	22 May 1896	Richard Gandell Howes Annie Deadfield	Richard Garrold Howell Annie Dudfield 💍 1896/943	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	29 29	Wellington Wellington	14 months	St. Mark's Church	96/1646		22 May 1896	Rev. R. Coffey
181	22 May 1896	Thomas Scott Jennie Foulds	Thomas Scott Jennie Foale 💍 1896/944	Bachelor Spinster	Woolclasser	42 34	Petone Petone	3 weeks 1 year	St. James Church, Lower Hutt	96/1647		22 May 1896	Rev. Joshua Jones
182	23 May 1896	John Gavin Duncan Agnes Maude Grace	John Gavin Duncan Agnes Maud Grace 💍 1896/945	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	26 27	Wellington Wellington	4 years	St. Mary's Cathedral	96/1648		23 May 1896	Rev. J. Dawson
183	23 May 1896	Thomas Clinton Pearce Mary Kathleen Reed	Thomas Clinton Pearce Mary Catherine Reeves 💍 1896/946	Bachelor Spinster	Coachman	21 21	Wellington Wellington	4 years	House of Mrs. Bailman, Ghuznee Street	96/1649		23 May 1896	Rev. W. Baumber
184	26 May 1896	George Henry Rochfort Jane Main		Bachelor Spinster	Timber	32 20	Tawa Flat Tawa Flat	4 months	House in Farm Hall, Tawa Flat	96/1650	Parents in Colony	26 May 1896	Rev. Edward Drake
185	26 May 1896	William Gaudin Alice Eliza Featherstone Inglis	William Gaudin Alice Eliza Featherston Inglis 💍 1896/924	Bachelor Widow	Labourer	31 35	Wellington Wellington	4 years	Registrar's Office	96/1651		26 May 1896	W. S. Wyatt
186	27 May 1896	Luke Falconer Elizabeth Thomas	Lake Falconer Elizabeth Thomas 💍 1896/925	Bachelor Widow	Farmer	40 36	Wellington Wellington	3 days	Registrar's Office	96/1652		27 May 1896	W. S. Wyatt
187	27 May 1896	Daniel Varcoe Florence Mone	Daniel Varcoe Florence Moore 💍 1896/926	Bachelor Spinster	Baker	28 24	Wellington Wellington	12 months	House of Mr. Duncan, Clarence Street	96/1653		27 May 1896	Rev. H. B. Riastone
188	1 June 1896	Robert Greig Phoebe Ann Monk	Robert Greig Phoebe Ann Monk 💍 1896/927	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	23 17	Wellington Makena	4 years	Registrar's Office	96/1654	George Monk, father	1 June 1896	W. S. Wyatt

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).