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 317

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1896 Registrar J. J. Malleeson

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

24 February 1896

John Simpson
Margaret Ann Pepper

John Simpson
Margaret Ann Pepper
💍 1896/4018

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

23
29

Christchurch
New Brighton

23 years

Telephone Station

96/719

24 February 1896

Rev. R. Pravis, Presbyterian

No	78
Date of Notice	24 February 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Simpson	Margaret Ann Pepper
	💍 1896/4018
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	23	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	New Brighton
Length of Residence	23 years
Marriage Place	Telephone Station
Folio	96/719
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Pravis, Presbyterian

24 February 1896

Henry John Joseph Smith
Lily Agnes Hale

Henry John Joseph Smith
Lily Agnes Hales
💍 1896/4454

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter

26
23

Christchurch
Spreydon

20 years

House of Mr. G. Hale

96/716

24 February 1896

Rev. H. R. Dewsbury, Wesleyan

No	79
Date of Notice	24 February 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry John Joseph Smith	Lily Agnes Hale
BDM Match (97%)	Henry John Joseph Smith	Lily Agnes Hales
	💍 1896/4454
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Spreydon
Length of Residence	20 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. G. Hale
Folio	96/716
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. R. Dewsbury, Wesleyan

24 February 1896

Robert George Dagger
Alice Mary Robertson

Robert George Dagger
Alice Mary Robertson
💍 1896/4029

Bachelor
Spinster

Compositor

28
28

Christchurch
Dunedin

4 years
25 years

St. Paul's, Meanee, Litchfield St., Christchurch

96/729

24 February 1896

Rev. F. Plueslie, Presbyterian

No	80
Date of Notice	24 February 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert George Dagger	Alice Mary Robertson
	💍 1896/4029
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Compositor
Age	28	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 years	25 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's, Meanee, Litchfield St., Christchurch
Folio	96/729
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Plueslie, Presbyterian

25 February 1896

Thomas Frederick Cross
Jane Main

Thomas Frederick Cross
Jane Main
💍 1896/4413

Bachelor
Widow

Accountant

39
40

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
7 years

Registrar's Office

96/646

25 February 1896

Registrar of Marriages, J. J. Malleeson

No	81
Date of Notice	25 February 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Frederick Cross	Jane Main
	💍 1896/4413
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Accountant
Age	39	40
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	96/646
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 February 1896
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, J. J. Malleeson

27 February 1896

Isaac Morris Solomon
Evelina Brown

Bachelor
Spinster

Manufacturer
Musician

40
42

Christchurch
Christchurch

18 months
18 months

Registrar's Office

96/667

27 February 1896

Registrar of Marriages, J. J. Malleeson

No	82
Date of Notice	27 February 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Isaac Morris Solomon	Evelina Brown
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Manufacturer	Musician
Age	40	42
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	18 months	18 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	96/667
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1896
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, J. J. Malleeson

27 February 1896

Alexander Cunningham
Margaret Cleeve Stephens

Alexander Cunningham
Margaret Annie Stephens
💍 1896/4028

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

25
24

Christchurch
Linwood

3 days
4 days

House of Mr. Peter Creigh, St. John's St.

96/728

27 February 1896

Rev. W. Scorgie, Presbyterian

No	83
Date of Notice	27 February 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Cunningham	Margaret Cleeve Stephens
BDM Match (90%)	Alexander Cunningham	Margaret Annie Stephens
	💍 1896/4028
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Linwood
Length of Residence	3 days	4 days
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Peter Creigh, St. John's St.
Folio	96/728
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Scorgie, Presbyterian

28 February 1896

David Marshall
Elizabeth Gerkin

David Marshall
Elizabeth Gerkin
💍 1896/1389

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

40
20

Christchurch
Lincoln

4 days
20 years

House of Mr. D. Gerkin

96/2234

D. Gerkin, father

28 February 1896

Rev. A. L. Wright, Presbyterian

No	84
Date of Notice	28 February 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Marshall	Elizabeth Gerkin
	💍 1896/1389
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	40	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Lincoln
Length of Residence	4 days	20 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. D. Gerkin
Folio	96/2234
Consent	D. Gerkin, father
Date of Certificate	28 February 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. L. Wright, Presbyterian

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 1903. 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).