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 315

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

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

15 February 1896

William James Hickenbottom
Martha White

William James Hickinbottom
Martha White
💍 1896/4455

Bachelor
Spinster

Machinist
Dressmaker

27
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

13 years
17 years

House of Mr. J. White, 13 Wilton St, Spreydon

96/717

15 February 1896

Rev. R. S. Allen, Presbyterian

No	64
Date of Notice	15 February 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Hickenbottom	Martha White
BDM Match (98%)	William James Hickinbottom	Martha White
	💍 1896/4455
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Machinist	Dressmaker
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	13 years	17 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. J. White, 13 Wilton St, Spreydon
Folio	96/717
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. S. Allen, Presbyterian

17 February 1896

Samuel Page
Sarah Saunders

Samuel Page
Sarah Saunders
💍 1896/4700

Bachelor
Spinster

Science Demonstrator
Teacher

34
33

Christchurch
West Melton

3 years
3 years

House of Mr. Alfred Saunders, West Melton

96/725

17 February 1896

Rev. S. Volumere, Baptist

No	65
Date of Notice	17 February 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Page	Sarah Saunders
	💍 1896/4700
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Science Demonstrator	Teacher
Age	34	33
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	West Melton
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Alfred Saunders, West Melton
Folio	96/725
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Volumere, Baptist

17 February 1896

Henry Willand French
Lilian Mary Burch

Henry Willard-French
Lilian Mary Birch
💍 1896/4446

Widower
Spinster

Journalist

41
23

Wellington
Christchurch

4 months
5 years

House of Rev. Wm. Burch, Montreal St, Christchurch

96/709

17 February 1896

Rev. W. Burch, Baptist

No	66
Date of Notice	17 February 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Willand French	Lilian Mary Burch
BDM Match (92%)	Henry Willard-French	Lilian Mary Birch
	💍 1896/4446
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Journalist
Age	41	23
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 months	5 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. Wm. Burch, Montreal St, Christchurch
Folio	96/709
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Burch, Baptist

18 February 1896

Peter Dalane
Lilian Cleveland

Peter Ealam
Lillian Cleveland
💍 1896/4448

Widower
Spinster

Theodore

29
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
7 years

St. Michaels Church, Christchurch

96/711

18 February 1896

Rev. A. W. Averill, Church of England

No	67
Date of Notice	18 February 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Dalane	Lilian Cleveland
BDM Match (85%)	Peter Ealam	Lillian Cleveland
	💍 1896/4448
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Theodore
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	7 years
Marriage Place	St. Michaels Church, Christchurch
Folio	96/711
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. W. Averill, Church of England

18 February 1896

Henry Hedman Hookham
Annie Harris

Henry Thomas Hookham
Annie Harris
💍 1896/4447

Bachelor
Spinster

Saddler
Domestic

37
29

Christchurch
Papanui

11 years

House of Mr. W. Harris, Papanui

96/710

18 February 1896

Rev. E. C. Harrison, Wesleyan

No	68
Date of Notice	18 February 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Hedman Hookham	Annie Harris
BDM Match (90%)	Henry Thomas Hookham	Annie Harris
	💍 1896/4447
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler	Domestic
Age	37	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Papanui
Length of Residence	11 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. W. Harris, Papanui
Folio	96/710
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. C. Harrison, Wesleyan

18 February 1896

John Steven Norris
Hannah Hardy

John Steven Norris
Hannah Hardy
💍 1896/4449

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic

22
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
21 years

House of Mr. W. H. Hardy, Selwyn St, Spreydon

96/712

18 February 1896

Rev. E. Peimey, Wesleyan United Methodist

No	69
Date of Notice	18 February 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Steven Norris	Hannah Hardy
	💍 1896/4449
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	21 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. W. H. Hardy, Selwyn St, Spreydon
Folio	96/712
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Peimey, Wesleyan United Methodist

18 February 1896

John Winstone
Annie Poole

John Winskill
Annie Poole
💍 1896/4410

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer
Dressmaker

23
31

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Registrars Office, Christchurch

96/664

18 February 1896

Registrar, Marriages, J. J. Moukesson

No	70
Date of Notice	18 February 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Winstone	Annie Poole
BDM Match (85%)	John Winskill	Annie Poole
	💍 1896/4410
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	23	31
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Christchurch
Folio	96/664
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1896
Officiating Minister	Registrar, Marriages, J. J. Moukesson

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).