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 313

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1896 Registrar J. M. Maulleson

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

10 February 1896

Samuel Kiegan
Matilda O'Donnell

Samuel Arthur Kingan
Matilda O'Donnell
💍 1896/4007

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Domestic

28
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

28 years
11 years

Roman Catholic Church, Barbadoes St.

96/718

10 February 1896

Rev. T. Cummings, Roman Catholic

No	50
Date of Notice	10 February 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Kiegan	Matilda O'Donnell
BDM Match (80%)	Samuel Arthur Kingan	Matilda O'Donnell
	💍 1896/4007
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Domestic
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	28 years	11 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Barbadoes St.
Folio	96/718
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Cummings, Roman Catholic

10 February 1896

Winfield James Thorne
Elizabeth Jane Johnston

Winfield James Thorne
Elizabeth Jane Johnston
💍 1896/4407

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter

21
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

19 years
16 years

Registrars Office

96/661

Annie Jane Johnston, Mother

10 February 1896

J. M. Maulleson, Registrar of Marriages

No	51
Date of Notice	10 February 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Winfield James Thorne	Elizabeth Jane Johnston
	💍 1896/4407
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	19 years	16 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office
Folio	96/661
Consent	Annie Jane Johnston, Mother
Date of Certificate	10 February 1896
Officiating Minister	J. M. Maulleson, Registrar of Marriages

11 February 1896

Herbert Amos Vestry
Frances Maria Pearce

Herbert Amos Vesty
Francis Maria Pearce
💍 1896/4462

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

30
31

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
20 years

Free Methodist Church, Richmond

96/702

11 February 1896

Rev. C. Penney, Methodist

No	52
Date of Notice	11 February 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Amos Vestry	Frances Maria Pearce
BDM Match (95%)	Herbert Amos Vesty	Francis Maria Pearce
	💍 1896/4462
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	30	31
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Free Methodist Church, Richmond
Folio	96/702
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Penney, Methodist

11 February 1896

Luke Haughey
Annie O'Maughness

Luke Haughey
Annie OShaughnessy
💍 1896/4024

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Domestic

28
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

21 years
8 years

St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church

96/723

11 February 1896

Rev. J. Meanuane, Roman Catholic

No	53
Date of Notice	11 February 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Luke Haughey	Annie O'Maughness
BDM Match (92%)	Luke Haughey	Annie OShaughnessy
	💍 1896/4024
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Domestic
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	21 years	8 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church
Folio	96/723
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Meanuane, Roman Catholic

11 February 1896

John Short
Catherine Campbell

John Short
Catherine Manning
💍 1896/4408

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Housekeeper

33
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

20 years
15 years

Registrars Office

96/662

11 February 1896

J. M. Maulleson, Registrar of Marriages

No	54
Date of Notice	11 February 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Short	Catherine Campbell
BDM Match (81%)	John Short	Catherine Manning
	💍 1896/4408
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Housekeeper
Age	33	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	20 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office
Folio	96/662
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1896
Officiating Minister	J. M. Maulleson, Registrar of Marriages

12 February 1896

Frank Kay Graham
Flora Agnes Graham

Frank Kay
Flora Agnes Graham
💍 1896/4442

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic

27
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
25 years

House of Rev. C. Buck, Montreal St.

96/705

12 February 1896

Rev. W. Buck, Baptist

No	55
Date of Notice	12 February 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Kay Graham	Flora Agnes Graham
BDM Match (78%)	Frank Kay	Flora Agnes Graham
	💍 1896/4442
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	25 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. C. Buck, Montreal St.
Folio	96/705
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Buck, Baptist

12 February 1896

David Philip Barry
Elizabeth Andrew

David Philip Barry
Elizabeth Andrew
💍 1896/4409

Bachelor
Spinster

Engraver

21
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
6 months

Registrars Office

96/663

12 February 1896

J. M. Maulleson, Registrar of Marriages

No	56
Date of Notice	12 February 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Philip Barry	Elizabeth Andrew
	💍 1896/4409
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engraver
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	6 months
Marriage Place	Registrars Office
Folio	96/663
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1896
Officiating Minister	J. M. Maulleson, Registrar of Marriages

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).