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 255

District of Wairau Quarter ending 31 March 1896 Registrar Alfred Carter

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

7 February 1896

Charles Henry Warneford
Eliza Malcom Greig

Charles Henry Warneford
Eliza Malcom Greig
💍 1896/4367

Bachelor
Spinster

Police Constable

25
19

Blenheim
Dillon Point Road, near Blenheim

18 months
Since birth

Residence of Margaret Greig (Mrs)

96/567

Margaret Greig, mother

7 February 1896

The Rev. William Officer Robb

No	8
Date of Notice	7 February 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Warneford	Eliza Malcom Greig
	💍 1896/4367
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Police Constable
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Dillon Point Road, near Blenheim
Length of Residence	18 months	Since birth
Marriage Place	Residence of Margaret Greig (Mrs)
Folio	96/567
Consent	Margaret Greig, mother
Date of Certificate	7 February 1896
Officiating Minister	The Rev. William Officer Robb

18 February 1896

George Landon Lane
Maria Minnie White

George Landon Lane
Maria Minnie White
💍 1896/4368

Bachelor
Spinster

Station Manager
None

34
21

Riverlands, near Blenheim
Kekerangu

6 years
6 years

Residence of William Jabez White, Kekeranga, Marlborough

96/568

18 February 1896

The Ven. Archdeacon Thomas Samuel Grace

No	9
Date of Notice	18 February 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Landon Lane	Maria Minnie White
	💍 1896/4368
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Station Manager	None
Age	34	21
Dwelling Place	Riverlands, near Blenheim	Kekerangu
Length of Residence	6 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Residence of William Jabez White, Kekeranga, Marlborough
Folio	96/568
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1896
Officiating Minister	The Ven. Archdeacon Thomas Samuel Grace

5 March 1896

Richard Thomas Robinson
Phoebe Ann Robinson

Richard Thomas Robinson
Phoebe Ann Robinson
💍 1896/4369

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

21
20

Spring Creek
Blind River

12 years
5 weeks

In the office of the Registrar of marriages, Blenheim

96/569

William James Robinson, father

5 March 1896

Alfred Carter, Registrar of marriages for Wairau District

No	10
Date of Notice	5 March 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Thomas Robinson	Phoebe Ann Robinson
	💍 1896/4369
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Spring Creek	Blind River
Length of Residence	12 years	5 weeks
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of marriages, Blenheim
Folio	96/569
Consent	William James Robinson, father
Date of Certificate	5 March 1896
Officiating Minister	Alfred Carter, Registrar of marriages for Wairau District

6 March 1896

Alfred Charles Green
Amy Augusta Nosworthy

Alfred Charles Green
Amy Augusta Nosworthy
💍 1896/3937

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer

28
28

Awatere
Blenheim

15 months
Since birth

In the Wesleyan Church, Blenheim

96/570

6 March 1896

The Rev. Thomas Jee

No	11
Date of Notice	6 March 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Charles Green	Amy Augusta Nosworthy
	💍 1896/3937
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer
Age	28	28
Dwelling Place	Awatere	Blenheim
Length of Residence	15 months	Since birth
Marriage Place	In the Wesleyan Church, Blenheim
Folio	96/570
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1896
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Thomas Jee

9 March 1896

Francis James Smith
Mary Ellen McBusker

Frances James Smith
Mary Elen McCusker
💍 1896/3948

Bachelor
Spinster

Tinsmith

26
20

Blenheim
Blenheim

26 years
19 years

St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim

96/571

Mary McBusker, mother

9 March 1896

The Rev. John McNamara

No	12
Date of Notice	9 March 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis James Smith	Mary Ellen McBusker
BDM Match (92%)	Frances James Smith	Mary Elen McCusker
	💍 1896/3948
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tinsmith
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	26 years	19 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim
Folio	96/571
Consent	Mary McBusker, mother
Date of Certificate	9 March 1896
Officiating Minister	The Rev. John McNamara

14 March 1896

William Davis
Susan Warren

William Davis
Susan Warren
💍 1896/3952

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

36
22

Blenheim
Blenheim

11 years
Since birth

At the residence of The Rev. W. O. Robb, Blenheim

96/572

14 March 1896

The Rev. William Officer Robb

No	13
Date of Notice	14 March 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Davis	Susan Warren
	💍 1896/3952
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	36	22
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	11 years	Since birth
Marriage Place	At the residence of The Rev. W. O. Robb, Blenheim
Folio	96/572
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 March 1896
Officiating Minister	The Rev. William Officer Robb

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 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).