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 244

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 March 1896

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
76	18 March 1896	Alpio Linley Mary Scott	Alfred Finlay Mary Scott 💍 1896/4364	Bachelor Spinster	Agent	24 19	Wellington Wellington	years	St. Andrew's Church	96/546	Simeon Scott, Father	18 March 1896	Rev. C. S. Ogg
77	18 March 1896	George Joseph Center Nellie Hansen		Bachelor Spinster	Warehouseman	21 18	Wellington Wellington	years	St. Peter's Church	See note attached	Father	18 March 1896
78	18 March 1896	James Gardner Ross Clara Bowater	James Gardner Ross Minnie Clara Bowater 💍 1896/1525	Bachelor Spinster	Tailor	22 20	Wellington Wellington	years	Wesley Church, House of Mr. Woollerton, Riddiford Street	96/2293		18 March 1896	Rev. Josiah Ward
79	18 March 1896	Arthur Hunt Smith Eliza Jane Welcome	Arthur Harold Smith Eliza Jane Witcombe 💍 1896/790	Bachelor Spinster	Storeman	23 19	Wellington Wellington	years	Wesley Church	96/1602	Father	18 March 1896	Rev. W. Bamber
80	18 March 1896	Joseph John Faulkner Florence Elizabeth Braddock	Joseph John Faulkner Florence Elizabeth Bradcock 💍 1896/4289	Bachelor Spinster	Shoemaker	23 22	Wellington Wellington	years	Registrar's Office	96/485		18 March 1896	W. E. Wyatt
81	20 March 1896	Charles Ernest Mahlers Lily Rod	Charles Ernest Wahlers Lily Rod 💍 1896/4352	Bachelor Spinster	Storeman	26 25	Wellington Johnsonville	years	Anglican Church, Johnsonville	96/531		20 March 1896	Ven. Archdeacon Fancourt
82	20 March 1896	William Elliot Lyon Mary Hutchinson	William Elliott Tyson Mary Hutchinson 💍 1896/4290 William Phillip Morgan Alice Hutchinson 💍 1896/3404	Widower Spinster	Mariner	47 21	Wellington Wellington	years	Registrar's Office	96/486		20 March 1896	W. E. Wyatt
83	23 March 1896	Charles Francis Speed Alice Mary Hale	Charles Barron Speed Alice Mary Hale 💍 1896/4291	Bachelor Spinster	Warehouseman	27 24	Wellington Wellington	years	Registrar's Office	96/487		23 March 1896	W. E. Wyatt
84	24 March 1896	Alexander Johnson Amelia Banfield Cowley	Alexander Johnson Amelia Barnfield Cowley 💍 1896/4292	Bachelor Widow	Dairyman	30 30	Wellington Wellington	years	Registrar's Office	96/488		24 March 1896	W. E. Wyatt
85	24 March 1896	Ernest James Hunter Hannah Wolstenholme	Ernest James Hunter Hannah Wolstenholme 💍 1896/4342	Bachelor Spinster	Cook	20 28	Wellington Wellington	1 day 14 days	St. Paul's Cathedral	96/540		24 March 1896	Rev. J. S. Hopcroft
86	24 March 1896	Alexander Osborne Elizabeth Susan Orr	Alexander Osborne Elizabeth Susan Orr 💍 1896/4371	Bachelor Spinster	Bookmaker	28 27	Wellington Featherston Terrace	years	House of Mrs. Orr, Featherston Terrace	96/549		24 March 1896	Rev. J. R. Glasson
87	24 March 1896	William Edward Wellen Dorothy Alice Watts	William Edward Wilson Dorothy Alice Watts 💍 1896/4293	Bachelor Spinster	Upholsterer	21 19	Wellington Wellington	years	Registrar's Office	96/489	Mother	24 March 1896	W. E. Wyatt
88	25 March 1896	John Hambrough Mary Collier	John Hamburgh Kimmins Mary Collier 💍 1896/4294	Bachelor Spinster	Electrician	31 25	Wellington Wellington	years	Registrar's Office	96/490		25 March 1896	W. E. Wyatt
89	25 March 1896	James Parsons Kate Donovan	James Parsons Kate Donovan 💍 1896/789	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	31 27	Wellington Wellington	years	St. Mary of the Angels	96/1601		25 March 1896	Rev. J. C. Ainsworth
90	26 March 1896	David Fletcher Janet Watt Ferguson	David Fletcher Janet Watt Ferguson 💍 1896/1386	Bachelor Spinster	Storeman	20 28	Wellington Wellington	years	House of Mrs. Humphry, Thorndon	96/2250		26 March 1896	Rev. C. S. Ogg

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 1894. More registers will be added as the project continues.

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).