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 242

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
46	17 February 1896	Ebart Robert Saunders Mary Alpena Dawson	Ebart Robert Saunders Mary Alexena Davidson 💍 1896/4346	Bachelor Spinster	Sheep Farmer	29 22	Wellington Wellington	7 Days 7 years	House of Mr. Dawson, Hawkesbury	96/524		17 February 1896	Rev. J. Paterson
47	18 February 1896	William Fromes Christie Clara Louisa Greene	William Froomes Christie Clara Louisa Crease 💍 1896/4325	Bachelor Spinster	Ironmonger	31 31	Wellington Wellington	7 years 7 years	St. Peters Church	96/520		18 February 1896	Rev. W. C. Waters
48	18 February 1896	James Smith Nellie Fair	Samuel Smith Nellie Fair 💍 1896/4279	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	24 24	Wellington Wellington	7 years 7 years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	96/473		18 February 1896	W. D. Wyatt
49	18 February 1896	James Thomas Gee Sarah Clifford	James Thomas Yeo Sarah Clifford 💍 1896/4320	Bachelor Spinster	Ironmonger	25 21	Wellington Wellington	14 months 14 months	House of Mr. Turmaclidis	96/516		18 February 1896	Rev. N. Baumgartner
50	18 February 1896	William James Williamson Mary Catherine Flan	William James Williamson Mary Catherine Flan 💍 1896/4321	Bachelor Spinster	Tram Driver	22 21	Wellington Wellington	7 years 7 years	House of Mr. Flan, Roslyn	96/517		18 February 1896	Rev. B. J. Hallowes
52	24 February 1896	William Charles Nott Helen Hunter	William Charles Noot Helen Hunter 💍 1896/4288	Bachelor Spinster	Painter	23 23	Wellington Wellington	7 years 7 years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	96/475		24 February 1896	W. D. Wyatt
53	26 February 1896	George Frederick Colin Campbell Annabel Caroline Pike	George Frederick Colin Campbell Annabel Caroline Pike 💍 1896/4323	Bachelor Spinster	Civil Servant	37 33	Wellington Wellington	7 years 7 years	St. Paul's Cathedral, Thorndon	96/519		26 February 1896	Right Rev. Bishop Julius
54	27 February 1896	Thomas Harry Evans Ada Verlie Elizabeth Scrivella	Thomas Harry Cramp Ada Vertis Elizabeth Trewella 💍 1896/4333	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	26 27	Wellington Wellington	7 years 3 Weeks	St. Peters Church	96/521		27 February 1896	Rev. W. C. Waters
55	27 February 1896	Julius Henry Angerstein Caroline Elizabeth Dairs	Julius Henry Augerstein Caroline Elizabeth Davies 💍 1896/4299	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd	25 29	Wellington Wellington	1 year 1 year	Registrar's Office, Wellington	96/476		27 February 1896	W. D. Wyatt
56	27 February 1896	Peter Jensen Rosina Emily Severn	Peter Jensen Rosina Emily Severn 💍 1896/4339	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	36 26	Wellington Wellington	7 years 7 years	Wesleyan Church, Newtown	96/536		27 February 1896	Rev. Joseph Ward
57	22 February 1896	William George Becker Annie de Emany	William George Becker Annie McEneany 💍 1896/4280	Bachelor Spinster	Fitter	25 24	Wellington Wellington	7 years 7 years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	96/474		22 February 1896	W. D. Wyatt
57	27 February 1896	Benjamin Whittington Elizabeth Irons	Benjamin Whittington Elizabeth Moore 💍 1896/4673	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	25 22	Wellington Wellington	7 years 7 years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	96/477		27 February 1896	W. D. Wyatt
58	28 February 1896	James Woolford Lilian Tilbery	James Woolford Lillian Silbery 💍 1896/4	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	27 21	Petone Petone	6 months 7 years	House of Mr. Tilbery, Petone	96/533		28 February 1896	Rev. A. Thomson
59	29 February 1896	Henry Joseph Hannibal Alice Rouse	Henry Joseph Hannibal Alice Rouse 💍 1896/4344	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	32 31	Wellington Wellington	7 years 7 years	Presbyterian Church, Kent Terrace	96/522		29 February 1896	Rev. J. K. Elliott
60	29 February 1896	George Henry Mears Charlotte Louisa Webb	George Henry Mears Charlotte Louisa Webb 💍 1896/4306	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	21 17	Wellington Lower Hutt	7 years 7 years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	96/478	George Webb, Father	29 February 1896	W. D. Wyatt

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 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).