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 048

District of Gisborne Quarter ending 31 March 1896 Registrar William McLeod Gordon

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

872

2 January 1896

George Maxwell
Johanna McKenzie

George Maxwell
Johanna McKenzie
💍 1896/3869

Bachelor
Spinster

Dairyman
None

35 years
23 years

Makaraka
Karaka

12 years
13 years

At the residence of John McKenzie, Karaka

96/152

2 January 1896

Rev. Robert Orr, Presbyterian Minister

No	872
Date of Notice	2 January 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Maxwell	Johanna McKenzie
	💍 1896/3869
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dairyman	None
Age	35 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Makaraka	Karaka
Length of Residence	12 years	13 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of John McKenzie, Karaka
Folio	96/152
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 January 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert Orr, Presbyterian Minister

873

21 January 1896

Daniel Curtin
Anne O'Grady

Daniel Curtin
Annie OGrady
💍 1896/3889

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic Servant

47 years
32 years

Waihohika
Whalaupoko

10 years
12 years

Roman Catholic Chapel, Gisborne

96/150

21 January 1896

Rev. J. L. Ahern, Roman Catholic Minister

No	873
Date of Notice	21 January 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel Curtin	Anne O'Grady
BDM Match (92%)	Daniel Curtin	Annie OGrady
	💍 1896/3889
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Servant
Age	47 years	32 years
Dwelling Place	Waihohika	Whalaupoko
Length of Residence	10 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Chapel, Gisborne
Folio	96/150
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 January 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. L. Ahern, Roman Catholic Minister

874

31 January 1896

Samuel Percy Howard
Elizabeth Agnes Ivil

Samuel Percy Howard
Elizabeth Agnes Ivil
💍 1896/4198

Bachelor
Spinster

Drapers assistant
None

39 years
28 years

Gisborne
Gisborne

2 years
7 months

Holy Trinity Church, Gisborne

96/359

31 January 1896

Rev. A. L. Webb, Church of England Minister

No	874
Date of Notice	31 January 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Percy Howard	Elizabeth Agnes Ivil
	💍 1896/4198
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Drapers assistant	None
Age	39 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	2 years	7 months
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Gisborne
Folio	96/359
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 January 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. L. Webb, Church of England Minister

875

3 February 1896

Frederick George Allen
Mabel Rose Barry

Frederick George Allen
Mabel Rose Barry
💍 1896/4659

Bachelor
Spinster

Waiter
None

25 years
17 years

Gisborne
Whalaupoko

3 years
7 years

At the residence of Thomas Barry, situate at Whalaupoko

96/151

Thomas Barry, father of said Mabel Rose Barry

3 February 1896

Rev. A. L. Ahern, Roman Catholic Minister

No	875
Date of Notice	3 February 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick George Allen	Mabel Rose Barry
	💍 1896/4659
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Waiter	None
Age	25 years	17 years
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Whalaupoko
Length of Residence	3 years	7 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of Thomas Barry, situate at Whalaupoko
Folio	96/151
Consent	Thomas Barry, father of said Mabel Rose Barry
Date of Certificate	3 February 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. L. Ahern, Roman Catholic Minister

876

3 February 1896

John Michael Owens
Fanny Markie

John Michael Owen
Fanny Markie
💍 1896/3883

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
None

25 years
20 years

Gisborne
Gisborne

7 years
11 years

At the office of Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

96/144

George Markie, father of said Fanny Markie

3 February 1896

W. A. Gordon, Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

No	876
Date of Notice	3 February 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Michael Owens	Fanny Markie
BDM Match (97%)	John Michael Owen	Fanny Markie
	💍 1896/3883
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	None
Age	25 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	7 years	11 years
Marriage Place	At the office of Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne
Folio	96/144
Consent	George Markie, father of said Fanny Markie
Date of Certificate	3 February 1896
Officiating Minister	W. A. Gordon, Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

877

3 February 1896

Selwyn Spiers
Mary Ann Ingham

Selwyn Spiers
Mary Ann Ingham
💍 1896/4207

Bachelor
Spinster

Langsman
Domestic Servant

26 years
27 years

Gisborne
Gisborne

5 years
2 years

At Holy Trinity Church, Gisborne

96/360

3 February 1896

Rev. A. L. Webb, Church of England Minister

No	877
Date of Notice	3 February 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Selwyn Spiers	Mary Ann Ingham
	💍 1896/4207
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Langsman	Domestic Servant
Age	26 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	5 years	2 years
Marriage Place	At Holy Trinity Church, Gisborne
Folio	96/360
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. L. Webb, Church of England Minister

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).