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 020

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 March 1896

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

James Hatton
Kate Ursula Howard

James Hatton
Kate Ursula Rowan
💍 1896/3827

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Minister

22
21

Waihi
Devonport

1 year 8 months
1 year

St. Patrick's Cathedral

96/91

10 February 1896

Rev. J. Buckley, Roman Catholic

No	75
Date of Notice	10 February 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Hatton	Kate Ursula Howard
BDM Match (92%)	James Hatton	Kate Ursula Rowan
	💍 1896/3827
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Minister
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Waihi	Devonport
Length of Residence	1 year 8 months	1 year
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Cathedral
Folio	96/91
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Buckley, Roman Catholic

10 February 1896

Basil Stewart
Martha Foss

Basil Stewart
Martha Foss
💍 1896/3814

Bachelor
Spinster

Marine Engineer

24
23

Devonport
Auckland

2 years
23 years

St. Matthew's Church

96/127

10 February 1896

Rev. D. Fitzgerald, Church of England

No	76
Date of Notice	10 February 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Basil Stewart	Martha Foss
	💍 1896/3814
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Marine Engineer
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Devonport	Auckland
Length of Residence	2 years	23 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church
Folio	96/127
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Fitzgerald, Church of England

11 February 1896

David Garden Berry
Lavinia Mary Hobson

David Garden Berry
Lavinia Mary Hobson
💍 1896/4045

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder

33
26

Auckland
Auckland

32 years
26 years

House of Rev. B. J. Macnicol, Ponsonby

96/49

11 February 1896

Rev. B. J. Macnicol, Presbyterian

No	77
Date of Notice	11 February 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Garden Berry	Lavinia Mary Hobson
	💍 1896/4045
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder
Age	33	26
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	32 years	26 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. B. J. Macnicol, Ponsonby
Folio	96/49
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. J. Macnicol, Presbyterian

11 February 1896

Ernest Parurewa
Hana Te Rumpar

Erueti Parurewa
Hana Te Kurupae
💍 1896/3785

Bachelor
Spinster

Settler

28
21

Auckland
Auckland

4 years
4 years

Registrar's Office

96/21

11 February 1896

S. H. Lyons, Registrar

No	78
Date of Notice	11 February 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Parurewa	Hana Te Rumpar
BDM Match (77%)	Erueti Parurewa	Hana Te Kurupae
	💍 1896/3785
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Settler
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	96/21
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1896
Officiating Minister	S. H. Lyons, Registrar

11 February 1896

Eugene Geary
Mary Beatrice Merell

Eugene Gearey
Mary Beatrice Revell
💍 1896/4522

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

23
21

Hamilton
Hamilton

3 years
2 years

St. Benedict's Church

96/820

11 February 1896

Very Rev. D. O. Egan, Roman Catholic

No	79
Date of Notice	11 February 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Eugene Geary	Mary Beatrice Merell
BDM Match (91%)	Eugene Gearey	Mary Beatrice Revell
	💍 1896/4522
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Hamilton
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Benedict's Church
Folio	96/820
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1896
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. D. O. Egan, Roman Catholic

12 February 1896

Alfred Buckland Seccombe
Florence Buckland

Alfred Rutland Seccombe
Florence Mary Buckland
💍 1896/3813

Bachelor
Spinster

Brewer

27
22

Auckland
Auckland

27 years
22 years

Bishop's Court

96/126

12 February 1896

Rev. H. G. Cowie, Church of England

No	80
Date of Notice	12 February 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Buckland Seccombe	Florence Buckland
BDM Match (82%)	Alfred Rutland Seccombe	Florence Mary Buckland
	💍 1896/3813
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Brewer
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	27 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Bishop's Court
Folio	96/126
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. G. Cowie, Church of England

12 February 1896

Harry Wickman
Annie Augusta Harvey

Harry Wickman
Annie Augusta Harvey
💍 1896/3786

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

26
22

Auckland
Auckland

26 years
22 years

Registrar's Office

96/22

12 February 1896

S. H. Lyons, Registrar

No	81
Date of Notice	12 February 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Wickman	Annie Augusta Harvey
	💍 1896/3786
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	26 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	96/22
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1896
Officiating Minister	S. H. Lyons, Registrar

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).