Intentions to Marry, 1896 July-December

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840410, 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 579

District of Thames Quarter ending 31 December 1896 Registrar Edward Honiss

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

2 October 1896

Thomas Harry Smith
Louisa Greenslade

Thomas Harry Smith
Louisa Greenslade
💍 1896/2532

Bachelor
Spinster

Confectioner
Domestic duties

30
25

Thames
Thames

4 days
3 weeks

The Dwelling of Mr Greenslade, Bank St

96/3431

2 October 1896

Rev. John Mackenzie, Presbyterian

No	48
Date of Notice	2 October 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Harry Smith	Louisa Greenslade
	💍 1896/2532
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Confectioner	Domestic duties
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	4 days	3 weeks
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Mr Greenslade, Bank St
Folio	96/3431
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 October 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Mackenzie, Presbyterian

3 October 1896

James Markey
Maud Cobley

James Markey
Maud Cobley
💍 1896/2492

Bachelor
Spinster

Stoker
None

33
20

Thames
Thames

1 year
5 years

The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Thames

96/3408

Mother

3 October 1896

Edward Honiss, Registrar

No	49
Date of Notice	3 October 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Markey	Maud Cobley
	💍 1896/2492
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stoker	None
Age	33	20
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	1 year	5 years
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Thames
Folio	96/3408
Consent	Mother
Date of Certificate	3 October 1896
Officiating Minister	Edward Honiss, Registrar

5 October 1896

William Henry Thompson
Jane Fanny Smith

William Henry Thompson
Jane Fanny Smith
💍 1896/2479

William Henry Philps
Rosina Caroline Smith
💍 1896/4205

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Servant

23
21

Thames
Thames

4 days
4 days

St George's Church, Mackay St

96/3419

5 October 1896

Rev. J. O'Callaghan DD, Church of England

No	50
Date of Notice	5 October 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Thompson	Jane Fanny Smith
	💍 1896/2479
BDM Match (62%)	William Henry Philps	Rosina Caroline Smith
	💍 1896/4205
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Servant
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	St George's Church, Mackay St
Folio	96/3419
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 October 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. O'Callaghan DD, Church of England

6 October 1896

Alfred Thomas Moyle
Mary McInerney

Alfred Thomas Moyle
Mary McInerney
💍 1896/2493

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
None

24
26

Thames
Thames

3 months
6 months

The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Thames

96/3409

6 October 1896

Edward Honiss, Registrar

No	51
Date of Notice	6 October 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Thomas Moyle	Mary McInerney
	💍 1896/2493
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	24	26
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 months	6 months
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Thames
Folio	96/3409
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 October 1896
Officiating Minister	Edward Honiss, Registrar

12 October 1896

Henry Graney
Sarah Ann Landy

Henry Craney
Sarah Ann Landy
💍 1896/2480

Widower
Widow

Fisherman
Laundress

60
53

Thames
Thames

28 years
27 years

St George's Church, Mackay St

96/3420

12 October 1896

Rev. J. O'Callaghan DD, Church of England

No	52
Date of Notice	12 October 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Graney	Sarah Ann Landy
BDM Match (96%)	Henry Craney	Sarah Ann Landy
	💍 1896/2480
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Fisherman	Laundress
Age	60	53
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	28 years	27 years
Marriage Place	St George's Church, Mackay St
Folio	96/3420
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 October 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. O'Callaghan DD, Church of England

13 October 1896

John Henry Hubber
Mary Nicholson

John Henry Hubber
Mary Nicholson
💍 1896/2481

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
None

21
21

Thames
Thames

2 months
1 month

St George's Church, Mackay St

96/3421

13 October 1896

Rev. J. O'Callaghan DD, Church of England

No	53
Date of Notice	13 October 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Hubber	Mary Nicholson
	💍 1896/2481
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	2 months	1 month
Marriage Place	St George's Church, Mackay St
Folio	96/3421
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. O'Callaghan DD, Church of England

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 1908. 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).