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 711

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 December 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
324	2 October 1896	William Philip Morgan Alice Hutchinson	William Phillip Morgan Alice Hutchinson 💍 1896/3404	Bachelor Spinster	Law Clerk	26 24	Wellington Wellington	3 months 3 days	St. Mark's Church	96/4418		2 October 1896	Rev. R. Coffey
325	5 October 1896	Martin Petersen Ellen Bright	Martin Petersen Ellen Bright 💍 1896/3460	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	30 25	Wellington Wellington	3 years 14 days	Registrar's Office, Wellington	96/4507		5 October 1896	Mr. D. Wyatt
326	6 October 1896	John Henry Fielding Mary Lydia Patterson	John Henry Feilding Whisker Mary Lydia Paterson 💍 1896/3414	Bachelor Spinster	Plasterer	21 21	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	House of Mr. Bankwood, Bond Street	96/4410		6 October 1896	Rev. J. K. Elliott
327	7 October 1896	Walter Perry Eliza Monk	Walter Perry Eliza Monk 💍 1896/3461	Widower Spinster	Storeman	35 25	Wellington Wellington	2 months 100 days	Registrar's Office, Wellington	96/4508		7 October 1896	Mr. D. Wyatt
328	7 October 1896	William Hedges Leah Ethel Monk	William Hedges Maud Ethel Moore 💍 1896/3462	Bachelor Spinster	Cook	22 21	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	96/4509		7 October 1896	Mr. D. Wyatt
329	8 October 1896	James Joseph Maher Regina Gordon	James Joseph Maher Regina Gordon 💍 1896/3317	Bachelor Spinster	Shop Assistant	36 26	Wellington Wellington	5 days 5 days	St. Mary of the Angels	96/4343		8 October 1896	Very Rev. F. Devoy
330	9 October 1896	John McPherson Florence Winter	John McPherson Florence Winter 💍 1896/3326	Bachelor Spinster	Gardener	30 26	Wadestown Wadestown	4 years 4 years	House of Mr. Lowe, Wadestown	96/4351		9 October 1896	Rev. J. G. Chapman
331	10 October 1896	John Wallace Annie May Woodham	John Wallace Annie May Woodward 💍 1896/3415	Bachelor Spinster	Driver	24 18	Wellington Wellington	4 years 9 months	House of Mr. Taylor, Martinborough	96/4411	Edwin Woodham, father	10 October 1896	Rev. J. K. Elliott
332	12 October 1896	Richard Peck Sarah Eleanor Brown	Richard Peck Sarah Eleanor Brown 💍 1896/3343	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	29 19	Lower Hutt Lower Hutt	4 years 4 years	St. James Church, Lower Hutt	96/4398	Eleanor Peck, mother	12 October 1896	Rev. Joshua Jones
333	12 October 1896	William Gilbert Pemble Catherine McGeine	William Gilbert Burke Catherine McGuire 💍 1896/3319 William Jason Hill Catherine McLeod 💍 1896/4197	Bachelor Spinster	Foreman	26 28	Wellington Wellington	1 year 8 months	St. Mary of the Angels	96/4345		12 October 1896	Very Rev. F. Devoy
334	12 October 1896	Richard Goss Annie Eaton	Richard Goss Annie Eaton 💍 1896/3439	Bachelor Widow	Bootmaker	40 41	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	96/4510		12 October 1896	Mr. D. Wyatt
335	13 October 1896	Arthur Rigby Bunny Mary Agnes Kelly	Arthur Rigby Bunny Mary Agnes Kelly 💍 1896/3406	Bachelor Spinster	Solicitor	50 29	Wellington Wellington	3 days 4 years	St. Peter's Cathedral	96/4420		13 October 1896	Rev. J. G. Dawson
336	13 October 1896	Frederick John Hopkin Rose Beauchamp	Frederick John Hopkin Rose Beaucanan 💍 1896/3367	Widower Spinster	Miller	40 32	Wellington Wellington	5 days 5 days	St. Peter's Church	96/4376		13 October 1896	Rev. W. E. Wales
337	13 October 1896	John Lachlan Menzies Annie Frances Menzies	John Lachlan McGillivay Watson Letitia Frances Menzies 💍 1896/3619	Bachelor Spinster	Solicitor	32 26	Wellington Wellington	5 days 5 days	St. John's Church, Willis Street	96/4922		13 October 1896	Rev. J. Paterson
338	15 October 1896	Patrick Kelly Eliza Brien	Patrick Kelly Eliza Brien 💍 1896/3620	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	35 26	Wellington Wellington	5 months 5 months	House of Mrs. Casey, College Street	96/4723		15 October 1896	Rev. J. Paterson

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).