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 715

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
383	21 October 1896	Thomas Thatcher Margaret Cameron	William Douglas Michie Margaret Cameron 💍 1896/2334	Widower Spinster	Grazier	48 29	Wellington Wellington	3 days 5 weeks	Registrars Office	96/4545		1 December 1896	Mr. T. Wyatt
384	16 November 1896	Harry James Spargo Minnie King	Harry James Spargo Minnie King 💍 1896/3446	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	21 21	Wellington Wellington	4 months 4 months	Registrars Office	96/4517		16 November 1896	Mr. T. Wyatt
385	16 November 1896	Edward Samuel Darrick Catherine McKenty	Edward Samuel Dawick Catherine McKenty 💍 1896/3323	Bachelor Spinster	Bonded Store Keeper	28 25	Wellington Wellington	3 days 2 years	St. Henry of the Angels	96/4348		16 November 1896	Rev. J. Ainsworth
386	17 November 1896	Charles Frederick Collen Elizabeth Ann Haddon	Charles Frederick Collier Elizabeth Ada Maddock 💍 1896/3355	Bachelor Spinster	Wool Sorter	30 27	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	Wesley Parsonage	96/4386		17 November 1896	Rev. W. Bamber
387	17 November 1896	Victor Edgar Argyle Helen White	Victor Edgar Argyle Churchouse Helen Waite 💍 1896/4556	Bachelor Spinster	Printer	25 22	Wellington Wellington	4 years 6 months	St. Pauls Cathedral	96/4434		17 November 1896	Rev. T. H. Sprott
388	18 November 1896	Albert Archer Margaret Williamson	Albert Archer Margaret Williamson 💍 1896/3447	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	24 21	Wellington Wellington	4 years 1 year	Registrars Office	96/4518		18 November 1896	Mr. T. Wyatt
389	20 November 1896	Charles Querrie Lucy Breed	Charles Queree Lucy Creed 💍 1896/3356	Bachelor Spinster	Groom	27 22	Wellington Kilbirnie	1 month 6 weeks	House of Mrs. Willis	96/4387		20 November 1896	Rev. W. Bamber
390	20 November 1896	Walter Richard Howard Florence Emma Longmead	William Richard Howard Florence Emma Lovegrove 💍 1896/3407	Bachelor Spinster	Telegraphist	31 24	Wellington Hill Street	1 year 1 year	St. Marys Cathedral	96/4421		20 November 1896	Rev. J. G. Dawson
391	20 November 1896	John William Kennedy Mary Jane Thompson	John William Kennedy Mary Jane Thompson 💍 1896/3408 William Bennett Catherine Jane Thompson 💍 1896/2993 William Gemmell Mary Eleanor Thompson 💍 1896/1082	Bachelor Widow	Journalist	46 41	Wellington Hill Street	4 years 1 month	St. Marys Cathedral	96/4422		20 November 1896	Rev. J. G. Dawson
392	20 November 1896	Charles John Frost Matilda Stockbridge	Charles Jabez Frost Matilda Stockbridge 💍 1896/3359	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	29 24	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	Baptist Church	96/4354		20 November 1896	Rev. C. Dakin
393	20 November 1896	William John Norris Jessie Eliza Cornwall	William John Norris Jessie Eliza Cornwall 💍 1896/3452	Bachelor Widow	Labourer	30 21	Petone Kenwarra	4 months 4 years	Registrars Office	96/4522		20 November 1896	Mr. T. Wyatt
394	20 November 1896	Frank Joseph Bishop Lilian Elizabeth Hicks	Frank Joseph Bishop Lilian Elizabeth Hicks 💍 1896/174	Bachelor Spinster	Detective	27 20	Wellington Wellington	1 week 4 years	House of Arthur Hicks	96/4364	Arthur Hicks, father	20 November 1896	Rev. W. B. Rastrick
395	21 November 1896	George Dome Maria Smith	George Dorne Maria Smith 💍 1896/3448	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	23 20	Kilbirnie Wellington	4 years 4 years	Registrars Office	96/4519		21 November 1896	Mr. T. Wyatt
396	23 November 1896	William Gifford Elizabeth Jane Franklin	William Gifford Elizabeth Irene Franklin 💍 1896/3621	Bachelor Spinster	Coal Miner	31 24	Wellington Willis Street	3 days 1 week	St. Johns Manse	96/4724		23 November 1896	Rev. J. Paterson
397	23 November 1896	Evan Beagley Sarah McMillan	Esau Beagley Sarah McMillan 💍 1896/3451 Benjamin Bagley Mabel McMillan 💍 1896/255	Bachelor Spinster	Contractor	21 22	Wellington Wellington	1 week 4 years	Registrars Office	96/4521		23 November 1896	Mr. T. Wyatt
398	24 November 1896	Thomas Darcy O'Sullivan Nellie Eliza Poole	Thomas Darcy O'Toole Lillie Eliza Poole 💍 1896/3450	Bachelor Widow	Mining Agent	33 35	Wellington Wellington	5 days 3 days	Registrars Office	96/4520		24 November 1896	Mr. T. Wyatt

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).