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 719

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
444	18 December 1896	Alfred Hormell Emily Wilcombe	Alfred Hounsell Emily Witcombe 💍 1896/3341	Bachelor Spinster	Smith	30 23	Wellington Wellington	5 months	Wesley Church	96/4394		18 December 1896	Rev. W. Baumber
445	18 December 1896	James Waller Donaldson Caroline Julia Ann Jackson	James Walker Donaldson Caroline Julia Annie Jackson 💍 1896/3492	Bachelor Spinster	Salesman	26 24	Wellington Wellington	years	Registrar Office Wellington	96/4539		18 December 1896	Mr. W. Wyatt
446	19 December 1896	Francis Shaw Isabella Campbell	Francis Shaw Isabella Campbell 💍 1896/3346	Bachelor Spinster	Accountant	24 29	Wellington Wellington	years	House of Mr. J. Campbell, Adelaide Road	96/4401		19 December 1896	Rev. J. K. Elliott
447	21 December 1896	Edward Lloyd Jane Evans	Edward Lloyd Jane Evans 💍 1896/3340	Widower Spinster	Lime Burner	50 38	Wellington Wellington	14 days 4 months	House of Mr. Raine, Courtney Place	96/4393		21 December 1896	Rev. W. Baumber
448	21 December 1896	James Dansman Elizabeth Nathan	James Dunsmuir Elizabeth Methven 💍 1896/3345 James Hyndman Elizabeth Rowe 💍 1896/4676 James Sloan Parsons Elizabeth Wilton 💍 1896/1952	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith	20 24	Wellington Wellington	years 1 week	House of Mr. McGregor, Owen Street	96/4400		21 December 1896	Rev. J. K. Elliott
449	22 December 1896	Samuel Potter Ada Caroline Cooper	Samuel Potter Alice Caroline Cooper 💍 1896/3374	Divorced Spinster	Telegrapher	32 27	Wellington Wellington	years	House of Mr. Aston, Cuba Street	96/4358		22 December 1896	Rev. J. H. Gray
450	22 December 1896	William Banks Annie Jane Courts	William Banks Augusta Otillie Monica Wagner 💍 1897/3860	Bachelor Widow	Clerk	27 29	Wellington Wellington	years	St. Paul's Cathedral	96/4436		22 December 1896	Rev. J. H. Sprott
451	23 December 1896	David Edlin Fenella Eliza Spooner	David Edlin Floretta Eliza Spooner 💍 1896/3493	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	26 26	Wellington Wellington	4 days	Registrar Office Wellington	96/4540		23 December 1896	Mr. W. Wyatt
452	23 December 1896	Benjamin Marcus Wilson Anna Katherine Parsons	Benjamin Marcus Wilson Anna Katherine Parsons 💍 1897/3933	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	26 22	Wellington Wellington	years	St. Paul's Cathedral	97/573		23 December 1896	Rev. J. H. Sprott
453	24 December 1896	George Dember Nichols Louisa Hendrick	George Dunbar Nicholson Louisa Hendricks 💍 1896/3348	Bachelor Spinster	Bootmaker	27 24	Wellington Wellington	years 1 week	Presbyterian Church, Kent Terrace	96/4402		24 December 1896	Rev. J. K. Elliott
454	24 December 1896	Robert James Pope Ernestina Victoria Pullen	Robert James Pope Ernestina Victoria Pullar 💍 1896/3645	Bachelor Spinster	Schoolmaster	31 28	Wellington Wellington	3 days years	St. John's Church	96/4430		24 December 1896	Rev. J. Paterson
455	24 December 1896	Augustin George Pains Morgan Anna Gebbs	Augustin George Pius Morgan Annie Gibbs 💍 1896/4890	Bachelor Spinster	Dairyman	26 21	Wellington Wellington	3 days years	House of Mr. Gebbs, Johnson Street	96/4366		24 December 1896	Rev. H. B. Redstone
456	24 December 1896	Johann Larsen Ann Krestine Skjoth	Johann Larsen Annie Christina Skjoth 💍 1896/3494	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	26 17	Tawa Flat Wellington	years	Registrar Office Wellington	96/4541	Peter Hansen, father of bride	24 December 1896	Mr. W. Wyatt
457	24 December 1896	Robert Coleman Annie Hake	Robert Coleman Annie Luke 💍 1896/3413	Bachelor Spinster	Postman	26 26	Wellington Wellington	years	House of Mr. Hake, Aro Street	96/4409		24 December 1896	Rev. James Guy
458	29 December 1896	Frederick Ralph Eames Elizabeth Page	Frederick Rattu Eames Elizabeth Page 💍 1896/3366	Bachelor Spinster	Dentist	36 29	Wellington Wellington	4 days years	St. Mark's Church	96/4375		29 December 1896	Rev. R. Coffey

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).