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 712

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
339	15 October 1896	Robert Cole Mary Ann Holmes	Robert Cole Mary Anne Holmes 💍 1896/3353	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	27 23	Wellington Kaiwarra	10 months years	Wesley Church, Taranaki Street	96/4384		15 October 1896	Rev. W. Bamber
340	15 October 1896	Francis Worth Annie Meek	Francis Worth Annie Meek 💍 1896/3318	Bachelor Spinster	Telegraphist	23 22	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Mary of the Angels	96/4344		15 October 1896	Very Rev. F. D. Way
341	16 October 1896	Charles Edward Fisher Millie Elsie Lewis	Charles Edward Fisher Milly Elsie Lines 💍 1896/178	Bachelor Spinster	Engineer	26 25	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Andrew's, Parsonage, Terrace	96/4636		16 October 1896	Rev. C. S. Byg
342	16 October 1896	John Henry Johns Ada Beatrice Ellison	John Henry Johns Ada Beatrice Ellison 💍 1896/4796	Bachelor Spinster	Carter	27 24	Wellington Wellington	years years	Choral Hall, Courtenay Place	96/4361		16 October 1896	Rev. H. B. Rashbrook
343	17 October 1896	Frederick Charles Sowry Florence Mary Bernett	Frederick Charles Sowerby Florence May Bennett 💍 1896/3416	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	22 20	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mrs. Bernett, Douglas Street, Wallace Street	96/4412	William Henry Bernett, father	17 October 1896	Rev. J. K. Elliott
344	17 October 1896	James Thomas Grey Kate Sargent	James Thomas Gray Kate Sargeant 💍 1896/140	Bachelor Spinster	Hotel Keeper	30 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Paul's Church, Thorndon	96/4429		17 October 1896	Rev. J. H. Sprott
345	17 October 1896	William Ambrose Davies Ethel Maud Robinson	William Menlove Dawes Ethel Mayne Robinson 💍 1896/3440	Bachelor Spinster	Draper	29 26	Wellington Wellington	years 1 month	Registrar's Office, Wellington	96/4511		17 October 1896	W. T. Wray
346	19 October 1896	Harry Frederick Carryer Margaret Ellen Wilson	Henry Tredenham Fitzherbert Carlyon Margaret Ella Wilson 💍 1896/3368	Bachelor Spinster	Sheep Farmer	23 22	Wellington Wellington	3 days 3 days	St. Peter's Church	96/4377		19 October 1896	Rev. W. G. Waters
347	19 October 1896	Henry George Harris Eva Gardner	Henry George Harris Eva Gardner 💍 1896/3361	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	28 19	Pahautanui Wellington	years years	Home of Rev. J. Paterson, Wellington Terrace	96/4370		2 November 1896	Rev. J. Paterson
348	19 October 1896	James McLaughlan Jessie Innes	James McLaughlin Jessie Melville 💍 1896/3417	Bachelor Spinster	Sailor	24 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	Home of Mrs. McLaughlan, Kent Terrace	96/4413		19 October 1896	Rev. J. K. Elliott
349	19 October 1896	Michael Small Bridget Ford	Michael Small Bridget Ford 💍 1896/3402	Widower Widow	Plate Layer	32 35	Petone Petone	years years	Roman Catholic Church, Lower Hutt	96/4416		19 October 1896	Rev. John Lane
350	20 October 1896	Robert Withington Charlotte White	Robert Withington Turner Charlotte White 💍 1896/3344 Robert Henry Hooper Charlotte White 💍 1896/3859	Bachelor Spinster	Pattern Maker	24 23	Petone Petone	years years	St. James Church, Lower Hutt	96/4399		20 October 1896	Rev. Joshua Jones
351	20 October 1896	Edwin Read Stella Annie Meaked	Edwin Read Stella Annie Mabel Conway 💍 1896/3529	Bachelor Spinster	Groom	24 23	Wellington Wellington	years years	Wesley Church, Taranaki Street	96/4579		20 October 1896	Rev. W. Bamber
352	22 October 1896	Archibald Campbell Annie Mason	Archibald Campbell Annie Mason 💍 1896/3405	Bachelor Spinster	Engine Driver	28 28	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Mark's Church	96/4419		22 October 1896	Rev. R. Coffey
353	24 October 1896	Johan Jacob Koster Annie Reid Scott	Johan Jacob Foster Annie Reid Scott 💍 1896/3577	Bachelor Spinster	Police Constable	40 28	Wellington Wellington	3 days 3 months	House of Mr. Scott, Nelson Street	96/4637		24 October 1896	Rev. J. K. Elliott
354	20 October 1896	James Arthur Frost Mary Davis Tregurtha	James Arthur Frost Mary David Tregerthen 💍 1896/3434	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	26 32	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Paul's, Cathedral	96/4486		20 October 1896	Very Rev. Bishop of Wellington

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).