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 221

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30 September 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
289	4 September 1896	Robert Sim Teresa Emmis	Robert Sims Teresa Ennis 💍 1896/2288	Bachelor Widow	Labour	45 49	Johnsonville Johnsonville	4 years 7 weeks	Roman Catholic Church	96/2904		4 September 1896	Rev. John Lane
290	5 September 1896	John William Kennedy Edith Ann Russell	John William Bennett Edith Ann Dexter Russell 💍 1896/2007	Bachelor Spinster	Labour	37 31	Wellington Wellington	14 days	Registrar's Office	96/2853		5 September 1896	Mr. Ewyay
291	5 September 1896	Ralph Winterflood Thompson Lillian Eveline Austin	Ralph Wenterflood Simpson Lillian Eveline Austin 💍 1896/2008	Bachelor Spinster	Steward	24 21	Wellington Wellington	4 days 8 weeks	Registrar's Office	96/2854		5 September 1896	Mr. Ewyay
292	8 September 1896	Francis John Carey Annie Walsh	Francis John Cary Galloway Annie Walsh 💍 1896/2090	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	24 27	Wellington Wellington	4 years	House of Mr. Thompson	96/2887		8 September 1896	Rev. J. Paterson
293	11 September 1896	Charles Otho Lambourne Frances Irene Kemperma	Charles Otho Montrose Frances Irene Kemperman 💍 1896/2294	Widower Widow	Journalist	53 38	Wellington Wellington	8 months 4 years	House of the Rev. Mr. Evans, Ellen Street	96/2910		11 September 1896	Rev. W. A. Evans
294	12 September 1896	Thomas Brien Ada Elizabeth Docherty	Thomas Brien Ada Elizabeth Dodsworth 💍 1896/2093	Bachelor Spinster	Worker	26 21	Wellington Wellington	4 years	St. Peter's Church	96/2892		12 September 1896	Rev. W. C. Waters
295	12 September 1896	Alfred Ernest Kernot Ada Gladys Rae	Alfred Ernest Kernot Ada Gladys Rae 💍 1896/2099	Bachelor Spinster	Merchant	31 20	Wellington Wellington	4 years	St. Peter's Church	96/2873	Henry Rae, father	12 September 1896	Rev. W. C. Waters
296	14 September 1896	James Sutherland Mary O'Sullivan	James Sutherland Mary OSullivan 💍 1896/2310	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd	34 34	Wellington Wellington	2 days 4 years	St. Mary's Cathedral	96/2902		14 September 1896	Rev. J. Dawson
297	14 September 1896	James Foster Edith Marion Wilson	James Foster Edith Marion Wilson 💍 1896/2097 James Whyte Elizabeth Simson Wilson 💍 1897/4402	Bachelor Spinster	Umbrella Maker	22 23	Wellington Wellington	4 months 3 days	House of Mr. Foster, Essex Street	96/2893		14 September 1896	Rev. J. K. Elliott
298	16 September 1896	Edward Pycroft Maud Elizabeth Lodge	Edward Pycroft Maude Elizabeth Lodge 💍 1896/1986	Bachelor Spinster	Labour	21 19	Wellington Wellington	4 years	Registrar's Office	96/2855	No relation in Colony	16 September 1896	Mr. Ewyay
299	16 September 1896	Ernest William Simmons Eleanor Valentine Phillips	Ernest William Simmons Eleanor Valentine Phillips 💍 1896/3352	Bachelor Spinster	Steward	22 20	Wellington Wellington	4 years	House of Mr. Phillips, Cuba Street	96/4383	Mr. Phillips, father	16 September 1896	Rev. W. Baumber
300	16 September 1896	Frank Morgan Minnie Colman	Frank Morgan Mamie Clune 💍 1896/1987	Bachelor Spinster	Steward	24 21	Wellington Wellington	4 years	Registrar's Office	96/2856		16 September 1896	Mr. Ewyay
301	16 September 1896	Joseph Benci Annie Nann	Joseph Ceuci Annie Nairn 💍 1896/2300 Joseph Baines Annie Bader 💍 1896/2584 Joseph Lewis Annie Donald 💍 1896/2144	Widower Spinster	Clerk	46 25	Wellington Wellington	4 years	House of Mr. Smith, Buckle Street	96/2915		16 September 1896	Mr. A. F. Turner
302	19 September 1896	William Steward Janet Hislop	William Stewart Janet Hislop 💍 1896/2098	Bachelor Spinster	Engineer	52 43	Wellington Wellington	4 years 2 weeks	Presbyterian Parsonage, Tasman Street	96/2894		19 September 1896	Rev. J. K. Elliott
303	17 September 1896	Thomas Turner Mary Theresa Hayes	Thomas Turner Mary Teresa Hayes 💍 1896/2289	Bachelor Spinster	Settler	29 25	Wellington Wellington	4 years	Roman Catholic Church, Lower Hutt	96/2905		17 September 1896	Rev. John Lane

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).