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 217

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
259	4 August 1896	John Edward Gamble Mary Ellen Segrief	John Edward Gamble Mary Ellen Segrief 💍 1896/1995	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	25 23	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Mary of the Angels	96/2865		4 August 1896	Rev. J. Ainsworth
260	4 August 1896	Luxley Pickering Elizabeth Johan Gidall	Loxley Pickering Elizabeth Johanna Giddal 💍 1896/3573	Bachelor Spinster	Plumber	21 18	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. Gidall, Alpha Street	96/4633	Jacob Gidall, Father	4 August 1896	Rev. C. I. Cogg
261	4 August 1896	Walter Herries Ada Florence George	Walter Hayres Ada Florence George 💍 1896/2002	Bachelor Spinster	Steward	23 22	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	96/2848	Thomas George, Father	4 August 1896	W. Dwyall
262	6 August 1896	John Edwin Jackson Louisa M. Thomson		Bachelor Spinster	Marine	28 21	Wellington Wellington	4 days years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	96/2849		6 August 1896	W. Dwyall
263	7 August 1896	John Taucher Isabella Peck	John Tancher Isabella Peck 💍 1896/2307	Bachelor Spinster	Gardener	23 18	Lower Hutt Lower Hutt	years years	House of Samuel Peck, Lower Hutt	96/2899	Samuel Peck, Father	7 August 1896	Rev. Andrew Gray
264	10 August 1896	James Millen Sarah Ada Pearce	James Miller Ada Sarah Pearce 💍 1896/2306	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	26 23	Pahautanui Pahautanui	years years	House of Mrs. Pearce, Pahautanui	96/2898		10 August 1896	Rev. Andrew Gray
265	10 August 1896	Charles Busher Nixon Maria Jane Winchcomb	Charles Butler Nixon Maria Jane Whinham 💍 1896/2293	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	23 22	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mrs. Winchcomb, Aro Street	96/2909		10 August 1896	Rev. J. Guy
266	11 August 1896	John William Hay Mary Smith	John William May Mary Smith 💍 1896/2301	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	29 27	Wellington Wellington	4 days years	House of Mr. C. W. Smith, Hill Street	96/2916		11 August 1896	Rev. W. R. Glasson
267	12 August 1896	Charles Thomas Goss Clara Hobbs	Charles Thomas Goss Clara Hobbs 💍 1896/2041	Bachelor Spinster	Sheep Farmer	24 17	Belmont Petone	years 4 months	House of Mr. Glanning, Petone	96/2921	Christopher Hobbs, Father	12 August 1896	Rev. A. Thomson
268	12 August 1896	Frederick Sparrow Julien Frances Ross	Frederick Sparrow Julien Frances Ross 💍 1896/2004	Bachelor Spinster	Salesman	28 24	Wellington Wellington	7 months 1 year	Registrar's Office, Wellington	96/2850		12 August 1896	W. Dwyall
269	15 August 1896	Charles Patrick Lamb Sarah Engstrom	Charles Patrick Lamb Sarah Engstrom 💍 1896/2005	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	27 26	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	96/2851		15 August 1896	W. Dwyall
270	15 August 1896	Edward James Paterson Emily Isabel Elley	Edward James Paterson Emily Isabel Elley 💍 1896/2087	Bachelor Spinster	Commission Agent	33 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. Paterson, Cuba Street	96/2884		15 August 1896	Rev. Jas. Paterson
271	17 August 1896	James Christopher Cooper Margaret Corrigan	James Christopher Cooper Margaret Corrigan 💍 1896/2309	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	27 21	Wellington Wellington	3 days years	St. Mary's Cathedral	96/2901		17 August 1896	Rev. T. Dawson
272	17 August 1896	Robert Allenson Eleanor Kate Jameson	Robert Allender Eleanor Kate Jameson 💍 1896/2096	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	25 21	Johnsonville Wellington	2 weeks years	House of Mr. Ballantyne, Willis Street	96/2892		18 August 1896	Rev. J. K. Elliot
273	18 August 1896	Charles Arthur Knowles Alice Mary Cornish	Charles Arthur Knowles Alice Mary Cornish 💍 1896/2006	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	22 21	Wellington Wellington	3 days years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	96/2852		18 August 1896	W. Dwyall

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).