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 215

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
229	11 July 1896	John Kennedy Martin Rose Foran	John Kennedy Martin Rose Foran 💍 1896/2295	Bachelor Spinster	Draper	40 36	Wellington Wellington	40 years 36 years	St. James Manse, Newtown	96/2911		11 July 1896	Rev. W. Sherer
230	11 July 1896	William John Mooney Amelia Brimmell	William John Mooney Amelia Brimmell 💍 1896/1991	Bachelor Spinster	Messenger	40 32	Wellington Wellington	40 years 32 years	St. Mary of the Angels	96/2861		11 July 1896	Very Rev. T. Carry
231	11 July 1896	Donald McCormack Galla Helen Fraser	Donald McCormick Fuller Helen Fraser 💍 1896/2085	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	27 27	Wellington Wellington	27 years 27 years	St. John's Manse, Woolcombe Street	96/2882		11 July 1896	Rev. J. Paterson
232	13 July 1896	James Robinson Morris Lena Jane Braid	James Robinson Morris Flroa Jane Braid 💍 1896/2296	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	22 21	Wellington Wellington	22 years 21 years	House of Mrs. Man Revenue	96/2912		13 July 1896	Rev. W. Sherer
233	13 July 1896	Frank Cleland Maria Rosanna Dean	Frank Clennell Maria Rosanna Dean 💍 1896/3572	Bachelor Spinster	Engineer	28 29	Wellington Wellington	28 years 29 years	House of Rev. Green, Captain Terrace	96/4632		13 July 1896	Rev. C. J. Ogg
234	13 July 1896	Henry Short Alice Davis	Henry Short Alice Davies 💍 1896/2292	Bachelor Spinster	Painter	23 18	Wellington Wellington	23 years 18 years	Mr. Fullford's House, Brooklyn	96/2908	Richard Davis, Father	13 July 1896	Rev. C. Dallaston
235	14 July 1896	Richard Neil Carpenter Winifred Shaw	Richard Neil Carpenter Winifred Shaw 💍 1896/2053	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	29 24	Wellington Wellington	3 days 1 year	St. Thomas Church, Newton	96/2929		14 July 1896	Rev. H. L. Monckton
236	14 July 1896	John McCarthy Rebecca Pyke	John McCarthy Rebecca Syke 💍 1896/1992	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	28 26	Wellington Wellington	28 years 26 years	Alexandra Home, Hemsen Street	96/2862		14 July 1896	Rev. J. E. Ainsworth
237	14 July 1896	John Augustus Such Jane Christina Nelson	John Agustace Neech Jane Christina Nilsson 💍 1896/2071	Bachelor Spinster	Storeman	21 18	Wellington Wellington	21 years 18 years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	96/2841	Christina Charlotte Nelson, Mother	14 July 1896	W. E. Wyay
238	15 July 1896	William Alfred Blanchfield Mary Mary Harringay	William Alfred Blanchfield May Mary Harrington 💍 1896/1993	Bachelor Spinster	Machinist	33 35	Wellington Wellington	33 years 35 years	St. Joseph's Church, Buckle Street	96/2863		15 July 1896	Rev. J. E. Ainsworth
239	15 July 1896	William Wilson Maria O'Leary	William Wilson Maria O'Leary 💍 1896/52	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	23 24	Wellington Wellington	23 years 24 years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	96/2842		15 July 1896	W. E. Wyay
240	17 July 1896	Frank Greenhalgh Emily Maude Jeffcott	Frank Greenhelgh Emily Maud Jeffcott 💍 1896/2050	Bachelor Spinster	Fisherman	27 29	Wellington Wellington	27 years 6 months	House of Mrs. Cullman, Dock Street	96/2925		17 July 1896	Rev. Josiah Ward
241	17 July 1896	James Granger Stewart Isabella Mary Sedgwick	James Granger Stewart Isabella May Sedgwick 💍 1896/2094	Bachelor Spinster	Storeman	29 23	Wellington Wellington	2 days 2 days	Presbyterian Church, Kent Terrace	96/2890		17 July 1896	Rev. J. K. Elliott
242	20 July 1896	William Harris Emily Taylor	William Harris Emily Taylor 💍 1896/53	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	29 17	Pahautanui Judgeford	29 years 17 years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	96/2843	Francis Taylor, Father	20 July 1896	W. E. Wyay
243	20 July 1896	Charles Symonds Alice Mann	Charles Symonds Alice Mann 💍 1896/2031	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	22 24	Wellington Wellington	1 week 3 days	St. Mark's Church	96/2930		20 July 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).