Intentions to Marry, 1905 Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840428, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1905 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay (1905a), Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1905b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1905c).

Page 300

District of Wanganui Quarter ending 31 December 1905 Registrar Chas. E. Hylton

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

129

13 October 1905

Alfred Frederick William Vincent
Margaret Melville Anderson

Alfred Frederick William Pinsent
Margaret Melville Anderson
💍 1905/3442

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Surfaceman
Domestic Servant

25
34

Wanganui
Wanganui

3 days
34 years

The residence of Mrs. G. H. Anderson, Wicksteed St., Wanganui

05/5894

13 October 1905

R. M. Ryburn, Presbyterian

No	129
Date of Notice	13 October 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Frederick William Vincent	Margaret Melville Anderson
BDM Match (97%)	Alfred Frederick William Pinsent	Margaret Melville Anderson
	💍 1905/3442
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Surfaceman	Domestic Servant
Age	25	34
Dwelling Place	Wanganui	Wanganui
Length of Residence	3 days	34 years
Marriage Place	The residence of Mrs. G. H. Anderson, Wicksteed St., Wanganui
Folio	05/5894
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1905
Officiating Minister	R. M. Ryburn, Presbyterian

130

13 October 1905

Thomas Henry McElwain
Janet Evilson

Thomas Henry McElwain
Janet Wilson
💍 1905/3400

Bachelor
Widow

Contractor

43
45

Wanganui
Wanganui

3 days
3 days

The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Wanganui

05/5903

13 October 1905

Chas. E. Hylton, Registrar

No	130
Date of Notice	13 October 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Henry McElwain	Janet Evilson
BDM Match (92%)	Thomas Henry McElwain	Janet Wilson
	💍 1905/3400
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Contractor
Age	43	45
Dwelling Place	Wanganui	Wanganui
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Wanganui
Folio	05/5903
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1905
Officiating Minister	Chas. E. Hylton, Registrar

131

19 October 1905

Jude Lenton Fleming
Mabel Marsh

Jude Lenton Fleming
Mabel Marsh
💍 1905/3433

Bachelor
Spinster

Fitter
Domestic Servant

21
18

Aramoho
Aramoho

6 years
2 years

St. John's Church of England, Wanganui

05/5886

19 October 1905

J. B. Maclean, Church of England

No	131
Date of Notice	19 October 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jude Lenton Fleming	Mabel Marsh
	💍 1905/3433
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fitter	Domestic Servant
Age	21	18
Dwelling Place	Aramoho	Aramoho
Length of Residence	6 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church of England, Wanganui
Folio	05/5886
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 October 1905
Officiating Minister	J. B. Maclean, Church of England

132

20 October 1905

Thomas Henry Radd
Elizabeth Barney

Thomas Henry Radd
Elizabeth Barney
💍 1905/3380

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser
Waitress

21
21

Wanganui
Wanganui

22 months
2 years

The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Wanganui

05/5905

20 October 1905

Chas. E. Hylton, Registrar

No	132
Date of Notice	20 October 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Henry Radd	Elizabeth Barney
	💍 1905/3380
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser	Waitress
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Wanganui	Wanganui
Length of Residence	22 months	2 years
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Wanganui
Folio	05/5905
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 October 1905
Officiating Minister	Chas. E. Hylton, Registrar

133

21 October 1905

Francis Ernest Emile Brenmuhl
Alice Hughes

Francis Ernest Emile Brenmuhl
Alice Hughes
💍 1905/3379

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

24
22

Wanganui
Wanganui

12 months
15 years

The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Wanganui

05/5904

21 October 1905

Chas. E. Hylton, Registrar

No	133
Date of Notice	21 October 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Ernest Emile Brenmuhl	Alice Hughes
	💍 1905/3379
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Wanganui	Wanganui
Length of Residence	12 months	15 years
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Wanganui
Folio	05/5904
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 October 1905
Officiating Minister	Chas. E. Hylton, Registrar

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 1903. More registers are being added almost every week.

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).