Intentions to Marry, 1893

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840405, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole and Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, June 6 2025.

A few pages are missing due to focus issues.

Page 655

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 30 June 1893

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
803	22 May 1893	Thomas Hunt Catherine Buck	Thomas Hunt Catherine Buck 💍 1893/2435	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher Domestic Servant	23 27	Ashburton Ashburton	10 years 3 years	Private Dwelling house of Mr. Buck at Ashburton	93/2522		22 May 1893	Revd. James Cocker
804	25 May 1893	Walter Juster Alice Smith	Walter Tucker Alice Smith 💍 1893/1901 William Thomas Hodge Alice Smith 💍 1893/1024	Widower Spinster	Hotel Employee Tailoress	36 26	Ashburton Ashburton	5 months 6 weeks	Private Dwelling house of Walter Juster at Ashburton	93/1592		25 May 1893	Revd. Samuel Lawry / Revd. Thos. Ashworth
805	3 June 1893	Hans Thornton Rowley Lily Kate Hooper	Hans Thornton Rosendale Lillian Kate Hooper 💍 1893/1921	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	32 23	Tinwald Terrace Farm	5 years 2 months	Private Dwelling of Hans Thornton Rowley, Terrace Farm	93/1568		5 June 1893	Revd. B. J. Westbrook
806	3 June 1893	John Gourley Rebecca Grisby	John Gowley Rebecca Frisby 💍 1893/1910	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	26 21	Winslow Ashburton	14 years 3 days	Presbyterian Church at Ashburton	93/1581		5 June 1893	Revd. A. Blake
807	12 June 1893	William Rumery Kellock Martha Clarissa Grigg	William Plumer Kellock Martha Clarissa Grigg 💍 1893/1922	Bachelor Spinster	Planter, Ceylon	36 20	Longbeach Longbeach	1 month 20 years	Church of England at Longbeach	93/1569	John Grigg, father	19 June 1893	Revd. R. J. Bartlett
808	16 June 1893	Perry Stime Christina Castoria		Bachelor Spinster	Schoolmaster	30 25	Masterfield Valetta	4 years 3 years	Private dwelling house of James Castoria at Valetta	93/1587		16 June 1893	Revd. D. Blundell
809	17 June 1893	James McCormick Maria Madden	James McCormick Maria Madden 💍 1893/2433	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic Servant	27 24	Winchmore Ashburton	8 years 10 years	Roman Catholic Church at Ashburton	93/2520		17 June 1893	Revd. J. J. O'Donnell
810	19 June 1893	Alexander Donald Angus Margery Alice McLachlan	Alexander Donald Angus McDonald Margery Alice McLauchlan 💍 1893/1906	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	25 24	Ruapuna Ruapuna	2 months 13 years	Private dwelling house of James McLachlan	93/1577		19 June 1893	Revd. A. Blake
811	19 June 1893	Francis Antonio Burdett Augusta Clark	Francis Antonio Burdett Augusta Clark 💍 1893/1923	Bachelor Spinster	Water-ranger	28 29	Ashburton Tinwald	18 years 12 years	St. Andrew's Church at Tinwald	93/1570		19 June 1893	Revd. Thos. Farley
812	22 June 1893	James Frederick Clarke Margaret Moodie	James Frederick Clarke Margaret Moodie 💍 1893/1902	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic Servant	23 28	Dromore Ashburton	7 years 5 years	Wesleyan Church at Ashburton	93/1573		22 June 1893	Revd. Samuel Lawry
813	22 June 1893	David Alexander Jackson Wilhelmina Martha Hepburn	David Alexander Jackson Wilhelmina Martini Hepburn 💍 1893/2394	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	38 24	Ashburton Ashburton	1 month 16 years	Private dwelling house of John Hepburn at Ashburton	93/2527		22 June 1893	Revd. A. Blake

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).