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 1399

District of Masterton Quarter ending 31 December 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
49	5 October 1893	Henry James Shinson Annie Weaver	Henry James Stinson Annie Weavers 💍 1893/3034	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher Servant	26 21	Masterton Masterton	12 Months 2 years	House of Mr Hayes, Albert Street, Masterton	93/3279		5 October 1893	Rev John Dukes, Wesleyan Minister
50	6 October 1893	Stephen John Harding Emily Jane Welch	Stephen John Harding Emily Jane Welch 💍 1893/4082	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	26 25	Opaki Opaki	6 days 1 year	House of James Reid, Welch, Opaki	93/3282		6 October 1893	Rev Thomas James Smith, Wesleyan Minister
51	12 October 1893	Frederick King Franciska Cecilia Flora Treder	Frederick King Franciska Cicilia Clara Treder 💍 1893/3037	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith	21 21	Masterton Masterton	3 days 6 weeks	Roman Catholic Chapel, Masterton	93/3283		12 October 1893	Rev Philip O'Meara, Roman Catholic Priest
52	20 October 1893	Frances C M Alexander Christina Munro	Francis Alexander Cameron Christina Munro 💍 1893/3617	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	30 22	Carterton Mauriceville	2 days 7 days	House of Mr Robert Munro, Mauriceville	93/3989		20 October 1893	Rev Robert Wood, Presbyterian Minister
53	24 October 1893	Charles Edwards Annie March	Charles Edwards Annie Maxted 💍 1893/3616	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	30 19	Masterton Masterton	30 days 2 Months	House of Mr Richard March, Mauriceville	93/3988	Richard March, father	24 October 1893	Rev Robert Wood, Presbyterian Minister
54	28 October 1893	Peter Christian Jorgensen Delia Christina Jacobson	Peter Christan Jorgensen Dortia Christina Jacobsen 💍 1893/4081	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	20 18	Mauriceville Mauriceville	8 Months 7 Months	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Masterton	93/3275	Jens Jorgensen & Christian Jacobson, fathers	28 October 1893	John Bagge, Registrar
55	30 October 1893	Thomas Henry Dellwood Hilda Lilian Curtis Russell	Thomas Henry Dellwood Hilda Lillian Curtis Russell 💍 1893/3017	Bachelor Spinster	Saddler Dressmaker	22 21	Masterton Masterton	2 weeks 3 weeks	Church of England, Masterton	93/3284		30 October 1893	Rev W E Paige, Church of England Minister
56	1 November 1893	George Robert Sykes Esther Elizabeth Bishop Murray	George Robert Sykes Esther Elizabeth Bishop Murray 💍 1893/3019	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	25 21	Opaki Masterton	2 Months 3 years	Church of England, Masterton	93/3286		1 November 1893	Rev W E Paige, Church of England Minister
57	4 November 1893	Alexander Alfred Burling Eliza Jardine Gazzard	Alexander Alfred Burling Eliza Caroline Gazzard 💍 1893/3018	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Dressmaker	24 25	Masterton Taueru	3 days 3 weeks	House of Mr Jean Gazzard, Taueru	93/3285		4 November 1893	Rev W E Paige, Church of England Minister
58	8 November 1893	James Neary Martha Westbrook	James Neary Martha Westbrook 💍 1893/3035	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	27 22	Te Ore Ore Masterton	6 Months 10 Months	House of Mr William Green, George St, Masterton	93/3280		8 November 1893	Rev John Dukes, Wesleyan Minister

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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 1898. More registers will be added when the Archives NZ Wellington reading room re-opens in September 2025.

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).