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 978

District of Masterton Quarter ending 30 September 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
35	4 July 1893	Johann Jessen Johanne Sorensen	Johan Jessen Johanne Sorensen 💍 1893/2331	Widower Widow	Farmer	64 57	Mauriceville Mauriceville	2 years 10 years	House of Mrs Johanne Sorensen, Mauriceville	93/2324		4 July 1893	Revd. Mads Christensen, Lutheran Minister
36	10 July 1893	James Des Clemens Esther Miller	James Iles Clemens Ethel Miller 💍 1893/2346	Bachelor Widow	Shepherd Milliner	27 27	Masterton Masterton	3 months 3 months	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Masterton	93/2315		10 July 1893	John Bagge, Registrar of Marriages
37	15 July 1893	Michael Pierce Britt Emily Pratt	Michael Price Brett Emily Pratt 💍 1893/4042	Bachelor Widow	Contractor	59 39	Masterton Eketahuna	3 days 6 months	House of Mr M. P. Britt, Eketahuna	93/2843		15 July 1893	Revd. John Omeara, Roman Catholic Priest
38	18 July 1893	Frederick Walter Faulkner Emily Caroline Bentley	Frederick Walter Fawlknor Emily Caroline Bentley 💍 1893/3626	Bachelor Spinster	Cook	26 18	Masterton Masterton	5 months 15 years	Salvation Army Barracks, Masterton	93/3999	Charles Bentley, father	18 July 1893	Mr Thomas Edgar Vince, Major Salvation Army
39	19 July 1893	John Moriarty Agnes Helen Wilson	John Moriarty Agnes Helen Wilson 💍 1893/2348	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd	34 23	Masterton Mauriceville	4 days 7 years	House of Mr Thomas Wilson, Mauriceville	93/2317		19 July 1893	Revd. Robert Wood, Presbyterian Minister
40	21 July 1893	Niels Winder Albrechtsen Johanna Marie Sorensen	Niels Winter Albrechtsen Johanne Marie Sorensen 💍 1893/2332	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	23 16	Mauriceville Mauriceville	18 years 4 days	Lutheran Church, Mauriceville	93/2325	Soren Christian Sorensen, father	21 July 1893	Revd. Mads Christensen, Lutheran Minister
41	26 July 1893	Thomas Cox Annie Currie	Thomas Cox Annie Currie 💍 1893/2850	Widower Spinster	Gardener Servant	46 23	Masterton Masterton	21 years 4 days	Church of England, Masterton	93/2951		26 July 1893	Revd. William Edward Paige, Church of England Minister
42	7 August 1893	Clarence Stewart Graham Emmeline Jane Sage	Clarence Stewart Graham Emmeline Jane Sage 💍 1893/2326	Bachelor Spinster	Draper	23 20	Masterton Masterton	9 years 8 years	House of George Coiston Sage, Upper Plain, Masterton	93/2319	George Coiston Sage, father	8 August 1893	Revd. John Dukes, Wesleyan Minister
43	16 August 1893	Reginald Pinkney Mary Healy	Reginald Pinhey Mary Healey 💍 1893/2327	Bachelor Spinster	Coal Proprietor Housemaid	25 26	Masterton Masterton	1 year 1 year	House of Mr William Darcey, Bannister Street, Masterton	93/2320		16 August 1893	Revd. John Dukes, Wesleyan Minister
44	31 August 1893	David Scott Dalgetty Jane Laing	David Scott Dalgetty Jane Lanig 💍 1893/2328	Bachelor Spinster	Carter House Keeper	34 33	Masterton Masterton	6 days 8 months	House of Mr John Dukes, Masterton	93/2321		31 August 1893	Revd. John Dukes, Wesleyan Minister
45	4 September 1893	Albert Van Koch Alice Martha Wise	Robert Dan Leach Alice Martha Wise 💍 1893/2329	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith	23 17	Masterton Masterton	5 months 7 years	House of Mr William Wise, Masterton	93/2322	William Wise, father	4 September 1893	Revd. John Dukes, Wesleyan Minister
46	7 September 1893	William Barltrop Maud Catherine Beaufill otherwise Oliving	William Barltrop Maud Catherine Beanfill 💍 1893/2330	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Dressmaker	30 18	Masterton Masterton	6 months 12 months	House of Mr Edward Oliving, Masterton	93/2323	Edward Oliving, mother	7 September 1893	Revd. W. E. Paige, Church of England Minister
47	12 September 1893	Henry Richard Harding Effie Welch	Henry Richard Harding Effie Welch 💍 1893/2349	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	23 22	Masterton Ohaki	5 days 4 months	Office of Mr K. Welch, Ohaki	93/2318		12 September 1893	Revd. Robert Wood, Presbyterian Minister
48	27 September 1893	Paul Benjamin Wilton Margaret Jane Love	Paul Benjamin Wilton Margaret Johnstone 💍 1893/2347	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	25 23	Masterton Masterton	8 months 8 months		93/2316		27 September 1893	John Bagge, Registrar of Marriages

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 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).