Intentions to Marry, 1894

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840406, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, June 6 2025

Page 005

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 March 1894 Registrar E. H. Lyons

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

6 January 1894

Ermine Geldo Lopes
Ellen McLean

Ermene Jeldo Lopes
Ellen McLean
💍 1894/74

Bachelor
Spinster

Brazier

31
22

Auckland
Ponsonby

5 years
2 weeks

House of Mr. J. Lewis, Franklin Road, Ponsonby

94/90

6 January 1894

Rev. M. S. Potter, Primitive Methodist

No	15
Date of Notice	6 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ermine Geldo Lopes	Ellen McLean
BDM Match (94%)	Ermene Jeldo Lopes	Ellen McLean
	💍 1894/74
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Brazier
Age	31	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Ponsonby
Length of Residence	5 years	2 weeks
Marriage Place	House of Mr. J. Lewis, Franklin Road, Ponsonby
Folio	94/90
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. S. Potter, Primitive Methodist

6 January 1894

Thomas John Johnstone
alias Thomas Davenport
Mary Stewart

Thomas Davenport
Mary Stewart
💍 1894/297

Bachelor
Widow

Blacksmith

32
34

Auckland
Onehunga

20 years
7 years

House of Mr. H. Stewart, Onehunga

94/90

6 January 1894

Rev. H. W. Miller, Congregational

No	16
Date of Notice	6 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas John Johnstone alias Thomas Davenport	Mary Stewart
BDM Match (71%)	Thomas Davenport	Mary Stewart
	💍 1894/297
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	32	34
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Onehunga
Length of Residence	20 years	7 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. H. Stewart, Onehunga
Folio	94/90
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. W. Miller, Congregational

6 January 1894

David Joseph Jackman
Catherine Brennan

David Joseph Jackman
Catherine Brennan
💍 1894/124

Bachelor
Spinster

Brazier

25
24

Auckland
Auckland

20 years
7 years

St. Patrick's Cathedral, Auckland

94/22

6 January 1894

Rev. J. J. Hackett, Roman Catholic

No	17
Date of Notice	6 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Joseph Jackman	Catherine Brennan
	💍 1894/124
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Brazier
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	20 years	7 years
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Cathedral, Auckland
Folio	94/22
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Hackett, Roman Catholic

8 January 1894

Andrew McLean
Harriett Bird

Andrew McLean
Harriett Bird
💍 1894/306

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

25
20

Papakura
Auckland

15 years
18 years

House of Mr. H. Bird, Victoria Street

94/98

James Bird, father

8 January 1894

Rev. J. M. Hayward, Primitive Methodist

No	18
Date of Notice	8 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew McLean	Harriett Bird
	💍 1894/306
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Papakura	Auckland
Length of Residence	15 years	18 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. H. Bird, Victoria Street
Folio	94/98
Consent	James Bird, father
Date of Certificate	8 January 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Hayward, Primitive Methodist

9 January 1894

James Francis Lowry
Catherine Matilda Lorrigan

James Francis Lowry
Catherine Mildred Lorrigan
💍 1894/68

Bachelor
Spinster

Compositor

26
24

Newton
Newton

17 years
5 years

St. Benedict's Church, Newton

94/165

9 January 1894

Rev. J. C. Downey, Roman Catholic

No	19
Date of Notice	9 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Francis Lowry	Catherine Matilda Lorrigan
BDM Match (90%)	James Francis Lowry	Catherine Mildred Lorrigan
	💍 1894/68
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Compositor
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Newton	Newton
Length of Residence	17 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St. Benedict's Church, Newton
Folio	94/165
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 January 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Downey, Roman Catholic

10 January 1894

George Frederick Charles Hosking
Emily Matilda Dickson

George Frederick Charles Hosking
Emily Matilda Dickson
💍 1894/3930

Bachelor
Spinster

Teacher

25
25

Whangarei
Birkenhead

1 year
1 year

St. Sepulchre Church, Auckland

94/44

10 January 1894

Rev. Arch. B. T. Dudley, Church of England

No	20
Date of Notice	10 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Frederick Charles Hosking	Emily Matilda Dickson
	💍 1894/3930
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Teacher
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Whangarei	Birkenhead
Length of Residence	1 year	1 year
Marriage Place	St. Sepulchre Church, Auckland
Folio	94/44
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. Arch. B. T. Dudley, Church of England

10 January 1894

John Roche
Ellen Barrow

John Roche
Ellen Barrow
💍 1894/126

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

31
30

Wade
Wade

4 years
1 year

St. Patrick's Cathedral, Auckland

94/24

10 January 1894

Rev. J. J. Hackett, Roman Catholic

No	21
Date of Notice	10 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Roche	Ellen Barrow
	💍 1894/126
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	31	30
Dwelling Place	Wade	Wade
Length of Residence	4 years	1 year
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Cathedral, Auckland
Folio	94/24
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Hackett, Roman Catholic

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).