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 015

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

26 February 1894

John William Thompson
Elizabeth Jane Bailey

John William Thompson
Elizabeth Fannie Bailey
💍 1892/3841

John William Thompson
Elizabeth Fannie Bailey
💍 1894/82

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

29
26

Arch Hill
Auckland

6 years
5 hours

Shipham Church

94/55

26 February 1894

Rev. M. E. Lush, Church of England

No	85
Date of Notice	26 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Thompson	Elizabeth Jane Bailey
BDM Match (94%)	John William Thompson	Elizabeth Fannie Bailey
	💍 1892/3841
BDM Match (94%)	John William Thompson	Elizabeth Fannie Bailey
	💍 1894/82
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	29	26
Dwelling Place	Arch Hill	Auckland
Length of Residence	6 years	5 hours
Marriage Place	Shipham Church
Folio	94/55
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. E. Lush, Church of England

27 February 1894

Alfred Cropp
Agatha Heenan

Alfred Cropp
Agatha Heenan
💍 1894/146

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

23
22

Auckland
Auckland

3 years

Registrar's Office

94/126

27 February 1894

E. H. Lyons, Registrar

No	86
Date of Notice	27 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Cropp	Agatha Heenan
	💍 1894/146
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	94/126
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1894
Officiating Minister	E. H. Lyons, Registrar

27 February 1894

Robert Samuel Dixon
Abigail Costello

Robert Samuel Nixon
Abigail Costello
💍 1894/4200

Bachelor
Spinster

Settler

28
19

Auckland
Patumahoe

3 days
19 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Franklin Road

94/72

William Costello, father

27 February 1894

Rev. M. S. Potter, Primitive Methodist

No	87
Date of Notice	27 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Samuel Dixon	Abigail Costello
BDM Match (97%)	Robert Samuel Nixon	Abigail Costello
	💍 1894/4200
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Settler
Age	28	19
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Patumahoe
Length of Residence	3 days	19 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Franklin Road
Folio	94/72
Consent	William Costello, father
Date of Certificate	27 February 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. S. Potter, Primitive Methodist

27 February 1894

Gilbert Henry Davies
Ida Constance Irvine

Gilbert Henry Davies
Ida Constance Irvine
💍 1894/247

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

25
21

Epsom
Howick

2 years
21

St. Mary's Church, Parnell

94/34

27 February 1894

Rev. G. H. Murray, Church of England

No	88
Date of Notice	27 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gilbert Henry Davies	Ida Constance Irvine
	💍 1894/247
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Epsom	Howick
Length of Residence	2 years	21
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Parnell
Folio	94/34
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. H. Murray, Church of England

28 February 1894

Robert Robertson Menzies
Emily Elizabeth Morgan

Robert Robertson Menzies
Emily Elizabeth Morgan
💍 1894/1097

Widower
Spinster

Engineer

38
23

Thames
Thames

4 years
23

House of Rev. J. Hill

94/1032

28 February 1894

Rev. J. Hill, Presbyterian

No	89
Date of Notice	28 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Robertson Menzies	Emily Elizabeth Morgan
	💍 1894/1097
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	38	23
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	4 years	23
Marriage Place	House of Rev. J. Hill
Folio	94/1032
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 February 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Hill, Presbyterian

28 February 1894

Henry Herbert Prime
Ellen Inglis Dunwoodie

Henry Herbert Prime
Ellen Inglis Dunwoodie
💍 1894/86

Bachelor
Spinster

Ironmonger

23
20

Auckland
Onehunga

23 years
20

House of Rev. S. Barr

94/59

Helen Dunwoodie, mother

28 February 1894

Rev. R. Ferguson, Presbyterian

No	90
Date of Notice	28 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Herbert Prime	Ellen Inglis Dunwoodie
	💍 1894/86
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ironmonger
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Onehunga
Length of Residence	23 years	20
Marriage Place	House of Rev. S. Barr
Folio	94/59
Consent	Helen Dunwoodie, mother
Date of Certificate	28 February 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ferguson, Presbyterian

1 March 1894

John Baker
Annie Barker

John Baker
Annie Barker
💍 1894/154

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

25
25

Auckland
Auckland

1 year
1 week

Registrar's Office

94/128

1 March 1894

E. H. Lyons, Registrar

No	91
Date of Notice	1 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Baker	Annie Barker
	💍 1894/154
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	1 year	1 week
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	94/128
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 March 1894
Officiating Minister	E. H. Lyons, 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).