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 021

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 March 1894 Registrar S. 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

127

20 March 1894

William Wood
Annie Norris

William Wood
Annie Norris
💍 1894/138

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

25
22

Auckland
Auckland

1 week
1 week

Registrars Office

94/136

20 March 1894

S. H. Lyons, Registrar

No	127
Date of Notice	20 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Wood	Annie Norris
	💍 1894/138
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	1 week	1 week
Marriage Place	Registrars Office
Folio	94/136
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1894
Officiating Minister	S. H. Lyons, Registrar

128

20 March 1894

Ernest John Swann
Theresa Doyle

Ernest John Swann
Theresa Doyle
💍 1894/242

Bachelor
Spinster

Fishmonger

25
27

Auckland
Auckland

2 months
8 days

St. Patrick's Cathedral Auckland

94/29

20 March 1894

Rev. J. Doyle, Roman Catholic

No	128
Date of Notice	20 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest John Swann	Theresa Doyle
	💍 1894/242
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fishmonger
Age	25	27
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	2 months	8 days
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Cathedral Auckland
Folio	94/29
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Doyle, Roman Catholic

129

20 March 1894

Joseph Arthur Messenger
Ruth Elizabeth Stilwell

Joseph Arthur Messenger
Ruth Elizabeth Stilwell
💍 1894/1150

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

34
23

Sydney
Auckland

8 years
14 months

St. Sepulchre's Church

94/118

20 March 1894

Rev. B. T. Dudley, Church of England

No	129
Date of Notice	20 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Arthur Messenger	Ruth Elizabeth Stilwell
	💍 1894/1150
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	34	23
Dwelling Place	Sydney	Auckland
Length of Residence	8 years	14 months
Marriage Place	St. Sepulchre's Church
Folio	94/118
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. T. Dudley, Church of England

130

20 March 1894

Daniel Somers Lawrence
Amy Maria Lawrence

Daniel Somers
Amy Maria Lawrence
💍 1894/2019

Bachelor
Spinster

Gas Fitter

25
20

Auckland
Auckland

18 years
20 months

St. Benedict's Church

94/198

William Lawrence, father

20 March 1894

Rev. J. C. Downey, Roman Catholic

No	130
Date of Notice	20 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel Somers Lawrence	Amy Maria Lawrence
BDM Match (80%)	Daniel Somers	Amy Maria Lawrence
	💍 1894/2019
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gas Fitter
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	18 years	20 months
Marriage Place	St. Benedict's Church
Folio	94/198
Consent	William Lawrence, father
Date of Certificate	20 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Downey, Roman Catholic

131

20 March 1894

Gomer Edward Bennett
Caroline Davie

Gomer Edwards Bennett
Caroline Davies
💍 1894/65

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker

28
21

Auckland
Auckland

28 years
1 week

House of Rev. B. T. Thomas

94/62

20 March 1894

Rev. B. T. Thomas, Congregationalist

No	131
Date of Notice	20 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gomer Edward Bennett	Caroline Davie
BDM Match (94%)	Gomer Edwards Bennett	Caroline Davies
	💍 1894/65
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	28 years	1 week
Marriage Place	House of Rev. B. T. Thomas
Folio	94/62
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. T. Thomas, Congregationalist

132

21 March 1894

John Collett Dunne
Lucinda Anne Dunne

John Collett
Lucinda Ann Dunne
💍 1894/151

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

29
29

Devonport
Devonport

4 years
29 months

Holy Trinity Church

94/148

21 March 1894

Rev. J. Bates, Church of England

No	132
Date of Notice	21 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Collett Dunne	Lucinda Anne Dunne
BDM Match (81%)	John Collett	Lucinda Ann Dunne
	💍 1894/151
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	29	29
Dwelling Place	Devonport	Devonport
Length of Residence	4 years	29 months
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church
Folio	94/148
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Bates, Church of England

133

21 March 1894

Frederick Rundle
Sarah Elizabeth Bailey

Frederick Rundle
Sarah Elizabeth Bailey
💍 1894/295

Widower
Spinster

Gardener

40
27

Auckland
Auckland

21 years
27 months

House of Rev. A. H. Collins

94/88

21 March 1894

Rev. A. H. Collins, Baptist

No	133
Date of Notice	21 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Rundle	Sarah Elizabeth Bailey
	💍 1894/295
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Gardener
Age	40	27
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	21 years	27 months
Marriage Place	House of Rev. A. H. Collins
Folio	94/88
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. H. Collins, Baptist

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).