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 023

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

141

27 March 1894

Frank Wood
Ansina Wilhelmina Johnson

Frank Wood
Astina Wilhelmina Johnsen
💍 1894/1148

Bachelor
Spinster

Dairyman

25
27

Auckland
Auckland

25 years
22 years

House of Rev. G. B. Munro

94/1135

27 March 1894

Rev. G. B. Munro, Presbyterian

No	141
Date of Notice	27 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Wood	Ansina Wilhelmina Johnson
BDM Match (94%)	Frank Wood	Astina Wilhelmina Johnsen
	💍 1894/1148
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dairyman
Age	25	27
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	25 years	22 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. G. B. Munro
Folio	94/1135
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. B. Munro, Presbyterian

142

27 March 1894

Robert John Baff
Isabella Jessie Jackson

Robert John Arthur Baff
Isabella Jessie Jackson
💍 1894/83

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor

27
25

Greymouth
Jackson

7 years
15 years

Epiphany Church

94/56

27 March 1894

Rev. H. E. Lush, Church of England

No	142
Date of Notice	27 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert John Baff	Isabella Jessie Jackson
BDM Match (85%)	Robert John Arthur Baff	Isabella Jessie Jackson
	💍 1894/83
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Jackson
Length of Residence	7 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Epiphany Church
Folio	94/56
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. E. Lush, Church of England

143

28 March 1894

Frederick John O'Hanlon
Eleanor Hannah Wilson

Frederick John O'Hanlon
Elenor Hannah Wilson
💍 1894/309

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

22
16

Auckland
Auckland

3 months
4 months

House of Rev. W. Kennedy

94/101

John Wilson, father

28 March 1894

Rev. C. E. Ward, Primitive Methodist

No	143
Date of Notice	28 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick John O'Hanlon	Eleanor Hannah Wilson
BDM Match (98%)	Frederick John O'Hanlon	Elenor Hannah Wilson
	💍 1894/309
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	22	16
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 months	4 months
Marriage Place	House of Rev. W. Kennedy
Folio	94/101
Consent	John Wilson, father
Date of Certificate	28 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Ward, Primitive Methodist

143.A

28 March 1894

Andrew Philip Gold
Emma Gray Patrick

Andrew Philips Todd
Emma Gray Patrick
💍 1894/3998

Bachelor
Widow

Accountant

35
38

Birkenhead
Takapuna

4 years
1/2 year

Wesleyan Church

94/2720

28 March 1894

Rev. J. Ward, Wesleyan

No	143.A
Date of Notice	28 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Philip Gold	Emma Gray Patrick
BDM Match (92%)	Andrew Philips Todd	Emma Gray Patrick
	💍 1894/3998
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Accountant
Age	35	38
Dwelling Place	Birkenhead	Takapuna
Length of Residence	4 years	1/2 year
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church
Folio	94/2720
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Ward, Wesleyan

144

28 March 1894

George H. Carlin
Sarah Hughes

George McCaslin
Sarah Ingham
💍 1894/1079

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

24
25

Auckland
Auckland

24 years
6 years

St. Matthew's Church

94/1112

28 March 1894

Rev. L. FitzGerald, Church of England

No	144
Date of Notice	28 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George H. Carlin	Sarah Hughes
BDM Match (71%)	George McCaslin	Sarah Ingham
	💍 1894/1079
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	24 years	6 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church
Folio	94/1112
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. FitzGerald, Church of England

145

28 March 1894

Benjamin Thomas Bennett
Kate Emily Stevens

Benjamin Thomas Bennett
Kate Emily Stevens
💍 1894/140

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

25
21

Auckland
Auckland

25 years
21 years

Registrar's Office

94/138

28 March 1894

S. H. Lyons, Registrar

No	145
Date of Notice	28 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Benjamin Thomas Bennett	Kate Emily Stevens
	💍 1894/140
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	25 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	94/138
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 March 1894
Officiating Minister	S. H. Lyons, Registrar

146

29 March 1894

Samuel Gibson
Alice Elizabeth Pegg

Samuel Gibson
Alice Elizabeth Pegg
💍 1894/141

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter

22
21

Auckland
Auckland

11 months
1 year

Registrar's Office

94/139

29 March 1894

S. H. Lyons, Registrar

No	146
Date of Notice	29 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Gibson	Alice Elizabeth Pegg
	💍 1894/141
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	11 months	1 year
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	94/139
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 March 1894
Officiating Minister	S. 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).