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 118

District of Stratford Quarter ending 31 March 1894 Registrar J. H. James

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

22 January 1894

Owen McAloon
Margaret Kelcher

Owen McAloon
Margaret Keleher
💍 1894/797

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

23
23

Eastroad, Stratford
Isko, Stratford

1 year
7 days

In the Roman Catholic Church at Stratford.

94/773

22 January 1894

Rev. James McKenna, Roman Catholic

No	1
Date of Notice	22 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Owen McAloon	Margaret Kelcher
BDM Match (97%)	Owen McAloon	Margaret Keleher
	💍 1894/797
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Eastroad, Stratford	Isko, Stratford
Length of Residence	1 year	7 days
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Church at Stratford.
Folio	94/773
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 January 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. James McKenna, Roman Catholic

10 February 1894

Henry Johnson
Harriet Ann Bullock

Henry Johnson
Harriet Anne Bullock
💍 1894/1983

Henry Wood
Margaret Maria Bullock
💍 1894/647

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

24
18

Cardiff, Stratford
Cardiff, Stratford

12 years
4 years

Holy Trinity Church at Stratford.

94/2120

John Bullock, Father

14 February 1894

Rev. Alex English, Church of England.

No	2
Date of Notice	10 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Johnson	Harriet Ann Bullock
BDM Match (98%)	Henry Johnson	Harriet Anne Bullock
	💍 1894/1983
BDM Match (60%)	Henry Wood	Margaret Maria Bullock
	💍 1894/647
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	24	18
Dwelling Place	Cardiff, Stratford	Cardiff, Stratford
Length of Residence	12 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church at Stratford.
Folio	94/2120
Consent	John Bullock, Father
Date of Certificate	14 February 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alex English, Church of England.

16 February 1894

Charles William Humwich
Ellen Batson

Charles William Hunwick
Ellen Batson
💍 1894/1984

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

30
24

Waipuku
Waipuku

4 years
13 years

In the residence of Mr. Joseph Batson at Redland Road, Waipuku.

94/2121

16 February 1894

Rev. Alex English, Church of England.

No	3
Date of Notice	16 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles William Humwich	Ellen Batson
BDM Match (96%)	Charles William Hunwick	Ellen Batson
	💍 1894/1984
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Waipuku	Waipuku
Length of Residence	4 years	13 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of Mr. Joseph Batson at Redland Road, Waipuku.
Folio	94/2121
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alex English, Church of England.

24 February 1894

Caleb Jesse Maslin
Helen Foreman

Caleb Jesse Maslin
Helen Foreman
💍 1894/201

Widower
Spinster

Farmer

38
35

Eltham
Ngaire

10 years
5 years

In the Office of the Registrar at Stratford.

94/250

24 February 1894

J. H. James, Registrar

No	4
Date of Notice	24 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Caleb Jesse Maslin	Helen Foreman
	💍 1894/201
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	38	35
Dwelling Place	Eltham	Ngaire
Length of Residence	10 years	5 years
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar at Stratford.
Folio	94/250
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1894
Officiating Minister	J. H. James, Registrar

1 March 1894

George Hitchcock
Susan Noble

George Hitchcock
Susan Noble
💍 1894/1057

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinet maker

25
19

Stratford
Stratford

18 months
9 years

In the Residence of William Noble, Warwick Road, Stratford.

94/1065

William Noble, Father

1 March 1894

Rev. Alex English, Church of England.

No	5
Date of Notice	1 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Hitchcock	Susan Noble
	💍 1894/1057
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinet maker
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Stratford	Stratford
Length of Residence	18 months	9 years
Marriage Place	In the Residence of William Noble, Warwick Road, Stratford.
Folio	94/1065
Consent	William Noble, Father
Date of Certificate	1 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alex English, Church of England.

6 March 1894

Francis Lacey
Alice Jenkinson

Francis Lacey
Alice Jenkinson
💍 1894/204

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

23
20

Stratford
Stratford

2 years
8 years

In the Residence of Edward Jenkinson, Pembroke Road, Stratford.

94/253

Edward Waters Jenkinson, Father

6 March 1894

Rev. J. W. Hayward, Primitive Methodist.

No	6
Date of Notice	6 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Lacey	Alice Jenkinson
	💍 1894/204
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Stratford	Stratford
Length of Residence	2 years	8 years
Marriage Place	In the Residence of Edward Jenkinson, Pembroke Road, Stratford.
Folio	94/253
Consent	Edward Waters Jenkinson, Father
Date of Certificate	6 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Hayward, Primitive Methodist.

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).