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 150

District of Woodville Quarter ending 31 March 1894 Registrar William Gibb Crawford

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

27 January 1894

Alfred George Monk
Alice Fullaway

Alfred George Monk
Alice Galloway
💍 1894/351

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Domestic Duties

27 years
21 years

Maharahara
Maharahara

3 years
4 years

The Parsonage, Woodville

94/308

27 January 1894

John Charles Eccles

No	62
Date of Notice	27 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred George Monk	Alice Fullaway
BDM Match (89%)	Alfred George Monk	Alice Galloway
	💍 1894/351
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Domestic Duties
Age	27 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Maharahara	Maharahara
Length of Residence	3 years	4 years
Marriage Place	The Parsonage, Woodville
Folio	94/308
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 January 1894
Officiating Minister	John Charles Eccles

1 February 1894

Henry William John Muscutt
Mary Lavinia Sutcliffe

Henry William John Muscutt
Mary Lavinia Sutcliffe
💍 1894/352

Widower
Spinster

Saddler
Domestic

29 years
31 years

Woodville
Woodville

10 months
2 years

The Registrar's Office, Woodville

94/309

1 February 1894

William Gibb Crawford

No	63
Date of Notice	1 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry William John Muscutt	Mary Lavinia Sutcliffe
	💍 1894/352
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Saddler	Domestic
Age	29 years	31 years
Dwelling Place	Woodville	Woodville
Length of Residence	10 months	2 years
Marriage Place	The Registrar's Office, Woodville
Folio	94/309
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1894
Officiating Minister	William Gibb Crawford

19 February 1894

Samuel Linwood
Hannie O'Brien

Samuel Linwood
Hannie O'Brien
💍 1894/354

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Domestic

24 years
19 years

Maharahara
Maharahara

3 days
3 days

The Registrar's Office, Woodville

94/310

19 February 1894

William Gibb Crawford

No	64
Date of Notice	19 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Linwood	Hannie O'Brien
	💍 1894/354
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	24 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Maharahara	Maharahara
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	The Registrar's Office, Woodville
Folio	94/310
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1894
Officiating Minister	William Gibb Crawford

28 February 1894

John Samuel Sandbrook
Lydia Smith

John Samuel Sandbrook
Lydia Smith
💍 1894/355

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic

25 years
22 years

Woodville
Woodville

4 months
15 years

The Registrar's Office, Woodville

94/311

28 February 1894

William Gibb Crawford

No	65
Date of Notice	28 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Samuel Sandbrook	Lydia Smith
	💍 1894/355
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic
Age	25 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Woodville	Woodville
Length of Residence	4 months	15 years
Marriage Place	The Registrar's Office, Woodville
Folio	94/311
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 February 1894
Officiating Minister	William Gibb Crawford

14 March 1894

John James Murphy
Alice Hicks

John James Murphy
Alice Hicks
💍 1894/372

Widower
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

55 years
28 years

Woodville
Pahiatua

19 years
9 years

Mr Thomas Hick's residence, Pahiatua

94/355

14 March 1894

W. H. Philip

No	66
Date of Notice	14 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John James Murphy	Alice Hicks
	💍 1894/372
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	55 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Woodville	Pahiatua
Length of Residence	19 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Mr Thomas Hick's residence, Pahiatua
Folio	94/355
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 March 1894
Officiating Minister	W. H. Philip

19 March 1894

Ralph John Newton
Annie Margaret Johnson

Ralph John Newton
Annie Margaret Johnson
💍 1894/356

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Waitress

25 years
21 years

Woodville
Woodville

3 days
6 months

The Presbyterian Manse, Woodville

94/312

19 March 1894

Thomas Halls

No	67
Date of Notice	19 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ralph John Newton	Annie Margaret Johnson
	💍 1894/356
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Waitress
Age	25 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Woodville	Woodville
Length of Residence	3 days	6 months
Marriage Place	The Presbyterian Manse, Woodville
Folio	94/312
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Thomas Halls

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).