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 164

District of Greytown Quarter ending 31 March 1894 Registrar R. C. Black

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

642

3 January 1894

Heta Hemi
Huria Kini

Bachelor
Spinster

native chief
native

32
20

Martinborough
Hokitika

32 years
15 years

House of the Maori Minister, Rev. Te Kote, Greytown N.Z.

Huria Muriwai, Aunt

3 January 1894

Rev. Te Kote

No	642
Date of Notice	3 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Heta Hemi	Huria Kini
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	native chief	native
Age	32	20
Dwelling Place	Martinborough	Hokitika
Length of Residence	32 years	15 years
Marriage Place	House of the Maori Minister, Rev. Te Kote, Greytown N.Z.
Folio
Consent	Huria Muriwai, Aunt
Date of Certificate	3 January 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. Te Kote

643

22 January 1894

John Frederick Saunders
Emma Whybrow

John Frederick Saunders
Emma Whybrow
💍 1894/396

Bachelor
Spinster

Express Driver, Post & Telegraph Stores
Saleswoman

26
26

Wellington
Wellington

4 years
2 years

Residence of Mr. Jas. Baillie, Greytown N.Z.

94/329

22 January 1894

Rev. C. Murray

No	643
Date of Notice	22 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Frederick Saunders	Emma Whybrow
	💍 1894/396
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Express Driver, Post & Telegraph Stores	Saleswoman
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	4 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Jas. Baillie, Greytown N.Z.
Folio	94/329
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 January 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Murray

644

24 January 1894

Sidney Septimus Ratcliff
Annie Reynolds Poard

Bachelor
Spinster

Land agent
Home duties

26
22

Feilding
Feilding

6 years
22 years

Residence of Hart, Feilding, Greytown N.Z.

94/335

24 January 1894

Rev. W. Rouse

No	644
Date of Notice	24 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sidney Septimus Ratcliff	Annie Reynolds Poard
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Land agent	Home duties
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Feilding	Feilding
Length of Residence	6 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Hart, Feilding, Greytown N.Z.
Folio	94/335
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Rouse

645

6 February 1894

John Joseph Dalton
Emma Bagust

John Joseph Dalton
Emma Bagust
💍 1894/398

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
domestic service

23
21

Martinborough
Martinborough

2 years
1 year

House of Brides mother, Martinborough N.Z.

94/331

6 February 1894

Rev. J. Hepburn

No	645
Date of Notice	6 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Joseph Dalton	Emma Bagust
	💍 1894/398
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	domestic service
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Martinborough	Martinborough
Length of Residence	2 years	1 year
Marriage Place	House of Brides mother, Martinborough N.Z.
Folio	94/331
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Hepburn

646

7 February 1894

John Dochery
Esther Wright

John Dockey
Esther Wright
💍 1894/400

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmill hand
Home duties

21
21

Greytown N.Z.
Greytown N.Z.

18 years
2 months

House of Bridegroom's father, Greytown N.Z.

94/333

7 February 1894

Rev. S. J. Gibson

No	646
Date of Notice	7 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Dochery	Esther Wright
BDM Match (92%)	John Dockey	Esther Wright
	💍 1894/400
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmill hand	Home duties
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Greytown N.Z.	Greytown N.Z.
Length of Residence	18 years	2 months
Marriage Place	House of Bridegroom's father, Greytown N.Z.
Folio	94/333
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. J. Gibson

647

8 February 1894

Edwin George Collier
Jane Terry

Edwin George Collie
Janie Terry
💍 1894/399

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Home duties

28
23

Greytown N.Z.
Greytown N.Z.

10 years
1 year

House of the Brides brother, Papawai, Greytown N.Z.

94/332

8 February 1894

Rev. S. J. Gibson

No	647
Date of Notice	8 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin George Collier	Jane Terry
BDM Match (93%)	Edwin George Collie	Janie Terry
	💍 1894/399
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Home duties
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Greytown N.Z.	Greytown N.Z.
Length of Residence	10 years	1 year
Marriage Place	House of the Brides brother, Papawai, Greytown N.Z.
Folio	94/332
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. J. Gibson

648

20 February 1894

Thomas Frank Valentine
Minnie Parish

Thomas Frank Valentine
Minnie Parish
💍 1894/1106

Bachelor
Spinster

Druggist
Tailoress

22
24

Martinborough
Martinborough

1 year
24 years

House of the Brides mother, Martinborough N.Z.

94/1040

20 February 1894

Rev. Alex Thomson

No	648
Date of Notice	20 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Frank Valentine	Minnie Parish
	💍 1894/1106
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Druggist	Tailoress
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Martinborough	Martinborough
Length of Residence	1 year	24 years
Marriage Place	House of the Brides mother, Martinborough N.Z.
Folio	94/1040
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alex Thomson

649

22 February 1894

John Gaskin
Mary Bagust

John Gaskin
Mary Bagust
💍 1894/401

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
General Servant

29
22

Martinborough
Martinborough

3 months
4 months

House of the Brides mother, Martinborough N.Z.

94/334

22 February 1894

Rev. S. J. Gibson

No	649
Date of Notice	22 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Gaskin	Mary Bagust
	💍 1894/401
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	General Servant
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Martinborough	Martinborough
Length of Residence	3 months	4 months
Marriage Place	House of the Brides mother, Martinborough N.Z.
Folio	94/334
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. J. Gibson

650

24 March 1894

Jacob Hall Baumber
Annie Maria Beard

Jacob Hall Baumber
Annie Maria Beards
💍 1894/397

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Home duties

25
23

Greytown N.Z.
Greytown N.Z.

2 years
23 years

House of the Brides brother, C. Beard, Greytown N.Z.

94/330

24 March 1894

Rev. C. Murray

No	650
Date of Notice	24 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jacob Hall Baumber	Annie Maria Beard
BDM Match (97%)	Jacob Hall Baumber	Annie Maria Beards
	💍 1894/397
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Home duties
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Greytown N.Z.	Greytown N.Z.
Length of Residence	2 years	23 years
Marriage Place	House of the Brides brother, C. Beard, Greytown N.Z.
Folio	94/330
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Murray

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).