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 190

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 March 1894

No	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
1	3 January 1894	James William Foy Hannah Jane Cottle	James William Fox Hannah Jane Cottle 💍 1894/553	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	33 28	Taita Belmont	years years	House of Mr. Cottle, Belmont	94/427		3 January 1894	Rev. Joshua Jones
2	3 January 1894	Thomas Heywood Ellen Williams Vernon	Thomas Haywood Ellen Williams Vernon 💍 1894/464	Bachelor Spinster	Gardener	23 23	Taita Taita	years years	Registrars office, Wellington	94/475		3 January 1894	Mr. T. Wyatt
3	3 January 1894	Niels Peter Nielsen Maren Nielsen	Niels Peter Nielsen Maren Nielsen 💍 1894/466	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	22 22	Wellington Wellington	14 days 3 days	Office, Wellington	94/476		3 January 1894	Mr. T. Wyatt
4	4 January 1894	Albert Edward Dobbyn Catherine de La Roche	Albert Edward Dobbing Catherine de La Roche 💍 1894/467	Bachelor Spinster	Master Mariner	31 21	Wellington Wellington	5 days years	Registrars office, Wellington	94/477		4 January 1894	Mr. T. Wyatt
5	6 January 1894	Benjamin Robert Reeve Sarah Amy Dickens	Benjamin Robert Reeve Sarah Amy Dickens 💍 1894/4058	Bachelor Spinster	Station Hand	31 25	Wellington Wellington	1 Week 6 months	Registrars office, Wellington	94/478		6 January 1894	Mr. T. Wyatt
6	8 January 1894	Bernard Larkin Katie Fitzpatrick	Bernard Larkin Katie Fitzpatrick 💍 1894/4056	Bachelor Spinster	Hotel Keeper	27 22	Petone Wellington	3 months years	Roman Catholic Church, Lower Hutt	94/408		8 January 1894	Rev. John Land
7	8 January 1894	Adam Dalgleish Elizabeth Mary Burns	Adam Dalgleish Elizabeth Mary Burns 💍 1894/456	Bachelor Spinster	Stocking Maker	23 25	Wellington Wellington	years years	Scotch Church, Lower Hutt	94/467		8 January 1894	Rev. Andrew Gray
8	9 January 1894	Edward Tucker Maggie Gee	Edwin Tucker Maggie Gee 💍 1894/448	Widower Widow	Mariner	49 36	Wellington Wellington	9 months years	House of Mrs. Marjoribanks, Marjoribanks Street	94/436		9 January 1894	Rev. J. F. Lewis
9	9 January 1894	Lorraine or Duncan Cashleen Roberts		Bachelor Spinster	Traveller	23 21	Wellington Wellington	6 months 3 months	St. Johns Church, Dixon Street	94/461		9 January 1894	Rev. James Paterson
10	9 January 1894	William Albert Kriegg Annie Kriegg	William Albert Turner Annie Knigge 💍 1894/554	Bachelor Spinster	Boiler Maker	23 20	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Peters Church	94/428	Charles Herman Kriegg, Father	9 January 1894	Rev. W. C. Waters
11	10 January 1894	John Alfred Busin Margaret Nancy Porter	John Alfred Burns Margaret Nancy Porter 💍 1894/468	Bachelor Spinster	Grocer	21 17	Wellington Wellington	10 months years	Registrars office, Wellington	94/479	Mary E. Porter, Mother	10 January 1894	Mr. T. Wyatt
12	11 January 1894	George Richard Darby Elizabeth Ann Kinsman	George Richard Saxby Elizabeth Ann Kuisman 💍 1894/476	Widower Spinster	Manager of Tramways	39 25	Wellington Wellington	years 3 months	House of Mr. Kinsman, Vivian Street	94/463		11 January 1894	Rev. J. Paterson
13	11 January 1894	Charles Edward Fraser Annie Barry	Charles Edward Fraser Annie Barry 💍 1894/563	Bachelor Widow	Clerk	33 30	Wellington Wellington	18 months 3 months	St. Mary of the Angels	94/413		11 January 1894	Rev. W. Goggan
14	11 January 1894	James George Paterson Elizabeth Magdalene Jackson	James George Paterson Elizabeth Magdalene Jackson 💍 1894/469	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	26 21	Wellington Wellington	1 Week 6 months	Registrars office, Wellington	94/480		11 January 1894	Mr. T. Wyatt
15	13 January 1894	Archibald Nance Isabella Robson	Archibald Harre Isabella Robson 💍 1894/470	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	30 22	Wellington Wellington	4 days years	Registrars office, Wellington	94/481		13 January 1894	Mr. T. Wyatt

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 1894. More registers will be added as the project continues.

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).