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 194

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
62	14 February 1894	Edward Parnell Edith Marion Ensor	Edward Parnell Edith Marion Urwin 💍 1894/980	Bachelor Spinster	Music Seller	25 21	Wellington Wellington	40 days 4 weeks	St. Pauls	94/1008		14 February 1894	Rev. T. H. Sprott
63	14 February 1894	Charles Alderton Ellen Jane Waters	Charles Alderton Ellen Jane Waters 💍 1894/4061	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	40 31	Wellington Wellington	40 days 1 year	Registrars Office	94/497		14 February 1894	W. T. Wyall
64	14 February 1894	Alexander Henderson Ellen Louisa May	Alexander Henderson Ellen Louisa May 💍 1894/4062	Bachelor Spinster	Plasterer	28 24	Wellington Wellington	1 month 1 year	Registrars Office	94/498		14 February 1894	W. T. Wyall
65	19 February 1894	John William Patterson Mary Ann Greathead	John William Tattersall Mary Anne Greathead 💍 1894/450	Widower Widow	Storeman	52 52	Wellington Wellington	years 3 days	House of Mr. O'Sullivan, Herbal Street	94/438		19 February 1894	Rev. J. G. Lewis
66	21 February 1894	Harry Ross Lydia Clara Parsons	Harry Ross Lydia Clara Parsons 💍 1894/516	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	22 18	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars Office	94/499	Rachel Parsons, mother	21 February 1894	W. T. Wyall
67	21 February 1894	Arthur Henry Rogers Martha Leonard	Arthur Henry Rogers Martha Leonard 💍 1894/444	Bachelor Widow	Night Watchman	25 24	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. McDonald, Kent Terrace	94/454		21 February 1894	Rev. J. K. Elliott
68	22 February 1894	Augustine Frederick Wilson Margarita Cecily Lacey	Augustine Frederick Wilson Margarita Cecily de Lacey 💍 1894/527	Bachelor Spinster	Station Hand	30 21	Wellington Wellington	3 days 1 month	Registrars Office	94/500		22 February 1894	W. T. Wyall
69	22 February 1894	William Stewart Corley Eunice Eliza Corlett	William Stewart Corby Eunice Eliza Corlet 💍 1894/550	Bachelor Spinster	Compositor	24 20	Johnsonville Johnsonville	6 days years	St. Johns Church	94/424	Edmund George Corlett, father	22 February 1894	Ven. Archdeacon Fancourt
70	23 February 1894	William Charles Whiteford Catherine Griffin	William Charles Whiteford Catherine Griffin 💍 1894/534	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	31 30	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars Office	94/501		23 February 1894	W. T. Wyall
71	23 February 1894	James Francis Fitzgerald Alice Maud Mary Carr	James Francis Fitzgerald Alice Maude Mary Carr 💍 1894/556	Bachelor Spinster	Painter	24 20	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Peters Church	94/430	Thomas Carr, father	23 February 1894	Rev. W. C. Yate
72	26 February 1894	Spensley Dickson Thomson Alice Chase	Spensley Dickson Thomson Alice Chase 💍 1894/2255	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	29 29	Taita Taita	years years	House of Mr. Seagar, Taita	94/2148		26 February 1894	Rev. W. Kirk
73	26 February 1894	William Henry Wending Mary White Kirkham	William Henry Whiting Mary White Kirk 💍 1894/1064	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	29 29	Wellington Wellington	1 year years	St. Andrews Parsonage	94/1049		26 February 1894	Rev. C. S. Ogg
74	27 February 1894	Antonio Vidal Caroline Mary Greenham	Antonio Vidal Caroline Mary Josephine Maney 💍 1894/546	Bachelor Spinster	Cabinet Maker	27 23	Wellington Wellington	9 months years	St. Mary of the Angels	94/420		27 February 1894	Rev. M. Goggan
75	27 February 1894	Frank James Eade Ellen Hunter	Frank James Eades Ellen Hunter 💍 1894/478 John Alexander Reid Ellen Hunter 💍 1895/2830	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	31 23	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. Harris, Mitchelltown	94/465		27 February 1894	Rev. C. E. Ward
76	27 February 1894	John O'Donnell Susannah Annie Turner	John ODonnell Susanah Fanny Turner 💍 1894/547	Bachelor Widow	Farmer	33 28	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Mary of the Angels	94/421		27 February 1894	Very Rev. J. J. O'Reilly

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).