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 226

District of Nelson 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	1 January 1894	James Fowler Hearse Jane Cameron	James Fowler Kearse Jane Cannon 💍 1894/691	Bachelor Spinster	Miner Laundress	29 36	Bridge Street, Nelson Bridge Street, Nelson	4 days 4 days	Registrar's Office	94/561		1 January 1894	Officiating Registrar of Marriages, Nelson
2	9 January 1894	William Thomas Scott Elizabeth Pageling	William Thomas Frost Amy Elizabeth Page 💍 1894/695 William Rolland Orr Elizabeth Laing 💍 1894/3914 William John Tiddy Elizabeth Phillip 💍 1894/958 William James Allen Elizabeth Pollock 💍 1894/4192	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	29 25	Karapauha, Nelson Karapauha, Nelson	29 years 25 years	St. Andrews Church	94/565		9 January 1894	J. de Burgh, Fellow, Church of England
3	24 January 1894	William Daniel Thom Charlotte Beatrice Barnett	William Barrie Thom Charlotte Bessie Barnett 💍 1894/703	Bachelor Spinster	Draper	32 23	Collingwood Street, Nelson Waimea Street, Nelson	4 months 23 years	Residence of Elizabeth Warner, Waimea Street	94/572		24 January 1894	J. H. H. Strugnell, Presbyterian Minister
4	29 January 1894	William Henry Short Catherine Robertson	William Henry Short Catherine Robertson 💍 1894/702	Bachelor Spinster	Sailor	26 24	Hardy Street, Nelson Collingwood Street, Nelson	10 years 24 years	Registrar's Office	94/571		29 January 1894	J. H. H. Strugnell, Presbyterian Minister
5	3 February 1894	George Albert Whiting Sarah Eliza Thomas	George Albert Whiting Sarah Eliza Thomas 💍 1894/692	Bachelor Widow	Labourer Domestic Servant	24 36	Brook Street, Nelson Brook Street, Nelson	6 weeks 6 days	Registrar's Office	94/562		3 February 1894	Hugh Colders, Registrar of Marriages
6	15 February 1894	George Nelson Strawbridge Susan Start	George Wilson Strawbridge Susan Hart 💍 1894/693	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Domestic Servant	26 23	Nile Street, Nelson Nile Street, Nelson	18 years 6 months	Registrar's Office	94/563		15 February 1894	Hugh Colders, Registrar of Marriages
7	27 February 1894	James Edgar Rankin Eliza King	James Guger Rankin Eliza Ching 💍 1894/696	Bachelor Spinster	Gardener	34 31	Provincial Street, Nelson Stoke, Nelson	31 years 31 years	Residence of James King, Stoke	94/566		27 February 1894	Thomas Bray, Baptist Minister
8	14 March 1894	John Laurie Alice Scott	John Laurie Alice Stott 💍 1894/694	Bachelor Spinster	Gold Miner Domestic Servant	29 24	Bridge Street, Nelson Britannia Heights, Nelson	3 days 6 months	Registrar's Office	94/564		14 March 1894	Hugh Colders, Registrar of Marriages
9	15 March 1894	William Stewart Julia Moss	William Stewart Julia Moss 💍 1894/701	Bachelor Spinster	Mechanical Engineer Domestic Servant	24 24	Victoria Crescent, Nelson Harley Street, Stoke	24 years 16 years	Residence of George Moss, Stoke	94/570		15 March 1894	John Crump, Wesleyan Minister
10	15 March 1894	Edward John Roberts Mabel Isabel Mackay	Edward John Roberts Mabel Isobel MacKay 💍 1894/1897	Bachelor Spinster	Medical Practitioner	29 20	Hardy Street, Nelson North Street, Christchurch	18 months 10 years	Church of England	94/2006	Archibald Mackay, father of bride	15 March 1894	Rev. A. H. St. Hill, Church of England
11	17 March 1894	George Hunter Edith Davis	George Hunter Edith Davis 💍 1894/646	Bachelor Spinster	Accountant Teacher of Music	32 26	Halifax Street, Nelson 230 Dean Street, Christchurch	32 years 30 years	Presbyterian Church	94/573		17 March 1894	J. H. H. Strugnell, Presbyterian Minister
12	21 March 1894	James Moses Rose White	James Moyes Rose White 💍 1894/704	Bachelor Spinster	Tailor	31 24	Bridge Street, Nelson Bridge Street, Nelson	31 years 24 years	Registrar's Office	94/573		21 March 1894	J. H. H. Strugnell, Presbyterian Minister
13	21 March 1894	Christopher Syme Isabella Revell	Christopher Byrne Isabella Revell 💍 1894/577	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	52 37	Wesley Street, Richmond Queen Street, Richmond	25 years 22 years	Roman Catholic Church	94/575		21 March 1894	Father Mahoney, Roman Catholic Priest
14	22 March 1894	Frederick Henry Boockmann Ellen Sophia Reily	John Frederick Henry Bockmann Ellen Sophia Webley 💍 1894/566	Bachelor Spinster	Rancher Music Teacher	32 24	Vanguard Street, Nelson Vanguard Street, Nelson	6 months 12 years	All Saints Church	94/574		22 March 1894	J. H. H. Strugnell, Church of England
15	24 March 1894	David Henry Whiting Amelia Shell Fauchelle	David Henry Whiting Ethel Amelia Fanchelle 💍 1894/697	Bachelor Spinster	Painter Domestic Servant	31 27	Brook Street, Nelson Waimea Street, Nelson	31 years 4 days	Brook Street	94/567		24 March 1894	Thomas Bray, Baptist Minister

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).