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 236

District of Greymouth Quarter ending 31 March 1894 Registrar Benjamin Harper

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

January 1894

Thomas Hugh Latimer
Katherina Nick

Thomas Hugh Latimer
Katherina Wick
💍 1894/576

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver

34 years
24 years

Greymouth
Brunnerton (now of Greymouth)

8 months
1 week

At the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Greymouth

94/594

2 January 1894

Benjamin Harper, Registrar, Greymouth

No	1
Date of Notice	January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Hugh Latimer	Katherina Nick
BDM Match (96%)	Thomas Hugh Latimer	Katherina Wick
	💍 1894/576
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver
Age	34 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Brunnerton (now of Greymouth)
Length of Residence	8 months	1 week
Marriage Place	At the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Greymouth
Folio	94/594
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 January 1894
Officiating Minister	Benjamin Harper, Registrar, Greymouth

1 February 1894

Richard Devereux
Mary Jane King
formerly Dinsdale

Richard Devereux
Mary Jane King
💍 1894/578

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer

22 years
35 years

Moonlight, Grey Valley
Moonlight, Grey Valley

7 years
14 years

At the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Greymouth

94/595

1 February 1894

Benjamin Harper, Registrar, Greymouth

No	2
Date of Notice	1 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Devereux	Mary Jane King formerly Dinsdale
	💍 1894/578
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	22 years	35 years
Dwelling Place	Moonlight, Grey Valley	Moonlight, Grey Valley
Length of Residence	7 years	14 years
Marriage Place	At the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Greymouth
Folio	94/595
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1894
Officiating Minister	Benjamin Harper, Registrar, Greymouth

5 February 1894

Louis Arthur Robinson Stewart
Isabela Clara Rosa De Freitas

Louis Arthur Robinson Stewart
Isabella Clara Josa De Frietas
💍 1894/579

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmiller
Dressmaker

42 years
24 years

Kokiri
Maori Gully, Arnold

2 years
15 years

Roman Catholic Church, Greymouth

94/596

5 February 1894

The Rev. Father Michael T. Laverty

No	3
Date of Notice	5 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Louis Arthur Robinson Stewart	Isabela Clara Rosa De Freitas
BDM Match (93%)	Louis Arthur Robinson Stewart	Isabella Clara Josa De Frietas
	💍 1894/579
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmiller	Dressmaker
Age	42 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Kokiri	Maori Gully, Arnold
Length of Residence	2 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Greymouth
Folio	94/596
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1894
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Father Michael T. Laverty

14 February 1894

Edward Rawson
Gertrude Emmiline Moss

Edward Rawson
Gertrude Emmiline Moss
💍 1894/580

Bachelor
Spinster

Civil Servant

28 years
20 years

Naseby, Otago (last 3 days Greymouth)
Greymouth

3 days
20 years

The Church of England, Greymouth

94/597

George William Mills, Father

14 February 1894

The Rev. Geo. Wm. York

No	4
Date of Notice	14 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Rawson	Gertrude Emmiline Moss
	💍 1894/580
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Civil Servant
Age	28 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Naseby, Otago (last 3 days Greymouth)	Greymouth
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	The Church of England, Greymouth
Folio	94/597
Consent	George William Mills, Father
Date of Certificate	14 February 1894
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Geo. Wm. York

19 February 1894

John Thomas Gamble
Caroline Rowe

John Thomas Gamble
Caroline Rowe
💍 1894/581

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Servant

23 years
23 years

Greymouth
Greymouth

8 years
8 days

The Church of England, Greymouth

94/598

19 February 1894

The Rev. Geo. Wm. York

No	5
Date of Notice	19 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thomas Gamble	Caroline Rowe
	💍 1894/581
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Servant
Age	23 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	8 years	8 days
Marriage Place	The Church of England, Greymouth
Folio	94/598
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1894
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Geo. Wm. York

10 March 1894

Albert John Wilkins Johnston
Martha Roneston Trilley

Albert John Wilkins Johnston
Martha Roulston Neilley
💍 1894/589

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraphist
School Teacher

28 years
22 years

Greymouth
Greymouth

9 years
22 years

The Presbyterian Church, Greymouth

94/599

10 March 1894

The Rev. R. Stewart

No	6
Date of Notice	10 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert John Wilkins Johnston	Martha Roneston Trilley
BDM Match (91%)	Albert John Wilkins Johnston	Martha Roulston Neilley
	💍 1894/589
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist	School Teacher
Age	28 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	9 years	22 years
Marriage Place	The Presbyterian Church, Greymouth
Folio	94/599
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 March 1894
Officiating Minister	The Rev. R. Stewart

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).