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 262

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1894 Registrar J. M. Macfarlane

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

7 March 1894

Harry Reynolds
Agnes Bowles

Harry Reynolds
Agnes Bowles
💍 1894/604

Bachelor
Spinster

Watchmaker

30
25

Christchurch
Linwood

19 years
7 weeks

Church of Good Shepherd

94/622

7 March 1894

Rev. H. J. C. Gilbert, Church of England

No	70
Date of Notice	7 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Reynolds	Agnes Bowles
	💍 1894/604
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Watchmaker
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Linwood
Length of Residence	19 years	7 weeks
Marriage Place	Church of Good Shepherd
Folio	94/622
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. J. C. Gilbert, Church of England

8 March 1894

Alexander McCormick
Florence Fanny Naulivell

Alexander McCormick
Florence Fanny Nankivell
💍 1894/650

Bachelor
Spinster

Machinist

33
21

Christchurch
Avonside

29 years
21 years

Church Holy Trinity

94/669

8 March 1894

Rev. W. A. Pascoe, Church of England

No	71
Date of Notice	8 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander McCormick	Florence Fanny Naulivell
BDM Match (96%)	Alexander McCormick	Florence Fanny Nankivell
	💍 1894/650
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Machinist
Age	33	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Avonside
Length of Residence	29 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Church Holy Trinity
Folio	94/669
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Pascoe, Church of England

12 March 1894

William Scarlet
Eliza Topham

William Scarlet
Eliza Jopham
💍 1894/683

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

29
23

Christchurch
Lincoln

3 days
23 years

Presbyterian Church

94/680

12 March 1894

Rev. A. W. L. Wright, Presbyterian Minister

No	72
Date of Notice	12 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Scarlet	Eliza Topham
BDM Match (96%)	William Scarlet	Eliza Jopham
	💍 1894/683
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Lincoln
Length of Residence	3 days	23 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church
Folio	94/680
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. W. L. Wright, Presbyterian Minister

12 March 1894

Josiah Fox
Maria Julia Hull

Josiah Fox
Maria Julia Hull
💍 1894/648

Bachelor
Spinster

Saddler
Laundress

24
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
2 years

St. Lukes Church

94/650

Margaret Hull, Mother

12 March 1894

Rev. Arch. Lingard, Church of England

No	73
Date of Notice	12 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Josiah Fox	Maria Julia Hull
	💍 1894/648
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler	Laundress
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Lukes Church
Folio	94/650
Consent	Margaret Hull, Mother
Date of Certificate	12 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. Arch. Lingard, Church of England

12 March 1894

Francis Baulk
Eliza Stevenson

Widower
Spinster

Carpenter
Tailoress

43
34

Christchurch
Christchurch

17 years
13 years

House of Mr. Brown, Clare Road, St. Albans

94/633

12 March 1894

Rev. R. Davies, Presbyterian

No	74
Date of Notice	12 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Baulk	Eliza Stevenson
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Tailoress
Age	43	34
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	17 years	13 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Brown, Clare Road, St. Albans
Folio	94/633
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Davies, Presbyterian

12 March 1894

William George Greening
Amelia Alice Salmon

William George Greening
Amelia Alice Tatam
💍 1894/629

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

23
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 week
1 week

St. Lukes Church

94/648

12 March 1894

Rev. Arch. Lingard, Church of England

No	75
Date of Notice	12 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William George Greening	Amelia Alice Salmon
BDM Match (87%)	William George Greening	Amelia Alice Tatam
	💍 1894/629
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 week	1 week
Marriage Place	St. Lukes Church
Folio	94/648
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. Arch. Lingard, Church of England

13 March 1894

George Shepherd Halliday
Rose Driver

George Shepherd Halliday
Rose Dewe
💍 1894/619

Bachelor
Spinster

Fitter

24
23

Christchurch
Sumner

8 years
15 years

House of Mr. Richard Driver, St. Sydenham

94/638

13 March 1894

Rev. J. M. Simpson, Presbyterian

No	76
Date of Notice	13 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Shepherd Halliday	Rose Driver
BDM Match (82%)	George Shepherd Halliday	Rose Dewe
	💍 1894/619
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fitter
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sumner
Length of Residence	8 years	15 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Richard Driver, St. Sydenham
Folio	94/638
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Simpson, Presbyterian

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).