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 330

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1894 Registrar William Joseph Hall

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

16 January 1894

William Robertson
Agnes Logan

William Robertson
Agnes Logan
💍 1894/865

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

23 years
27 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In Knox Church

94/793

16 January 1894

Revd Dr Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

No	15
Date of Notice	16 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Robertson	Agnes Logan
	💍 1894/865
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	23 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In Knox Church
Folio	94/793
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 January 1894
Officiating Minister	Revd Dr Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

17 January 1894

Edwin Chaplin
Elizabeth Ingram

Edwin Chaplin
Elizabeth Ingram
💍 1894/866

Bachelor
Widow

Painter

40 years
41 years

North East Valley
North East Valley

8 years
18 months

In the house of Edwin Chaplin

94/794

17 January 1894

Revd Dr Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

No	16
Date of Notice	17 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin Chaplin	Elizabeth Ingram
	💍 1894/866
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Painter
Age	40 years	41 years
Dwelling Place	North East Valley	North East Valley
Length of Residence	8 years	18 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Edwin Chaplin
Folio	94/794
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 January 1894
Officiating Minister	Revd Dr Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

18 January 1894

Henry Little
Catherine Healey

Henry Little
Catherine Healey
💍 1894/842

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd

23 years
22 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
9 days

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages

94/870

18 January 1894

W. J. Hall, Registrar of Marriages

No	17
Date of Notice	18 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Little	Catherine Healey
	💍 1894/842
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd
Age	23 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	9 days
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	94/870
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 January 1894
Officiating Minister	W. J. Hall, Registrar of Marriages

20 January 1894

Thomas Rowley Seddon
Harriet Louisa Hamilton

Thomas Rowley Seddon
Harriet Louisa Hamilton
💍 1894/1052

Widower
Spinster

Sheep Farmer

40 years
43 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
6 days

In All Saints Church

94/1061

20 January 1894

Revd W. A. Diggens, Church of England Minister

No	18
Date of Notice	20 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Rowley Seddon	Harriet Louisa Hamilton
	💍 1894/1052
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer
Age	40 years	43 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	6 days
Marriage Place	In All Saints Church
Folio	94/1061
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 January 1894
Officiating Minister	Revd W. A. Diggens, Church of England Minister

22 January 1894

William Fitzgerald Watters
Kate Isobel Hannah

William Fitzgerald Watters
Kate Isabel Hannah
💍 1894/1109

Bachelor
Spinster

Teacher

25 years
26 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

1 month
2 months

In the house of William Hannah, Maitland Street

94/1019

22 January 1894

Revd R. Waddell, Presbyterian Minister

No	19
Date of Notice	22 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Fitzgerald Watters	Kate Isobel Hannah
BDM Match (97%)	William Fitzgerald Watters	Kate Isabel Hannah
	💍 1894/1109
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Teacher
Age	25 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	1 month	2 months
Marriage Place	In the house of William Hannah, Maitland Street
Folio	94/1019
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 January 1894
Officiating Minister	Revd R. Waddell, Presbyterian Minister

22 January 1894

Samuel Jennings Allen
Catherine Harriet Thompson

Samuel Jennings Allen
Catherine Harriet Thompson
💍 1894/897

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

27 years
22 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

6 years
4 years

In St. Pauls Church

94/850

22 January 1894

Ven Archdeacon Edwards, Church of England Minister

No	20
Date of Notice	22 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Jennings Allen	Catherine Harriet Thompson
	💍 1894/897
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	27 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	6 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In St. Pauls Church
Folio	94/850
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 January 1894
Officiating Minister	Ven Archdeacon Edwards, Church of England Minister

24 January 1894

Frederic John Easther
Ada Flora Weldon

Frederic John Easther
Ada Flora Weldon
💍 1894/892

Widower
Spinster

Commander Royal Navy

51 years
33 years

Caversham
South Dunedin

13 years
4 years

In St. Peters Church

94/837

24 January 1894

Revd T. B. King, Church of England Minister

No	21
Date of Notice	24 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederic John Easther	Ada Flora Weldon
	💍 1894/892
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Commander Royal Navy
Age	51 years	33 years
Dwelling Place	Caversham	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	13 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In St. Peters Church
Folio	94/837
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1894
Officiating Minister	Revd T. B. King, Church of England 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 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).