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 350

District of Lawrence Quarter ending 31 March 1894 Registrar Henry I. Abel

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

487

29 January 1894

John Robertson
Margaret Jane McIntyre

John Robertson
Margaret Jane McIntyre
💍 1894/833

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
None

27
23

Clark's Flat
Mapella West

3 weeks
23 years

At the home of Alexander, Mapella West

94/7884

29 January 1894

The Rev. Isaac Jolly, Presbyterian Minister

No	487
Date of Notice	29 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Robertson	Margaret Jane McIntyre
	💍 1894/833
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	None
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Clark's Flat	Mapella West
Length of Residence	3 weeks	23 years
Marriage Place	At the home of Alexander, Mapella West
Folio	94/7884
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1894
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Isaac Jolly, Presbyterian Minister

488

19 January 1894

Kinnear Ross
Martha Jane Thompson

Kinnear Ross
Martha Jane Thompson
💍 1894/835

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Agent
None

25
24

Lawrence
Lawrence

1/2 year
20 years

At Trinity Church, Lawrence

94/7886

19 January 1894

The Rev. G. P. Lawrence, Anglican Church, England

No	488
Date of Notice	19 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Kinnear Ross	Martha Jane Thompson
	💍 1894/835
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Agent	None
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Lawrence	Lawrence
Length of Residence	1/2 year	20 years
Marriage Place	At Trinity Church, Lawrence
Folio	94/7886
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 January 1894
Officiating Minister	The Rev. G. P. Lawrence, Anglican Church, England

489

20 January 1894

William Proctor
Fanny Walpole Miller

William Procter
Fanny Walpole Miller
💍 1894/836

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Dress Maker

23
23

Lawrence
Lawrence

3 days
5 months

At the home of Mrs. May Miller, Lawrence

94/7887

20 January 1894

The Rev. W. M. Thomas, Wesleyan Minister

No	489
Date of Notice	20 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Proctor	Fanny Walpole Miller
BDM Match (97%)	William Procter	Fanny Walpole Miller
	💍 1894/836
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Dress Maker
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Lawrence	Lawrence
Length of Residence	3 days	5 months
Marriage Place	At the home of Mrs. May Miller, Lawrence
Folio	94/7887
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 January 1894
Officiating Minister	The Rev. W. M. Thomas, Wesleyan Minister

490

21 January 1894

Archibald Williamson
Marjorie Robertson McLaren

Archibald Williamson
Marjory Robertson McLaren
💍 1894/834

Bachelor
Spinster

Bricklayer
Teacher

31
24

Lawrence
Hospital Flat

3 days
2 years

At the home of McLaren, Hospital Flat

94/7885

21 January 1894

The Rev. Isaac Jolly, Presbyterian Minister

No	490
Date of Notice	21 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald Williamson	Marjorie Robertson McLaren
BDM Match (96%)	Archibald Williamson	Marjory Robertson McLaren
	💍 1894/834
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bricklayer	Teacher
Age	31	24
Dwelling Place	Lawrence	Hospital Flat
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	At the home of McLaren, Hospital Flat
Folio	94/7885
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 January 1894
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Isaac Jolly, Presbyterian Minister

491

6 March 1894

John Mackay
Myra Lilian McLean

Widower
Widow

Farmer
None

53
40

Mapella West
Mapella West

16 years
13 years

At the Manse, Occupied by The Rev. John McLean, Mapella West

94/7888

6 March 1894

The Rev. James Nimmo, Mary Terrace Minister

No	491
Date of Notice	6 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Mackay	Myra Lilian McLean
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Farmer	None
Age	53	40
Dwelling Place	Mapella West	Mapella West
Length of Residence	16 years	13 years
Marriage Place	At the Manse, Occupied by The Rev. John McLean, Mapella West
Folio	94/7888
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1894
Officiating Minister	The Rev. James Nimmo, Mary Terrace 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).