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 436

District of Auckland Quarter ending 30 June 1894 Registrar E. H. Lyons

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

238

29 May 1894

William George Robson
Eliza Jane Brown

George William Robson
Eliza Jane Brown
💍 1894/1124

Widower
Spinster

Steward

56
23

Auckland
Auckland

30 years
6 months

House of Rev. C. Keane

94/1158

29 May 1894

Rev. F. W. Greenwood, Church of Christ

No	238
Date of Notice	29 May 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William George Robson	Eliza Jane Brown
BDM Match (67%)	George William Robson	Eliza Jane Brown
	💍 1894/1124
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Steward
Age	56	23
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	30 years	6 months
Marriage Place	House of Rev. C. Keane
Folio	94/1158
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 May 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. W. Greenwood, Church of Christ

239

30 May 1894

John Dawes
Frances Julia Allen

John Dawes
Frances Julia Allan
💍 1894/1089

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

23
17

Auckland
Auckland

about 6 months
17 years

Registrar's Office

94/1099

Daniel Allen, father

30 May 1894

E. H. Lyons, Registrar

No	239
Date of Notice	30 May 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Dawes	Frances Julia Allen
BDM Match (97%)	John Dawes	Frances Julia Allan
	💍 1894/1089
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	23	17
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	about 6 months	17 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	94/1099
Consent	Daniel Allen, father
Date of Certificate	30 May 1894
Officiating Minister	E. H. Lyons, Registrar

240

30 May 1894

John E. Clay
Margaret Ann Little

John McClay
Margaret Ann Little
💍 1894/1088

Bachelor
Widow

Engineer

47
47

Auckland
Auckland

4 years
2 years

Registrar's Office

94/1098

30 May 1894

E. H. Lyons, Registrar

No	240
Date of Notice	30 May 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John E. Clay	Margaret Ann Little
BDM Match (88%)	John McClay	Margaret Ann Little
	💍 1894/1088
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Engineer
Age	47	47
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	94/1098
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1894
Officiating Minister	E. H. Lyons, Registrar

241

30 May 1894

John Sturgeon
Catherine Waugh

John Sturgeon
Catherine Waugh
💍 1894/1090

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

47
22

Paparata
Paparata

30 years
22 years

Registrar's Office

94/1100

30 May 1894

E. H. Lyons, Registrar

No	241
Date of Notice	30 May 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Sturgeon	Catherine Waugh
	💍 1894/1090
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	47	22
Dwelling Place	Paparata	Paparata
Length of Residence	30 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	94/1100
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1894
Officiating Minister	E. H. Lyons, Registrar

242

31 May 1894

Frederick James Moslem
Rachel Jessie March

Frederick James Moselen
Rachel Kessiah March
💍 1894/1998

Bachelor
Spinster

Tram Driver

21
20

Auckland
Auckland

21 years
19 years

House of Mrs. J. March, Grey Street

94/2112

Mrs. J. March, mother

31 May 1894

Rev. J. Blaikie, Baptist

No	242
Date of Notice	31 May 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick James Moslem	Rachel Jessie March
BDM Match (88%)	Frederick James Moselen	Rachel Kessiah March
	💍 1894/1998
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tram Driver
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	21 years	19 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. J. March, Grey Street
Folio	94/2112
Consent	Mrs. J. March, mother
Date of Certificate	31 May 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Blaikie, Baptist

243

31 May 1894

Enoch Burden
Frances Witham

Enoch Burden
Frances Witham
💍 1894/1233

Widower
Widow

Tailor

60
44

Onehunga
Onehunga

20 years
20 years

St. John's College

94/1166

31 May 1894

Rev. P. S. Smallfield, Church of England

No	243
Date of Notice	31 May 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Enoch Burden	Frances Witham
	💍 1894/1233
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Tailor
Age	60	44
Dwelling Place	Onehunga	Onehunga
Length of Residence	20 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. John's College
Folio	94/1166
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. S. Smallfield, Church of England

244

1 June 1894

Hugh Saunders
Mary Robison Anderson

Hugh Saunders Robison
Mary Anderson
💍 1894/1075

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Clerk

32
27

Auckland
Auckland

3 years
27 years

Bishop's Chapel

94/1109

1 June 1894

Right Rev. Bishop Cowie, Church of England

No	244
Date of Notice	1 June 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Saunders	Mary Robison Anderson
BDM Match (62%)	Hugh Saunders Robison	Mary Anderson
	💍 1894/1075
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Clerk
Age	32	27
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 years	27 years
Marriage Place	Bishop's Chapel
Folio	94/1109
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 June 1894
Officiating Minister	Right Rev. Bishop Cowie, Church of England

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).