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 440

District of Auckland Quarter ending 30 June 1894 Registrar S. 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

266

23 June 1894

Thomas Aitken Alexander
Isabella Smith

Thomas Aitken Alexander
Isabella Smith
💍 1894/4183

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

27
30

Hamilton
Auckland

25 years
5 years

House of Rev. W. W. Smith

94/2161

23 June 1894

Rev. R. S. West, Presbyterian

No	266
Date of Notice	23 June 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Aitken Alexander	Isabella Smith
	💍 1894/4183
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	27	30
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Auckland
Length of Residence	25 years	5 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. W. W. Smith
Folio	94/2161
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 June 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. S. West, Presbyterian

267

26 June 1894

Herbert Bertram Ward
Letitia Jane Davis

Herbert Burtram Wade
Letitia Jane Daves
💍 1894/1999

Widower
Spinster

Mariner

34
24

Auckland
Auckland

12 years
22 years

House of Rev. J. Blankie, 22 Hepburn Street

94/2113

26 June 1894

Rev. J. Blankie, Baptist

No	267
Date of Notice	26 June 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Bertram Ward	Letitia Jane Davis
BDM Match (90%)	Herbert Burtram Wade	Letitia Jane Daves
	💍 1894/1999
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	34	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	12 years	22 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. J. Blankie, 22 Hepburn Street
Folio	94/2113
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 June 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Blankie, Baptist

268

26 June 1894

Robert Hall In-Dermott
Kate Norma Sprinter

Bachelor
Spinster

Merchant

29
22

Remuera
Ponsonby

5 years
22 years

House of Rev. S. W. Green, 22 College Road

94/3001

26 June 1894

Rev. S. W. Green, Church of England

No	268
Date of Notice	26 June 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Hall In-Dermott	Kate Norma Sprinter
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Merchant
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Remuera	Ponsonby
Length of Residence	5 years	22 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. S. W. Green, 22 College Road
Folio	94/3001
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 June 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. W. Green, Church of England

269

27 June 1894

Henry Skeet Murray
Matilda Susannah Robinson

Henry McMurray
Matilda Susannah Robinson
💍 1894/4065

Bachelor
Spinster

Wanderer

36
26

Auckland
Whangarei

44 years
26 years

House of Rev. L. L. Cubitt, Ocean Beach, Whangarei Heads

94/2863

27 June 1894

Rev. L. L. Cubitt, Church of England

No	269
Date of Notice	27 June 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Skeet Murray	Matilda Susannah Robinson
BDM Match (83%)	Henry McMurray	Matilda Susannah Robinson
	💍 1894/4065
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wanderer
Age	36	26
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Whangarei
Length of Residence	44 years	26 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. L. L. Cubitt, Ocean Beach, Whangarei Heads
Folio	94/2863
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 June 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. L. Cubitt, Church of England

270

27 June 1894

William Gray
Agnes Moore

William Gray
Agnes Moore
💍 1894/1133

Widower
Widow

Farmer

63
47

Papatoitoi
Papatoitoi

29 years
3 days

House of Rev. D. I. Steele, Otara

94/1144

27 June 1894

Rev. D. I. Steele, Presbyterian

No	270
Date of Notice	27 June 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Gray	Agnes Moore
	💍 1894/1133
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	63	47
Dwelling Place	Papatoitoi	Papatoitoi
Length of Residence	29 years	3 days
Marriage Place	House of Rev. D. I. Steele, Otara
Folio	94/1144
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 June 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. I. Steele, Presbyterian

271

28 June 1894

William Hailes Waterworth
Margaret Jane Nation

Bachelor
Spinster

Sand-digger

26
17

Te Kopuru
Te Kopuru

3 years
1 year

Registrar's Office, Auckland

94/1107

John Waterworth, Father

28 June 1894

E. H. Lyons, Registrar

No	271
Date of Notice	28 June 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Hailes Waterworth	Margaret Jane Nation
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sand-digger
Age	26	17
Dwelling Place	Te Kopuru	Te Kopuru
Length of Residence	3 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Auckland
Folio	94/1107
Consent	John Waterworth, Father
Date of Certificate	28 June 1894
Officiating Minister	E. H. Lyons, Registrar

272

28 June 1894

Joseph Davis
Elizabeth Brittain

Joseph Davis
Elizabeth Brittain
💍 1894/1145

Bachelor
Spinster

Coachman

38
31

Auckland
Auckland

12 years
1 year

St. James Church, Wellesley Street

94/1131

28 June 1894

Rev. R. J. Warnock, Presbyterian

No	272
Date of Notice	28 June 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Davis	Elizabeth Brittain
	💍 1894/1145
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coachman
Age	38	31
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	12 years	1 year
Marriage Place	St. James Church, Wellesley Street
Folio	94/1131
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 June 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Warnock, 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).