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 550

District of Napier Quarter ending 30 June 1894 Registrar John Grubb

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

28 April 1894

William Edward Bidwill
Mildred Edith Rhodes

William Edward Bidwill
Mildred Edith Rhodes
💍 1894/2059

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer

35
22

Featherstone
Napier

35 years
20 years

Cathedral at Napier

94/2103

28 April 1894

Rev. Dean Hovell

No	40
Date of Notice	28 April 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Edward Bidwill	Mildred Edith Rhodes
	💍 1894/2059
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer
Age	35	22
Dwelling Place	Featherstone	Napier
Length of Residence	35 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Cathedral at Napier
Folio	94/2103
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 April 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. Dean Hovell

5 May 1894

Thomas Munro
Lydia Shillam

Thomas Munro
Lydia Shellam
💍 1894/1274

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic

24
19

Port Ahuriri
Napier

5 years
19 years

Residence of Mr. Shillam, Marine Parade, Napier

94/1314

Alfred George Shillam, Father

7 May 1894

Rev. W. H. Beck

No	41
Date of Notice	5 May 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Munro	Lydia Shillam
BDM Match (96%)	Thomas Munro	Lydia Shellam
	💍 1894/1274
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Port Ahuriri	Napier
Length of Residence	5 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Shillam, Marine Parade, Napier
Folio	94/1314
Consent	Alfred George Shillam, Father
Date of Certificate	7 May 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Beck

14 May 1894

Robert McClure
Margaret McLean

Robert McClure
Margaret McLean
💍 1894/2227

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

28
18

Napier
Napier

5 years
7 years

In the Residence of the Bride's Father, Nellesly Road, Napier

94/2357

Robert McLean, Father

14 May 1894

Rev. J. G. Paterson

No	42
Date of Notice	14 May 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert McClure	Margaret McLean
	💍 1894/2227
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	28	18
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	5 years	7 years
Marriage Place	In the Residence of the Bride's Father, Nellesly Road, Napier
Folio	94/2357
Consent	Robert McLean, Father
Date of Certificate	14 May 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. Paterson

14 May 1894

William Valentine Porteous
Charlotte Emma Bird

William Valentine Porteous
Charlotte Emma Bird
💍 1894/1266

Widower
Spinster

Shoemaker

31
23

Napier
Napier

9 months
15 months

St. Augustine's Church, Napier

94/1307

14 May 1894

Rev. A. M. Bradbury

No	43
Date of Notice	14 May 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Valentine Porteous	Charlotte Emma Bird
	💍 1894/1266
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Shoemaker
Age	31	23
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	9 months	15 months
Marriage Place	St. Augustine's Church, Napier
Folio	94/1307
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 May 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. M. Bradbury

15 May 1894

Thomas Slade
Harriet Skidmore

Thomas Slade
Harriet Skidman
💍 1894/2242

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabdriver

22
20

Napier
Napier

3 years
8 years

St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, Napier

94/2360

Ann Skidmore, Mother

15 May 1894

Rev. J. G. Paterson

No	44
Date of Notice	15 May 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Slade	Harriet Skidmore
BDM Match (91%)	Thomas Slade	Harriet Skidman
	💍 1894/2242
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabdriver
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 years	8 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, Napier
Folio	94/2360
Consent	Ann Skidmore, Mother
Date of Certificate	15 May 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. Paterson

15 May 1894

William Henry Carter
Rose McCorkindale

William Henry Carter
Rose McCorkindale
💍 1894/2238

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

25
20

Napier
Napier

5 years
1 year

General Residence, Fultons, Milton Terrace, Napier

94/2358

Margaret McCorkindale, Mother

15 May 1894

Rev. J. G. Paterson

No	45
Date of Notice	15 May 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Carter	Rose McCorkindale
	💍 1894/2238
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	5 years	1 year
Marriage Place	General Residence, Fultons, Milton Terrace, Napier
Folio	94/2358
Consent	Margaret McCorkindale, Mother
Date of Certificate	15 May 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. Paterson

19 May 1894

George Higgins
Mary Ann McPherson

George Higgins
Mary Ann McPherson
💍 1894/1264

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

32
25

Clive
Clive

6 days
20 years

Presbyterian Church, West Clive

94/1305

19 May 1894

Rev. R. Fraser

No	46
Date of Notice	19 May 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Higgins	Mary Ann McPherson
	💍 1894/1264
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	32	25
Dwelling Place	Clive	Clive
Length of Residence	6 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, West Clive
Folio	94/1305
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 May 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Fraser

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).