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 594

District of Masterton Quarter ending 30 June 1894

No	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
17	4 April 1894	Alexander Sutherland Frances Matilda Jane Eckley	Alexander Sutherland Frances Matilda Jane Eckley 💍 1894/1330	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk Dressmaker	35 24	Masterton Masterton	10 days 10 days	House of Mrs Lee, 106 St	94/1373		4 April 1894	Rev. Charles Murray, Presbyterian Minister
18	5 April 1894	Charles Fred. Deadman Mary Vollheim	Charles Alfred Deadman Mary Vollheim 💍 1894/1310	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	23 17	Masterton Kuripuni, Masterton	5 days 3 Months	House of Mr G. A. Dedman	94/1377	Father	5 April 1894	Rev. John Dukes, Wesleyan Minister
19	10 April 1894	Harry William Broom Catherine Walsh	Harry William Broom Catherine Walsh 💍 1894/2010	Bachelor Spinster	Cabinet maker	23 24	Masterton Masterton	2 weeks 1 week	Catholic Chapel	94/1396		10 April 1894	Rev. John McKenna, Roman Catholic Priest
20	13 April 1894	Joseph Lister Helena Ivess	Joseph Lister Helena Ivess 💍 1894/1311	Bachelor Spinster	Flour Miller Book Keeper	29 23	Masterton Masterton	3 days 6 Months	Wesleyan Chapel	94/1378		13 April 1894	Rev. John Dukes, Wesleyan Minister
21	17 April 1894	Augustus McInnes Hadaway Julia Maria Mace	Augustus McInnes Bradbury Julia Maria Mace 💍 1894/1331	Widower Spinster	Clerk in Holy Orders	29 35	Masterton Tauherenikau	3 days 1 week	House of Mr G. W. Mace, Bramston	94/1374		17 April 1894	Rev. W. B. Paige, Church of England Minister
22	23 April 1894	George John Wallace Emmie Eliza Cooper	George John Wallace Emmie Eliza Cooper 💍 1894/1308	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith	26 17	Masterton Masterton	6 days 8 Months	Church of England	94/1375	Sarah Cooper, Mother	23 April 1894	Rev. W. B. Paige, Church of England Minister
23	27 April 1894	William Alfred Oliver Ellen May Roys	William Alfred Oliver Ellen Mary Roys 💍 1894/1312	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Servant	33 22	Masterton Masterton	2 weeks 3 years	House of Mr Charles Roys, Short Street	94/1379		27 April 1894	Rev. John Dukes, Wesleyan Minister
24	27 April 1894	Robert Wharen Jane Gowrie Hall	Robert McLaren Jane Lowrie Hall 💍 1894/1315	Widower Widow	Farmer	31 31	Mauriceville Mauriceville	7 days 2 weeks	Search House	94/1382		27 April 1894	Rev. Robert Wood, Presbyterian Minister
25	7 May 1894	Lars Kjar Anne Mary Isaksen	Lars Kjar Anne Mary Isaksen 💍 1894/1329	Bachelor Spinster	Settler Dressmaker	27 20	Mauriceville Mauriceville	6 Months 6 Months	Office of Registrar of Marriages	94/1372	Karen Isaksen, Mother	7 May 1894	John Bagge, Registrar
26	11 May 1894	Alexander McKenzie Christina Rasmussen	Alexander McKenzie Christina Rasmussen 💍 1894/1316	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd Servant	23 21	Wangaehu Masterton	4 Months 6 Months	House of Mr Bodwell McKenzie	94/1383		11 May 1894	Rev. Robert Wood, Presbyterian 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 1894. More registers will be added as the project continues.

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).