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 604

District of Rangitikei 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
9	2 April 1894	James Penney Ada Carter	James Penney Ada Carter 💍 1894/1457	Bachelor Spinster	Tailor	28 18	Bulls Bulls	2 years 17 years	Gospel Hall	94/1426	George Carter, Father	2 April 1894	Revd. Chas. Penney
10	7 April 1894	Hy. Caleb Clara Broster		Bachelor Domestic	Labourer Domestic	38 33	Marton Marton	1 day 1 day	St. Stephens, Marton	94/1423		11 April 1894	Ven. Arch. A. Townood
11	20 April 1894	Alfred Hugh Ross Violet Blake Eagle	Alfred Hugh Ross Violet Blake Eagle 💍 1894/1476	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	29 25	Marton Marton	1 day 14 days	St. Stephens, Marton	94/1424		23 April 1894	Ven. Arch. A. Townood
12	23 April 1894	John Lambert Elizabeth Euphemia Small	John Lambert Elizabeth Euphemia Small 💍 1894/1462	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	26 21	Marton Upper Turakina	26 years 21 years	M. N. Smalls Residence	94/1434		23 April 1894	Revd. D. Gordon
13	23 April 1894	Hy. W. Cassard Henderson Minnie Mabel Slade Richardson	Henry William Cawood Henderson Minnie Mabel Glade Richardson 💍 1894/1459	Bachelor Spinster	Miller	24 21	Marton Bulls	24 years 4 days	St. Andrews, Bulls	94/1428		23 April 1894	Revd. J. D. Russell
14	24 April 1894	Norman Bannatyne Katherine Strother Willis	Norman Bannatyne St George Gorton Katherine Strother Willis 💍 1894/4078	Bachelor Spinster	Commission Agent	27 25	Bulls Greatford	3 days 25 years	St. Martins, Greatford	94/1429		24 April 1894	Revd. A. S. Innes-Jones
15	24 April 1894	Varah Mangham Eleanor Mary Jenkinson	Varah Maugham Eleanor Margaret Jenkinson 💍 1894/1456	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	40 22	Turakina Turakina	1 day 22 years	St. John Church	94/1425		1 May 1894	Ven. Arch. A. Townood
16	10 May 1894	Wm. John McCoard Sarah Hunt	Will John McCoard Sarah Hunt 💍 1894/1463	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	30 28	Marton Marton	1 day 28 years	McCoard Hunts Residence	94/1435		14 May 1894	Revd. D. Gordon
17	5 June 1894	James Conder Mary Rozina Ann Page	James Conder Mary Rozina Ann Page 💍 1894/4068	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	28 18	Marton Greatford	3 days 3 weeks	English Church	94/1430	Chas. Thos. Page, Father	5 June 1894	Revd. J. D. Russell
18	6 June 1894	Thos. Theophilus Bartlett Mary Lambert	Thomas Theophilus Bartlett Mary Lambert 💍 1894/1464	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	25 24	Upper Turakina Marton	25 years 24 years	M. H. Ingles Residence	94/1436		6 June 1894	Revd. D. Gordon
19	9 June 1894	Harry Jones Sabina Elizabeth Lewis	Harry Jones Sabina Elizabeth Lewis 💍 1894/1460	Bachelor Spinster	Carter	36 19	Halcombe Park Greatford	18 years 19 years	Church of England	94/1431	William Lewis, Father	9 June 1894	Revd. J. D. Russell
20	19 June 1894	David Galloway Sanson Ida Bessie Ellery	David Galloway Sanson Ada Bessie Ellery 💍 1894/1458	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	27 21	Bulls Bulls	2 years 15 years	Residence of Mr. Ellery, Bulls	94/1429		19 June 1894	Revd. Jas. Doull
21	29 June 1894	Robert Ruxton Leyp Florence Amelia Mary Thurston	Robert Buxton Leys Florence Amelia Mary Thurston 💍 1894/2691	Bachelor Spinster	Journalist	22 19	Marton Upper Turakina	2 years 2 years	Mr. D. Thurston's Residence	94/2935	Daniel Thurston, Father	29 June 1894	Revd. Jas. Thomas

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).