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 618

District of Wellington 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
117	2 April 1894	Archibald Crichton Edith Emma Baker	Archibald Crichton Edith Emma Baker 💍 1894/1504	Bachelor Spinster	Traveller	29 21	Wellington Wellington	4 days years	St. Peter's Church	94/1504		2 April 1894	Rev. W. C. Waters
118	2 April 1894	Henry James Price Sarah Woodman	Henry James Prier Sarah Woodman 💍 1894/1606	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	25 21	Upper Hutt Tawa Flat	1 year years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/1459		2 April 1894	W. T. Wyay
119	4 April 1894	Ernest Pitt Louisa Hanson	Ernest Pitt Louisa Hanson 💍 1894/1603	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	23 19	Lower Hutt Wellington	years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/1456	Mother of bride	4 April 1894	W. T. Wyay
120	5 April 1894	James Felix Foothead Agnes Adams	James Felix Foothead Agnes Adams 💍 1894/1604	Bachelor Spinster	Groom	21 23	Wellington Wellington	years 15 months	Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/1457		5 April 1894	W. T. Wyay
121	5 April 1894	Nathaniel Malcolm Annie Elizabeth Tonks	Nathaniel Malcolm Annie Elizabeth Tonks 💍 1894/1543	Bachelor Spinster	Upholsterer	31 25	Wellington Wellington	years years	Home of Mr. Tonks, Dixon Street	94/1526		5 April 1894	Rev. R. J. Murray
122	6 April 1894	George Fuller Philpott Marie Hill	George Talbott Philpott Marie Hill 💍 1894/1447	Bachelor Spinster	Grocer	25 24	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. Philpott, Kilbirnie	94/1490		6 April 1894	Rev. W. Shirer
123	6 April 1894	George Alexander North Christina Lydia Harris	George Alexander North Christina Lydia Harris 💍 1894/1605	Bachelor Widow	Steward	28 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/1458		6 April 1894	W. T. Wyay
124	9 April 1894	Henry James Bullard Kate Shaffrey	Henry James Bulford Kate Shaffrey 💍 1894/1828	Bachelor Spinster	Cabinetmaker	25 22	Wellington Wellington	years 6 months	St. Mary of the Angels	94/1781		9 April 1894	Very Rev. J. Cleary
125	9 April 1894	Robert James Ogden Mary Ann Burns	Robert James Ogden Mary Anne Burns 💍 1894/1825	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	30 27	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Mary of the Angels	94/1778		9 April 1894	Very Rev. J. Cleary
126	10 April 1894	William John Shaw Florence Mary Anderson	William John Shaw Florence Mary Anderson 💍 1894/1955	Bachelor Spinster	Land and Commission Agent	33 30	Wellington Wellington	4 days years	St. Paul's Cathedral	94/2064		10 April 1894	Rev. J. H. Sprott
127	10 April 1894	Walter Henry Clapp Edith Emily Payne	Walter Henry Clapp Edith Emily Payne 💍 1894/1425	Bachelor Spinster	Contractor	25 21	Wellington Wellington	3 months 1 week	Home of Mr. Peters, Oriental Bay	94/1516		10 April 1894	Rev. J. K. Elliott
128	11 April 1894	Charles Selwyn Rawson Alice Cruickshank	Charles Selwyn Rawson Alice Annie Cruickshank 💍 1894/1503	Bachelor Spinster	Gentleman	37 26	Wellington Wellington	2 weeks 6 months	St. Peter's Church	94/1503		11 April 1894	Rev. W. C. Waters
129	12 April 1894	Ivan John Schernegoski Emily Gertrude Lees	Ivan John Tehernegoski Emily Gertrude Lees 💍 1894/1826	Bachelor Spinster	Hair Dresser	24 25	Wellington Wellington	9 months years	St. Mary of the Angels	94/1779		12 April 1894	Very Rev. J. Cleary
130	12 April 1894	John Wilton Busher Sarah Ann Jago	John Wilton Butler Sarah Ann Jago 💍 1894/1608	Widower Widow	Photographer	52 59	Wellington Wellington	months months	Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/1460		12 April 1894	W. T. Wyay
131	13 April 1894	Herbert Baillie Janet Chalmers Begg	Herbert Baillie Janet Chalmers Begg 💍 1894/1506	Widower Spinster	Bookseller	31 24	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Peter's Church	94/1506		13 April 1894	Rev. W. C. Waters

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).