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 624

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
177	28 May 1894	William James Bryant Josephine Marion Bassett	William James Bryant Josephine Marian Bassett 💍 1894/1516	Bachelor Spinster	Sheep Farmer	23 27	Charico Charico		Roman Catholic Church, Charico	94/1515		28 May 1894	Rev. John Lane
178	28 May 1894	Henry Kilsty Jennie Hume	Henry Kilsby Jeannie Hume 💍 1894/1517	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	30 24	Charico Charico		Anglican Church, Charico	94/1493		28 May 1894	Ven. Archdeacon Fancourt
179	28 May 1894	William Anstis Margaret Julia Fox	William Anstis Margaret Julia Fox 💍 1894/1431	Bachelor Spinster	Stockman	27 25	Lower Hutt Lower Hutt		Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/1475		28 May 1894	W. T. Wyall
180	29 May 1894	Philip New Cameron Norah Griston Burgess	Philip Neil Cameron Norah Grilton Burgess 💍 1894/1432	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	24 28	Wellington Johnsonville	4 weeks	Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/1476		29 May 1894	W. T. Wyall
181	30 May 1894	Joseph C. Dixon Kate McKenzie	Joseph Dixon Kate McKenzie 💍 1894/1524	Widower Widow	Cab Proprietor	45 37	Wellington Wellington		House of Mrs. Chymon, Reas Road	94/1521		30 May 1894	Rev. J. K. Elliott
182	30 May 1894	Alfred Russell Ellen Heslop	Alfred Russell Ellen Heslop 💍 1894/1454	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	25 21	Wellington Wellington		Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/1474		30 May 1894	W. T. Wyall
183	30 May 1894	Frederick Thomas Prowse Mary Jane McCutcheon	Frederick Thomas Prouse Mary Jane McCutcheon 💍 1894/2257	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	21 18	Wainuiomata Wainuiomata		House of Mrs. McCutcheon, Wainuiomata	94/2150	William John McCutcheon, Father	30 May 1894	Rev. J. G. Carr
184	31 May 1894	Thomas Morrison Jessie Harrison	Thomas Merron Jessie Harrison 💍 1894/1429	Bachelor Spinster	Railway Employee	34 19	Wellington Wellington	1 day	House of Mrs. Spries, Wallace Street	94/1520	George Harrison, Father	31 May 1894	Rev. J. K. Elliott
185	4 June 1894	James Spicer Grace Emma Prior	James Spicer Grace Emma Prier 💍 1894/1518	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	26 23	Charico Charico		St. Matthew's Church, Charico	94/1494		4 June 1894	Ven. Archdeacon Fancourt
186	7 June 1894	Ernest Jennings Caroline Collis	Ernest Jennings Caroline Collis 💍 1894/1433	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	28 20	Wellington Wellington	3 weeks	Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/1477	Eliza Collis, Mother	7 June 1894	W. T. Wyall
187	7 June 1894	Claude Alfred Edward Hereford Harriet Corney	Claud Alfred Edward Woodford Harriet Corney 💍 1894/1540	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	25 22	Wellington Taranaki Street		Wesleyan Church, Taranaki Street	94/1523		7 June 1894	Rev. W. Bamber
188	8 June 1894	James Henry Parsons Welmot Margaret Catherine Isabel Black	James Henry Wilmot Parsons Margaret Catherine Isabel Black 💍 1894/1958	Bachelor Spinster	Engraver	24 24	Wellington Wellington		St. Paul's Cathedral	94/2067		8 June 1894	Rev. J. H. Sprott
189	8 June 1894	Ernest Ellison Ada Emily Press	Ernest Edwin Pailthorpe Ada Emily Press 💍 1894/1434	Bachelor Spinster	Ironworker	21 21	Wellington Wellington		Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/1478		8 June 1894	W. T. Wyall
190	8 June 1894	Eric Orr Sarah Hannah Marriott	Eric Orr Sarah Hannah Murcott 💍 1894/1512	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	30 19	Wellington Wellington	3 days	House of Mr. East, Bicheno Street	94/1511	Robert Marriott, Guardian	8 June 1894	Mr. A. F. Turner
191	9 June 1894	Lawrence Reuben Trask Isabel Sparks	Laurence Reuben Trask Mabel Sparks 💍 1894/1435	Bachelor Spinster	Steward	28 16	Wellington Wellington		Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/1479	Angelina Trask, Mother	9 June 1894	W. T. Wyall

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).