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 634

District of Wairau Quarter ending 30 June 1894 Registrar Edward William Pasley

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

4 April 1894

Stephen Cumming
Sarah Stuart Henderson
formerly Schroder

Stephen Cumming
Sarah Stuart Henderson
💍 1894/1537

Bachelor
Widow

Telegraphist

34
38

Blenheim
Blenheim

5 years
5 years

Church of the Nativity

94/1543

4 April 1894

Rev. Archdeacon S. Grace

No	20
Date of Notice	4 April 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stephen Cumming	Sarah Stuart Henderson formerly Schroder
	💍 1894/1537
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Telegraphist
Age	34	38
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	5 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Church of the Nativity
Folio	94/1543
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 April 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. Archdeacon S. Grace

5 April 1894

Henry William Gibson
Frances Louisa Lidd

Henry William Gibson
Frances Louisa Tidd
💍 1894/1589

Bachelor
Spinster

Hop Grower

24
21

Blenheim
Blenheim

2 years
2 years

The residence of Mr. George Gibson, Hutcheson Street, Blenheim

94/1548

6 April 1894

Rev. William J. Robb

No	21
Date of Notice	5 April 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry William Gibson	Frances Louisa Lidd
BDM Match (97%)	Henry William Gibson	Frances Louisa Tidd
	💍 1894/1589
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hop Grower
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	The residence of Mr. George Gibson, Hutcheson Street, Blenheim
Folio	94/1548
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 April 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. William J. Robb

14 April 1894

William John Reynolds
Annie Ashton Spenser

William John Reynolds
Annie Ashton
💍 1894/2258

Bachelor
Spinster

Inspector of Works

36
24

Blenheim
Blenheim

2 years
5 days

Wesleyan Church, High Street, Blenheim

94/2151

14 April 1894

Rev. Thos. Lee

No	22
Date of Notice	14 April 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Reynolds	Annie Ashton Spenser
BDM Match (80%)	William John Reynolds	Annie Ashton
	💍 1894/2258
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Inspector of Works
Age	36	24
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	2 years	5 days
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, High Street, Blenheim
Folio	94/2151
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 April 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thos. Lee

14 April 1894

Henry Onion Stagg
Minnie Maud Stagg

Henry Onion
Minnie Maude Stagg
💍 1894/1899

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic servant

25
16

Wairau Valley
Marlboroughtown

25 years
12 years

At the residence of Mr. William Stagg, Marlboroughtown

94/2008

William Stagg, father of bride

14 April 1894

Rev. W. J. Lewis

No	23
Date of Notice	14 April 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Onion Stagg	Minnie Maud Stagg
BDM Match (80%)	Henry Onion	Minnie Maude Stagg
	💍 1894/1899
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic servant
Age	25	16
Dwelling Place	Wairau Valley	Marlboroughtown
Length of Residence	25 years	12 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of Mr. William Stagg, Marlboroughtown
Folio	94/2008
Consent	William Stagg, father of bride
Date of Certificate	14 April 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Lewis

14 May 1894

Charles William Mills
Alice Aberhart

Charles William Mills
Alice Aberhardt
💍 1894/1539

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

23
25

Blenheim
Grove Town

1 year
25 years

At the residence of Rev. E. Ensor, Weld Street, Blenheim

94/1545

14 May 1894

Rev. E. Ensor

No	24
Date of Notice	14 May 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles William Mills	Alice Aberhart
BDM Match (97%)	Charles William Mills	Alice Aberhardt
	💍 1894/1539
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Grove Town
Length of Residence	1 year	25 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of Rev. E. Ensor, Weld Street, Blenheim
Folio	94/1545
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 May 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Ensor

22 May 1894

John Bary
Rhoda Annie Gee

John Bary
Rhoda Annie Gee
💍 1894/1572

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Dressmaker

22
22

Renwick Town
Renwick Town

22 years
15 years

At the residence of Mr. George Gee, Renwick Town

94/1546

22 May 1894

Ven. Archdeacon S. Grace

No	25
Date of Notice	22 May 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Bary	Rhoda Annie Gee
	💍 1894/1572
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Dressmaker
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Renwick Town	Renwick Town
Length of Residence	22 years	15 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of Mr. George Gee, Renwick Town
Folio	94/1546
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 May 1894
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon S. Grace

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).