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 698

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 1894 Registrar J. J. Maulkerson

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

180

18 May 1894

Henry Robert Wood
Mary Grace Kolkmann

Henry Robt Wood
Mary Grace Kolkmann
💍 1894/1992

Bachelor

Baker

23
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

23 years
20 years

House of Mr. F. Kolkmann, Paparua

94/2129

18 May 1894

Rev F. W. Isitt, Wesleyan

No	180
Date of Notice	18 May 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Robert Wood	Mary Grace Kolkmann
BDM Match (94%)	Henry Robt Wood	Mary Grace Kolkmann
	💍 1894/1992
Condition	Bachelor
Profession	Baker
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	23 years	20 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. F. Kolkmann, Paparua
Folio	94/2129
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 May 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev F. W. Isitt, Wesleyan

181

18 May 1894

James Gray Smith
Jane Brown

James Gray Smith
Jane Brown
💍 1894/1629

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker

26
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

13 years
8 years

House of Mr. J. Brown, Queens St., Sydenham

94/1639

18 May 1894

Rev J. McSimpson, Presbyterian

No	181
Date of Notice	18 May 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Gray Smith	Jane Brown
	💍 1894/1629
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	13 years	8 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. J. Brown, Queens St., Sydenham
Folio	94/1639
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 May 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev J. McSimpson, Presbyterian

182

21 May 1894

John Brownlee Borgerfeldt
Catherine Borgerfeldt

Widower
Spinster

Farmer

35
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 years
21 years

House of Mr. R. Brown, Fendalton

Not solemnized. Rev R. Brown. See letter attached.

21 May 1894

Rev R. Brown, Presbyterian

No	182
Date of Notice	21 May 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Brownlee Borgerfeldt	Catherine Borgerfeldt
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	35	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	21 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. R. Brown, Fendalton
Folio	Not solemnized. Rev R. Brown. See letter attached.
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 May 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev R. Brown, Presbyterian

183

22 May 1894

Nicholas Henry Straw
Rachel Sophia Smith

Nicholas Henry Straw
Rachel Lappidge Smith
💍 1894/2972

Bachelor
Spinster

Bacon Curer

22
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

22 years
3 years

Bible Christian Church, Lower High St., Christchurch

94/2984

George Smith, Father

22 May 1894

Rev J. Orchard, Bible Christian

No	183
Date of Notice	22 May 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Nicholas Henry Straw	Rachel Sophia Smith
BDM Match (86%)	Nicholas Henry Straw	Rachel Lappidge Smith
	💍 1894/2972
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bacon Curer
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	22 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Bible Christian Church, Lower High St., Christchurch
Folio	94/2984
Consent	George Smith, Father
Date of Certificate	22 May 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Orchard, Bible Christian

184

23 May 1894

Patrick Joseph Brown
Minnie Hayes

Patrick Joseph Brown
Minnie Hayes
💍 1894/4050

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

29
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

20 years
10 years

Roman Catholic Church, Hands Track

94/1704

23 May 1894

Rev J. Foley, Roman Catholic

No	184
Date of Notice	23 May 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick Joseph Brown	Minnie Hayes
	💍 1894/4050
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	29	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	20 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Hands Track
Folio	94/1704
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 May 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Foley, Roman Catholic

185

23 May 1894

Albert Maitland Dacombe
Rose Taylor

Albert Maitland Dacombe
Rose Taylor
💍 1894/1669

Bachelor
Spinster

Porter
Machinist

30
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

9 years
22 years

House of Mr. Rob. White, Manchester St., Christchurch

94/1682

23 May 1894

Rev W. G. Parsonson, Wesleyan

No	185
Date of Notice	23 May 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Maitland Dacombe	Rose Taylor
	💍 1894/1669
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Porter	Machinist
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	9 years	22 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Rob. White, Manchester St., Christchurch
Folio	94/1682
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 May 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev W. G. Parsonson, Wesleyan

186

23 May 1894

Herbert McCleman Drummonds
Amelia Campbell

Herbert McClenan Simmonds
Amelia Campbell
💍 1894/2004

Bachelor
Spinster

Pastry Cook

20
17

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 years
6 years

House of Mr. J. Preston, Holly Road, St. Albans

94/1990

Johanna Drummonds, mother; Fergus Campbell, father

23 May 1894

Rev J. Orchard, Bible Christian

No	186
Date of Notice	23 May 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert McCleman Drummonds	Amelia Campbell
BDM Match (92%)	Herbert McClenan Simmonds	Amelia Campbell
	💍 1894/2004
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Pastry Cook
Age	20	17
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	6 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. J. Preston, Holly Road, St. Albans
Folio	94/1990
Consent	Johanna Drummonds, mother; Fergus Campbell, father
Date of Certificate	23 May 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Orchard, Bible Christian

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).