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 710

District of Geraldine Quarter ending 30 June 1894 Registrar William Robert Andrews

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

442

16 April 1894

James Ineson
Mary Ann Horning or Smith

James Ineson
Mary Ann Norrington Smith
💍 1894/1940

Widower
Widow

Labourer
Housekeeper

39
36

Burnside Nursery
Burnside Nursery, Geraldine

1 week
1 week

The House of Mr James Ineson, Burnside Nursery, Geraldine

94/2048

16 April 1894

Rev. Henry Williams, Primitive Methodist

No	442
Date of Notice	16 April 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Ineson	Mary Ann Horning or Smith
BDM Match (92%)	James Ineson	Mary Ann Norrington Smith
	💍 1894/1940
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Housekeeper
Age	39	36
Dwelling Place	Burnside Nursery	Burnside Nursery, Geraldine
Length of Residence	1 week	1 week
Marriage Place	The House of Mr James Ineson, Burnside Nursery, Geraldine
Folio	94/2048
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 April 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry Williams, Primitive Methodist

443

24 April 1894

Francis George Martin
Mary McLean

Francis George Martin
Mary McLean
💍 1894/1650

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

24
26

Pine Hill, Orari Flat
Pine Hill, Orari Flat

3 days
8 years

Presbyterian Church, Geraldine

94/1713

Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

No	443
Date of Notice	24 April 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis George Martin	Mary McLean
	💍 1894/1650
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	24	26
Dwelling Place	Pine Hill, Orari Flat	Pine Hill, Orari Flat
Length of Residence	3 days	8 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Geraldine
Folio	94/1713
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

444

28 May 1894

Francis James Stopford
Catherine Mary How and Tripp

Francis James Stopford
Catherine Mary Howard Tripp
💍 1894/1976

Bachelor
Spinster

Barrister-at-law

34
29

Napier
Orari Gorge Station

2 years
26 years

Anglican Cathedral, Napier

94/2105

25 May 1894

Very Rev. W. Berdt Hovell, Church of England

No	444
Date of Notice	28 May 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis James Stopford	Catherine Mary How and Tripp
BDM Match (96%)	Francis James Stopford	Catherine Mary Howard Tripp
	💍 1894/1976
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barrister-at-law
Age	34	29
Dwelling Place	Napier	Orari Gorge Station
Length of Residence	2 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Cathedral, Napier
Folio	94/2105
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 May 1894
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. W. Berdt Hovell, Church of England

445

2 June 1894

Alfred Scott
Mary Elizabeth Wood

Alfred Scott
Mary Elizabeth Wood
💍 1894/1651

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

28
18

Woodbury
Woodbury

8 years
15 years

St. Thomas Church, Woodbury

94/1715

Martha Jane Wood, mother

2 June 1894

Rev. James Preston, Church of England

No	445
Date of Notice	2 June 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Scott	Mary Elizabeth Wood
	💍 1894/1651
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	28	18
Dwelling Place	Woodbury	Woodbury
Length of Residence	8 years	15 years
Marriage Place	St. Thomas Church, Woodbury
Folio	94/1715
Consent	Martha Jane Wood, mother
Date of Certificate	2 June 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Preston, Church of England

446

20 June 1894

Henry John Bennet Gasoa
Rose Campbell

Henry John Bennet Gason
Rose Campbell
💍 1894/1844

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

32
24

Hilton
Orari

12 years
6 years

The House of Mrs Charlotte Campbell, Orari

94/1771

20 June 1894

Rev. H. G. Bowers, Roman Catholic

No	446
Date of Notice	20 June 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry John Bennet Gasoa	Rose Campbell
BDM Match (98%)	Henry John Bennet Gason	Rose Campbell
	💍 1894/1844
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	32	24
Dwelling Place	Hilton	Orari
Length of Residence	12 years	6 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mrs Charlotte Campbell, Orari
Folio	94/1771
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 June 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. G. Bowers, Roman Catholic

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).