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 868

District of Auckland Quarter ending 30 September 1894 Registrar S. H. Hoyes

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

289

10 July 1894

Clarence Eugene Potter
Minnie Stewart

David Buchan Smith
Minnie Stewart
💍 1894/2887

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

21
22

Auckland
Auckland

21 years
22 years

Registrar's Office

94/2180

10 July 1894

S. H. Hoyes, Registrar

No	289
Date of Notice	10 July 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Clarence Eugene Potter	Minnie Stewart
BDM Match (61%)	David Buchan Smith	Minnie Stewart
	💍 1894/2887
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	21 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	94/2180
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 July 1894
Officiating Minister	S. H. Hoyes, Registrar

290

10 July 1894

James Walter Sinton
Elizabeth Frances Gunn

James Walter Sinton
Elizabeth Frances Gunn
💍 1894/2811

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

26
19

Hobsonville
Hobsonville

26 years
6 years

House of R. J. Sinton, 6 Pitt Street

94/2191

Father

10 July 1894

Rev. M. S. West, Presbyterian

No	290
Date of Notice	10 July 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Walter Sinton	Elizabeth Frances Gunn
	💍 1894/2811
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Hobsonville	Hobsonville
Length of Residence	26 years	6 years
Marriage Place	House of R. J. Sinton, 6 Pitt Street
Folio	94/2191
Consent	Father
Date of Certificate	10 July 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. S. West, Presbyterian

291

11 July 1894

George Arthur March
Emily Stewart Dunn

George Arthur March
Emily Mary Dunn
💍 1894/2154

Bachelor
Spinster

Chainman

42
28

Auckland
Auckland

25 years
20 years

House of Rev. R. S. Macmin, Selwyn Road, Ponsonby

94/2210

11 July 1894

Rev. R. S. Macmin, Presbyterian

No	291
Date of Notice	11 July 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Arthur March	Emily Stewart Dunn
BDM Match (86%)	George Arthur March	Emily Mary Dunn
	💍 1894/2154
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chainman
Age	42	28
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	25 years	20 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. R. S. Macmin, Selwyn Road, Ponsonby
Folio	94/2210
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 July 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. S. Macmin, Presbyterian

292

11 July 1894

Albert Labey Whitcombe
Agnes Barclay Donaldson

Albert Jabez Whitcombe
Agnes Barclay Donaldson
💍 1894/2140

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

27
21

Auckland
Auckland

20 years
2 years

House of Rev. G. Roul, Vermont Street, Ponsonby

94/2218

11 July 1894

Rev. M. S. Potter, Primitive Methodist

No	292
Date of Notice	11 July 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Labey Whitcombe	Agnes Barclay Donaldson
BDM Match (95%)	Albert Jabez Whitcombe	Agnes Barclay Donaldson
	💍 1894/2140
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	20 years	2 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. G. Roul, Vermont Street, Ponsonby
Folio	94/2218
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 July 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. S. Potter, Primitive Methodist

293

13 July 1894

Denis Joseph Whelan
Sarah Ann Robb

Denis Joseph Whelan
Sarah Ann Robb
💍 1894/2128

Bachelor
Spinster

Coachsmith

25
23

Auckland
Auckland

2 years
3 years

All Saints Church, Ponsonby

94/2253

13 July 1894

Rev. M. Calder, Church of England

No	293
Date of Notice	13 July 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Denis Joseph Whelan	Sarah Ann Robb
	💍 1894/2128
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coachsmith
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	2 years	3 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Ponsonby
Folio	94/2253
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 July 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Calder, Church of England

294

14 July 1894

Theophilus Murphy
Jane Burness

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

23
22

Auckland
Auckland

15 years
22 years

St. Thomas Church, Freeman's Bay

94/2226

14 July 1894

Rev. M. H. Burke, Church of England

No	294
Date of Notice	14 July 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Theophilus Murphy	Jane Burness
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	15 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Thomas Church, Freeman's Bay
Folio	94/2226
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. H. Burke, Church of England

295

17 July 1894

William Godfrey Collins
Hannah Hannah Richards

William Godfrey Collins
Hannah Maria Richards
💍 1894/4029

Bachelor
Spinster

Stockman

23
27

Cambridge
Auckland

23 years
27 years

House of Rev. H. Richards, Parnell

94/2889

17 July 1894

Rev. A. Carrick, Presbyterian

No	295
Date of Notice	17 July 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Godfrey Collins	Hannah Hannah Richards
BDM Match (91%)	William Godfrey Collins	Hannah Maria Richards
	💍 1894/4029
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stockman
Age	23	27
Dwelling Place	Cambridge	Auckland
Length of Residence	23 years	27 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. H. Richards, Parnell
Folio	94/2889
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 July 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Carrick, Presbyterian

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).