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 1058

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30 September 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
216	2 July 1894	Charles Caleb Howard Fanny Elizabeth Young	Charles Caleb Howard Fanny Elizabeth Young 💍 1894/2409	Widower Spinster	Schoolmaster	52 25	Wellington Karori	2 days years	St. Mary's Church, Karori	94/2516		2 July 1894	Rev. A. D. Basing
217	2 July 1894	Francis Janvin Annie Hayes	Francis Janvrin Annie Hayes 💍 1894/2326	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	29 24	Wellington Wellington	4 months years	House of Mr. Green, Kelburn Grove	94/2503		2 July 1894	Rev. C. J. Ogg
218	2 July 1894	William Hyland Annie Archer	William Hyland Annie Archer 💍 1894/2270	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	22 17	Wellington Wellington	1 month years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/2460	Henry Archer, father	2 July 1894	W. T. Wyatt
219	3 July 1894	George Cousins Eliza Fitchett	George Cousins Eliza Fitchett 💍 1894/2773	Widower Widow	Farmer	46 46	Lower Hutt Wellington	years	St. John's Presbyterian Church	94/2873		3 July 1894	Rev. J. Paterson
220	3 July 1894	Charles Graham Richardson Rebecca Carter	Charles Graham Richardson Rebecca Carter 💍 1894/2287	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	27 25	Wellington Wellington	years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/2462		3 July 1894	W. T. Wyatt
221	3 July 1894	Thomas John Thompson Sophia Wilson	Thomas John Thompson Sophia Wilson 💍 1894/2322	Bachelor Spinster	Ironmonger	26 25	Wellington Wellington	years 10 days	Wesleyan Church, Molesworth Street	94/2497		3 July 1894	Rev. R. J. Murray
222	4 July 1894	John Foley Bridget Nolan	John Foley Bridget Nolan 💍 1894/2657	Bachelor Spinster	Constable	30 25	Wellington Wellington	1 month years	St. Mary of the Angels	94/2851		4 July 1894	Rev. W. Goggan
223	4 July 1894	Charles Henry Cottle Alice Jessie Edwards	Charles Henry Cottle Alice Jessie Edwards 💍 1894/2281	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	23 21	Lower Hutt Upper Hutt	years years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/2461		4 July 1894	W. T. Wyatt
224	6 July 1894	William Richmond Janet Greenlees Mitchell	William Richmond Janet Greenlees Mitchell 💍 1894/3913	Bachelor Spinster	Sheep Manager	24 25	Wellington Wellington	1 week 20 days	Home of Mr. Mitchell, Mowbray Street	94/4102		6 July 1894	Rev. C. J. Ogg
225	7 July 1894	Francis William Scott Harriet Ann Cooper	Francis William Scott Harriet Ann Cooper 💍 1894/2288	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	22 17	Wellington Wellington	1 month years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/2463	Margaret Cooper, mother	7 July 1894	W. T. Wyatt
226	7 July 1894	George Henry Harris Jessie Jones	George Henry Harris Jessie Johns 💍 1894/2392	Bachelor Spinster	Constable	26 26	Wellington Wellington	2 days years	Home of Mr. Jones, Waimea Street	94/2522		7 July 1894	Rev. J. Burnett
227	9 July 1894	Harry Alfred Goldsing Emma Elizabeth Hodges	Harry Alfred Golding Emma Elizabeth Hodges 💍 1894/2289	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	22 18	Wellington Kaiwarra	11 weeks years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/2464	Banker Hodges, father	9 July 1894	W. T. Wyatt
228	9 July 1894	Hans Larsen Clara Strang Wilkinson	Hans Larsen Clara Stuart Wilkinson 💍 1894/2407	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	26 25	Wellington Wellington	4 days 1 week	St. Peter's Church, Wellington	94/2514		9 July 1894	Rev. W. B. Waters
229	11 July 1894	William Rollinson Elizabeth Laing	William Rolland Orr Elizabeth Laing 💍 1894/3914	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	25 25	Wellington Wellington	years 6 months	St. Andrew's Church	94/4103		11 July 1894	Rev. C. J. Ogg
230	11 July 1894	Charles Horace Osman Christina Stoddart	Charles Horace Usmar Christina Stoddart 💍 1894/2404	Bachelor Spinster	Tailor	24 24	Wellington Wellington	years	Home of Mr. Jamieson, St. Mary's Street	94/2511		11 July 1894	Rev. W. Bainbridge

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).