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 1060

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
246	26 July 1894	Frank Ross Hansen Christina McInnes	Frank Russ Hansen Mildenhale Christina McInnes 💍 1894/2329	Bachelor Spinster	Plumber	21 22	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. McInnes, Wallace Street	94/2505		26 July 1894	Rev. J. K. Elliott
247	27 July 1894	John Dearness Armstrong Agnes Louisa Gould	John Dearness Armstrong Agnes Louisa Gould 💍 1894/2274	Bachelor Spinster	Jockey	25 21	Lower Hutt Wellington	years years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/2472		27 July 1894	W. T. Wyall
248	28 July 1894	Ernest Harry Roberts Margaret Costello	Ernold Harry Roberts Margaret Costello 💍 1894/2275	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	21 22	Wellington Wellington	3 days 3 days	Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/2473		28 July 1894	W. T. Wyall
249	30 July 1894	William Mason Eliza Jane Clark	William Mason Eliza Jane Clark 💍 1894/2276	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	25 19	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/2474	Mother	30 July 1894	W. T. Wyall
250	31 July 1894	Edward Kelmish Lavinia Jane Clark	Edward Kilmister Lavinia Jane Monk 💍 1894/2410	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	21 21	Wellington Makara	years years	St. Matthew's Church, Makara	94/2517		31 July 1894	Rev. A. Darling
251	4 August 1894	William Edward Weightman Emma Lewer	William Edward Weightman Emma Lewer 💍 1894/2744	Bachelor Spinster	Nurseryman	24 22	Wellington Karori	3 days years	St. Paul's, Cathedral	94/2999		4 August 1894	Rev. Joshua Jones
252	6 August 1894	Hamilton Gallehawk Thomasina Adelaide Anderson	Hamilton Gallehawk Thomasina Adelaide Anderson 💍 1894/2515	Bachelor Spinster	Coach Builder	34 24	Wellington Wellington	years monthly	House of Mr. Austin Thirk	94/2536		6 August 1894	Rev. James Wrigley
253	6 August 1894	William John Harrison Irvine Frances Mary Purcell	William John Harrison Irvine Frances Mary Purcell 💍 1894/2400	Bachelor Spinster	Joiner	22 21	Wellington Wellington	3 days monthly	Primitive Methodist Church, Webb Street	94/2529		6 August 1894	Rev. James Gery
254	7 August 1894	Christopher Carlile Hayes Kathleen Wadey	Christopher Carlile Jervis Hind Boussey Kathleen Wady 💍 1894/4026	Bachelor Spinster	Saw Miller	32 21	Belmont Belmont	1 year 1 year	St. Paul's Cathedral	94/2998		7 August 1894	Rev. T. H. Sprott
255	8 August 1894	Henry Gardiner Jeffery Edith Maude Thompson	Henry Gardiner Jeffery Edith Maud Thompson 💍 1894/2399	Bachelor Spinster	Warehouseman	26 22	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Presbyterian Church, Rev. J. K. Elliott, Adelaide Road	94/2510		8 August 1894	Rev. J. K. Elliott
256	9 August 1894	Edward Albert Williams Eliza Collis	Edward Alton Williams Eliza Collis 💍 1894/2277	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	38 37	Wainuiomata Wainuiomata	years years	Registrar's Office	94/2475		9 August 1894	W. T. Wyall
257	10 August 1894	Frederick Charles Peyton Sylina Roberts	Frederick Charles Peyton Sylina Roberts 💍 1894/2278	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	38 25	Wellington Wellington	9 months years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/2476		10 August 1894	W. T. Wyall
258	13 August 1894	Henry Crofton Peddy Blandford Maria Matilda Pickin	Henry Crofton Peddie Blandford Maria Matilda Ellen Pickin 💍 1894/2661	Bachelor Spinster	Fellmonger	28 22	Ngahauranga Ngahauranga	years years	St. Mary of the Angels	94/2853		13 August 1894	Rev. W. Goggan
259	13 August 1894	Edgar Athelstan Jefferland Lilian Maude Jenkins	Edgar A McFarlane Lilian Maud Jenkins 💍 1894/2393	Bachelor Spinster	Compositor	23 18	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. Jenkins, Wingfield Street	94/2523	William Jenkins, Father	13 August 1894	Rev. T. Bamett
260	13 August 1894	Bernard Francis Darly Mary Ellen Gertrude Kennedy	Bernard Francis Darby Mary Ellen Gertrude Kennedy 💍 1894/2403	Bachelor Spinster	Druggist	23 25	Wellington Wellington	5 days years	St. Mary's Cathedral	94/2532		13 August 1894	Right Rev. Archbishop Redwood

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 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).