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 1124

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 1894 Registrar J. M. Vankerson

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

257

25 July 1894

Richard Crocker
Phoebe Lowe

Richard Crocker
Phoebe Lowe
💍 1894/2453

Bachelor
Spinster

Dairyman

26
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 years
3 years

Registrar's Office

94/2615

25 July 1894

Registrar J. M. Vankerson

No	257
Date of Notice	25 July 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Crocker	Phoebe Lowe
	💍 1894/2453
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dairyman
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	94/2615
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 July 1894
Officiating Minister	Registrar J. M. Vankerson

258

25 July 1894

George William Peck
Ellen Louise Moore

George William Peck
Ellen Lousia Moore
💍 1894/2585

Bachelor
Widow

Builder

33
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
17 years

House of Mrs. Moore

94/2648

25 July 1894

Rev. J. Dawson, Methodist

No	258
Date of Notice	25 July 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George William Peck	Ellen Louise Moore
BDM Match (92%)	George William Peck	Ellen Lousia Moore
	💍 1894/2585
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Builder
Age	33	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	17 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. Moore
Folio	94/2648
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 July 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Dawson, Methodist

259

26 July 1894

Arthur William Reeves
Alice Maud Halmore

Arthur William Reeves
Alice Maud Helmore
💍 1894/3834

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

30
34

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 months
30 years

St. Mary's Church

94/4143

26 July 1894

Rev. E. J. Merton, Church of England

No	259
Date of Notice	26 July 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur William Reeves	Alice Maud Halmore
BDM Match (97%)	Arthur William Reeves	Alice Maud Helmore
	💍 1894/3834
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	30	34
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 months	30 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church
Folio	94/4143
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 July 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. J. Merton, Church of England

260

28 July 1894

John Pooley
Martha Humphreys

John Pooley
Martha Humphreys
💍 1894/2712

Bachelor
Spinster

Machinist
Domestic

40
32

Christchurch
Christchurch

14 years
12 years

House of Mr. J. King

94/2956

28 July 1894

Rev. J. Orchard, Bible Christian

No	260
Date of Notice	28 July 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Pooley	Martha Humphreys
	💍 1894/2712
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Machinist	Domestic
Age	40	32
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	14 years	12 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. J. King
Folio	94/2956
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 July 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Orchard, Bible Christian

261

30 July 1894

Henry Jollie
Annie Agatha Macarthy

Henry John Gunn
Annie Agatha Macarthy
💍 1894/2588

Bachelor
Spinster

Agent

47
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

11 years
5 years

House of Mr. Fred Hammond

94/2651

30 July 1894

Rev. J. M. Simpson, Presbyterian

No	261
Date of Notice	30 July 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Jollie	Annie Agatha Macarthy
BDM Match (77%)	Henry John Gunn	Annie Agatha Macarthy
	💍 1894/2588
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Agent
Age	47	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	11 years	5 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Fred Hammond
Folio	94/2651
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 July 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Simpson, Presbyterian

262

31 July 1894

James Joll
Sarah Hopwood

John James Trehair Nicholas
Sarah Hopwood
💍 1894/2340

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker
Domestic

28
27

Ashburton
Christchurch

7 years
3 days

St. Saviour's Church

94/2658

31 July 1894

Rev. R. A. Scott, Church of England

No	262
Date of Notice	31 July 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Joll	Sarah Hopwood
BDM Match (65%)	John James Trehair Nicholas	Sarah Hopwood
	💍 1894/2340
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker	Domestic
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Christchurch
Length of Residence	7 years	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Saviour's Church
Folio	94/2658
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 July 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. A. Scott, Church of England

263

31 July 1894

Walter Williams
Ada Marie Unwin

Walter Williams
Ceda Marie Unwin
💍 1894/2581

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Domestic

25
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

21 years
6 years

St. Andrew's Manse

94/2633

31 July 1894

Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian

No	263
Date of Notice	31 July 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Williams	Ada Marie Unwin
BDM Match (94%)	Walter Williams	Ceda Marie Unwin
	💍 1894/2581
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Domestic
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	21 years	6 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Manse
Folio	94/2633
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 July 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Webster, 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).