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 1300

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 December 1894 Registrar S. H. Lyons

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

494

14 December 1894

Charles Ashe
Martha Russell

Charles Ashe
Martha Russell
💍 1894/2849

Bachelor
Spinster

Settler

22
19

Swanson
Swanson

4 years
19 years

House of R. J. Somerville

94/3160

Louisa, Mother

14 December 1894

Rev. R. J. Somerville, Presbyterian

No	494
Date of Notice	14 December 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Ashe	Martha Russell
	💍 1894/2849
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Settler
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Swanson	Swanson
Length of Residence	4 years	19 years
Marriage Place	House of R. J. Somerville
Folio	94/3160
Consent	Louisa, Mother
Date of Certificate	14 December 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Somerville, Presbyterian

495

14 December 1894

Henry Jamieson
Georgianna Helen Murray

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

36
28

Pokeno
Hamilton

20 years
15 years

House of J. Hendrie

94/3226

14 December 1894

Rev. J. Hendrie, Presbyterian

No	495
Date of Notice	14 December 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Jamieson	Georgianna Helen Murray
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	36	28
Dwelling Place	Pokeno	Hamilton
Length of Residence	20 years	15 years
Marriage Place	House of J. Hendrie
Folio	94/3226
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 December 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Hendrie, Presbyterian

496

15 December 1894

Henry John Moffitt
Isabella Howard

Henry John Moffitt
Isabella Howard
💍 1895/254

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman

23
27

Mahurangi
Penrose

8 years
27 years

House of S. Brown

95/71

15 December 1894

Rev. S. Brown, Presbyterian

No	496
Date of Notice	15 December 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry John Moffitt	Isabella Howard
	💍 1895/254
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman
Age	23	27
Dwelling Place	Mahurangi	Penrose
Length of Residence	8 years	27 years
Marriage Place	House of S. Brown
Folio	95/71
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 December 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Brown, Presbyterian

497

15 December 1894

Frederick Henry Bridgens
Ellen Harriett Brown

Frederick Henry Bridgins
Ellen Barbara Brown
💍 1894/2892

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker

22
16

Auckland
Auckland

20 years
16 years

Registrar's Office

94/3104

Samuel Brown, Father

15 December 1894

S. H. Lyons, Registrar

No	497
Date of Notice	15 December 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Henry Bridgens	Ellen Harriett Brown
BDM Match (83%)	Frederick Henry Bridgins	Ellen Barbara Brown
	💍 1894/2892
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	22	16
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	20 years	16 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	94/3104
Consent	Samuel Brown, Father
Date of Certificate	15 December 1894
Officiating Minister	S. H. Lyons, Registrar

498

15 December 1894

Frederick Price
Eleanor Meddings

Frederick Price
Eleanor Meddins
💍 1894/2852

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

27
24

Maramarua
Auckland

7 years
24 years

Bishop's Court Chapel

94/3141

15 December 1894

Right Rev. W. G. Cowie, Church of England

No	498
Date of Notice	15 December 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Price	Eleanor Meddings
BDM Match (97%)	Frederick Price	Eleanor Meddins
	💍 1894/2852
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Maramarua	Auckland
Length of Residence	7 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Bishop's Court Chapel
Folio	94/3141
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 December 1894
Officiating Minister	Right Rev. W. G. Cowie, Church of England

499

17 December 1894

Hereama Hapi
Se Aue

Kereama Hapi
Te Aue
💍 1894/2893

Bachelor
Spinster

Settler

18
21

Waiheke
Waiheke

5 years
21 years

Registrar's Office

94/3105

Rihinoua Hapi, Father

17 December 1894

S. H. Lyons, Registrar

No	499
Date of Notice	17 December 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hereama Hapi	Se Aue
BDM Match (82%)	Kereama Hapi	Te Aue
	💍 1894/2893
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Settler
Age	18	21
Dwelling Place	Waiheke	Waiheke
Length of Residence	5 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	94/3105
Consent	Rihinoua Hapi, Father
Date of Certificate	17 December 1894
Officiating Minister	S. H. Lyons, Registrar

500

17 December 1894

John Russell
Helen Smith

John Russell
Helen Smith
💍 1894/2845

Bachelor
Spinster

Steward

22
22

Auckland
Auckland

10 years
3 years

House of J. W. Veale, 3 New North Road

94/3155

17 December 1894

Rev. J. W. Veale, Wesleyan

No	500
Date of Notice	17 December 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Russell	Helen Smith
	💍 1894/2845
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Steward
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	10 years	3 years
Marriage Place	House of J. W. Veale, 3 New North Road
Folio	94/3155
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 December 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Veale, Wesleyan

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).