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 1370

District of Thames Quarter ending 31 December 1894 Registrar J. Homiss

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

4 October 1894

John Thomas Holmes
Emily Brown

John Thomas Holmes
Emily Brown
💍 1894/2955

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
School Teacher

25
26

Thames
Thames

26 years
26 years

The Dwelling of Cypress Brown, Richmond St

94/3249

5 October 1894

Rev. W. R. Woolley, Baptist

No	28
Date of Notice	4 October 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thomas Holmes	Emily Brown
	💍 1894/2955
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	School Teacher
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	26 years	26 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Cypress Brown, Richmond St
Folio	94/3249
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 October 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. R. Woolley, Baptist

24 October 1894

Samuel McCormick
Margaret Campbell

Samuel McCormick
Margaret Campbell
💍 1894/2939

Bachelor
Spinster

Minor
None

28
24

Hill St, Thames
Mata Creek, Tapu

22 years
20 years

The Dwelling of Thomas Dunlop, Hill St

94/3253

24 October 1894

Rev. Samuel O'Neill, Unsectarian

No	29
Date of Notice	24 October 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel McCormick	Margaret Campbell
	💍 1894/2939
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Minor	None
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Hill St, Thames	Mata Creek, Tapu
Length of Residence	22 years	20 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Thomas Dunlop, Hill St
Folio	94/3253
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 October 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. Samuel O'Neill, Unsectarian

1 November 1894

Amos Fisher
Elizabeth Hornbrook

Widower
Widow

Contractor
Domestic

50
55

Tararu, Thames
Thames

15 years
2 years

The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Thames

Not Issued

No	30
Date of Notice	1 November 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Amos Fisher	Elizabeth Hornbrook
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Contractor	Domestic
Age	50	55
Dwelling Place	Tararu, Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	15 years	2 years
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Thames
Folio	Not Issued
Consent
Date of Certificate	Not Issued
Officiating Minister

1 November 1894

Frederick Tetley
Elizabeth Broad Perey

Frederick Tetley
Elizabeth Broad Percy
💍 1894/2956

Widower
Widow

Butcher
Hotel Keeper

64
54

Thames
Thames

26 years
22 years

The Dwelling of Rev. W. R. Woolley, Queen St

94/3250

1 November 1894

Rev. W. R. Woolley, Baptist

No	31
Date of Notice	1 November 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Tetley	Elizabeth Broad Perey
BDM Match (98%)	Frederick Tetley	Elizabeth Broad Percy
	💍 1894/2956
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Butcher	Hotel Keeper
Age	64	54
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	26 years	22 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Rev. W. R. Woolley, Queen St
Folio	94/3250
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 November 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. R. Woolley, Baptist

7 November 1894

Hugh Daniel Mullins
Marion McLaughlin

Hugh Daniel Mullins
Marion McCoughlin
💍 1894/2938

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraphist
None

22
23

Thames
Thames

22 years
23 years

St. Francis Church, Willoughby St

94/3252

7 November 1894

Rev. Patrick O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

No	32
Date of Notice	7 November 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Daniel Mullins	Marion McLaughlin
BDM Match (94%)	Hugh Daniel Mullins	Marion McCoughlin
	💍 1894/2938
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist	None
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	22 years	23 years
Marriage Place	St. Francis Church, Willoughby St
Folio	94/3252
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 November 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. Patrick O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

12 November 1894

Thomas Alexander Cooper
Ella Elizabeth Garrett

Thomas Alexander Cooper
Ella Elizabeth Garrett
💍 1894/2952

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
None

25
19

Warahoe, Thames
Puriri, Thames

24 years
19 years

The Dwelling of Oliver Garrett, Puriri

94/3246

13 November 1894

Rev. T. O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	33
Date of Notice	12 November 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Alexander Cooper	Ella Elizabeth Garrett
	💍 1894/2952
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	None
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Warahoe, Thames	Puriri, Thames
Length of Residence	24 years	19 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Oliver Garrett, Puriri
Folio	94/3246
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 November 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. O'Callaghan, Church of England

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).