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 1489

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 December 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
314	1 October 1894	Joe Vitella Organila Bellanta		Bachelor Spinster	Musician	19 16	Wellington Wellington	8 months 1 year	Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/3446	Nonclass Colory, father	1 October 1894	W. T. Wyatt
315	3 October 1894	Arthur Holden Hemmings Sophia Laura Reeves	Arthur Holden Hamerton Sophie Laura Reeves 💍 1894/3300	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	20 25	Wellington Wellington	2 years 2 years	St. Mark's Church	94/3518		3 October 1894	Rev. R. Coffey
316	3 October 1894	John Watson Johanna Hamilton	John Watson Johanna Hamilton 💍 1894/3207	Bachelor Widow	Mariner	36 27	Wellington Wellington	7 years 7 years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/3442		3 October 1894	W. T. Wyatt
317	4 October 1894	Robert Thomas Holmes Maud Boys	Robert Thomas Holmes Maud Boys 💍 1894/3293	Widower Spinster	Stationer	62 36	Masterton Wellington	1 year 4 days	St. Paul's Church	94/3511		4 October 1894	Rev. L. M. Isitt
318	5 October 1894	Herbert Joseph Thompson Grace Beale	Herbert Joseph Thompson Grace Seale 💍 1894/4127	Bachelor Spinster	Coal Merchant	29 22	Wellington Wellington	1 year 1 year	Wesleyan Church, Molesworth Street	94/3542		5 October 1894	Rev. R. J. Murray
319	5 October 1894	Frederick Irons Richards Dora Martha Stanford	Frederick Irons Richards Dora Martha Stanford 💍 1894/3348	Bachelor Spinster	Grocer	28 26	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	St. Peter's Church	94/3465		5 October 1894	Rev. W. C. Waters
320	8 October 1894	Edward Pine Steim Sarey Stuart	Edward Pond Skinner Sarey Stuart 💍 1894/3282	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	27 22	Wellington Taranaki	1 year 1 year	Wesley Parsonage	94/3477		8 October 1894	Rev. W. Baumber
321	9 October 1894	Robert Dodds Thomson Edith Maria Bullimore	Robert Dodds Thomson Edith Maria Bulliman 💍 1894/3202	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	30 20	Waimarama Wellington	1 year 1 year	Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/3438	Richard Bullimore, father	9 October 1894	W. T. Wyatt
322	9 October 1894	Ernest Peterson Margaret Dalton	Joseph Edwin Dalton Margaret Dalton 💍 1894/99	Bachelor Widow	Mariner	26 35	Wellington Wellington	6 months 8 months	Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/3439		9 October 1894	W. T. Wyatt
323	9 October 1894	Arthur Mono Elizabeth Hall	Arthur Moore Elizabeth Hall 💍 1894/3283	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	22 25	Wellington Taranaki	5 weeks 1 year	Wesley Parsonage	94/3478		9 October 1894	Rev. W. Baumber
324	9 October 1894	Joseph Thomas Ward Ada Evelyn Wright	Joseph Thomas Ward Ada Evelyn Wright 💍 1894/4126	Bachelor Spinster	Saddler	32 25	Wellington Wright Hopper	7 years 7 years	House of Mr. Wright, Hopper	94/3526		9 October 1894	Rev. J. R. Glasson
325	11 October 1894	John Compton Jennie Wright	John Compton Jinnie Wright 💍 1894/3271	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	44 21	Wellington Lower Hutt	3 days 7 years	House of Mr. Wright, Lower Hutt	94/3489		11 October 1894	Rev. A. Gray
326	11 October 1894	Albert Edward Hugh Mary Kirkly	Albert Edward Hugh Mary Kirkby 💍 1894/3204	Bachelor Spinster	Spring Maker	26 28	Wellington Wellington	7 years 7 years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/3440		11 October 1894	W. T. Wyatt
327	12 October 1894	Peter Gillespie Barbara McLain	Peter Gillespie Barbara McBlain 💍 1894/3206	Bachelor Spinster	Plumber	22 21	Wellington Wellington	1 week 3 days	Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/3441		12 October 1894	W. T. Wyatt
328	13 October 1894	Walter Helleyer Gallichan Sarah Goodison	Walter Hellyer Gallichan Sarah Goodisson 💍 1894/3301	Bachelor Spinster	Driver	26 23	Wellington Wellington	7 years 7 years	St. Mark's Church	94/3519		13 October 1894	Rev. R. Coffey

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).