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 1491

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
359	14 November 1894	Frederick Magnus Peterson Susan Parish	Frederick Magnus Peterson Susan Parish 💍 1894/3238	Widower Spinster	Carpenter	29 29	Wellington Wellington	3 months 8 days	Primitive Methodist Church, Webb Street	94/3530		14 November 1894	Rev. James Guy
360	16 November 1894	James George Woodward Susannah Ashbridge	James George Woodward Susannah Ashbridge 💍 1894/3358	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	30 32	Wellington Wellington	5 years 5 years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/3452		16 November 1894	W. Twyall
361	17 November 1894	Albert Edward Garmany Agnes Hunter	Albert Edward Gannaway Agnes Hunter 💍 1894/4125	Bachelor Spinster	Architect	24 30	Wellington Wellington	3 years 2 days	St. Paul's Cathedral	94/3573		17 November 1894	Rev. J. H. Sprott
362	19 November 1894	John Alexander Murray Minnie Augusta Embury	John Alexander May Minnie Augusta Embury 💍 1894/3239	Bachelor Spinster	Cooper	24 20	Paramata Wellington	4 years 1 year	Primitive Methodist Church, Webb Street	94/3531	James Embury, father	19 November 1894	Rev. James Guy
363	20 November 1894	William Lawton Mary Kearns	William Lawton Mary Kearns 💍 1894/3279	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	32 32	Wellington Wellington	1 week 3 days	St. Mary's Cathedral	94/3496		20 November 1894	Rev. J. Dawson
364	20 November 1894	Patrick Nolan Kathleen Genevieve Moran	Patrick Nolan Kathleen Genevieve Moran 💍 1894/3287	Bachelor Spinster	Journalist	28 27	Wellington Wellington	1 month 2 years	St. Mary's Cathedral	94/3497		20 November 1894	Rev. J. Dawson
365	20 November 1894	John George Ada Emily Mary Brown	John George Ada Emily Mary Bourne 💍 1894/3264	Bachelor Widow	Labourer	23 23	Wellington Paramata	4 years 4 days	Wesleyan Parsonage	94/3482		20 November 1894	Rev. W. Bamber
366	20 November 1894	David Becket Laura Fake	David Beckitt Laura Fake 💍 1894/3663	Bachelor Spinster	Milkman	23 22	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	Wesleyan Church, Newton	94/3969		20 November 1894	Rev. Josiah Ward
367	20 November 1894	Arthur Beddie Mary Scott	Arthur Beddie Mary Scott 💍 1894/3359	Bachelor Widow	Engineer	25 30	Wellington Wellington	1 month 1 month	Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/3453		20 November 1894	W. Twyall
368	21 November 1894	Robert Eaton Radcliffe Emily Martha Jordan	Herbert Eston Radcliffe Emily Martha Jordan 💍 1894/3302	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	24 22	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	St. Mark's Church	94/3520		21 November 1894	Rev. C. FitzGerald
369	21 November 1894	Edward Huntingford Medley Ellen Burkin	Edward Huntingford Mayhew Ellen Burkin 💍 1894/3337	Bachelor Spinster	Bricklayer	33 29	Wellington Wellington	2 years 2 years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/3453		21 November 1894	W. Twyall
370	22 November 1894	Thomas Reidy Johanna Lean	Thomas Reidy Johanna Lean 💍 1894/3306	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	32 25	Manukau Wellington	5 years 5 years	St. Mary's Church of the Angels	94/3501		22 November 1894	Rev. J. Dawson
371	23 November 1894	John Augustus Samuel Brown Florence Emily Baker Daniels	John Augustus Samuel Brown Florence Emily Louisa Baker 💍 1894/3265	Bachelor Spinster	Engineer	21 21	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	Home of Mr. Baker Daniels	94/3483		23 November 1894	Rev. W. Bamber
372	24 November 1894	Michael Scanlan Kate Murphy	Michael Scanlon Kate Murphy 💍 1894/3298	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	29 26	Wellington Wellington	1 year 1 year	St. Mary's Cathedral	94/3498		24 November 1894	Rev. J. Dawson
373	26 November 1894	Alfred Charles Case Alice Mary Gertrude Brown	Alfred Charles Case Alice Mary Gertrude Brown 💍 1894/3338	Bachelor Spinster	Platelayer	29 24	Wellington Wellington	3 days 3 years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/3456		26 November 1894	W. Twyall

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).