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 1495

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
404	17 December 1894	James Richmond Mabey Frances Eleanor York	James Richmond Nabey Frances Eleanor York 💍 1894/3343	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	24 21	Petone Wellington	5 months 1 month	Registrar's Office	94/3461		17 December 1894	W. E. Wyatt
405	17 December 1894	Alfred Clement Warmington Henrietta Alexandra Richary	Alfred Clement Mannington Henrietta Alexandra Bilham 💍 1894/3299	Bachelor Spinster	Sheep Farmer	27 29	Wellington Wellington	3 days 1 day	St. Paul's Cathedral	94/3517		17 December 1894	Rev. J. H. Sprott
406	17 December 1894	George Edward Pound Lilian Codlin	George Edward Pound Lilian Odlin 💍 1894/3225	Bachelor Spinster	Journalist	33 25	Wellington Wellington	4 years	Home of Mr. Codlin, Tasman Street	94/3539		17 December 1894	Rev. J. K. Elliott
407	17 December 1894	George William Bowater Julia Watson	George William Bowater Julia Matson 💍 1894/3664	Bachelor Spinster	Ironmonger	21 23	Wellington South Road	4 years	Wesleyan Church	94/3970		17 December 1894	Rev. Josiah Ward
408	17 December 1894	Caleb Davies Pike Mabel Clara Prince	Caleb Davies Pike Mabel Clara Prince 💍 1894/3268	Bachelor Spinster	Draper	25 20	Wellington Wellington	4 years	Wesleyan Church, Taranaki Street	94/3486	Father	17 December 1894	Rev. W. Bamber
409	17 December 1894	Joseph Henry Hayhow Emily Annie Robson	Joseph Henry Hayhow Emily Annie Robson 💍 1894/3232	Bachelor Spinster	Accountant	30 22	Ngaiohamanga Ngaiohamanga	4 years	Home of Mr. Robson, Caroline Street	94/3546		19 December 1894	Rev. R. J. Muncey
410	18 December 1894	Robert Fergusson Constance Read	Robert Fergussen Constance Read 💍 1894/3228	Bachelor Spinster	Engineer	24 29	Wellington Wellington	3 days 8 months	St. Mark's Church	94/3523		18 December 1894	Rev. R. Coffey
411	18 December 1894	Birger Johannes Lobiberg Lymneberg Elizabeth Cheyne	Birger Johannes Lohrbauer Lynneberg Elizabeth Cheyne 💍 1894/3431	Bachelor Widow	Fireman	30 29	Kaiwarra Kaiwarra	4 years	Home of Bride, Kaiwarra	94/3547		18 December 1894	Rev. R. J. Muncey
412	18 December 1894	Charles Vining Eliza Jane Hall	Charles Vining Eliza Jane Hall 💍 1894/3276	Bachelor Spinster	Fireman	25 19	Petone Petone	4 years 14 days	Silverstream, Petone	94/3493	George Hall, Father	18 December 1894	Rev. A. Thomson
413	19 December 1894	John Smallie Lennox Edith Ethel Moreby Johran	John Smallie Tennant Edith Ethel Morcsby Zohrab 💍 1894/3233	Bachelor Spinster	Schoolmaster	29 25	Wellington Wellington	3 days 4 years	St. Mark's Church	94/3524		19 December 1894	Rev. R. Coffey
414	19 December 1894	John Brooker Fanny Mary Billen	John Brooker Fanny Mary Billent 💍 1894/3227	Widower Spinster	Letter Carrier	28 25	Wellington Wellington	4 years	Home of Mr. Markway, Cambridge Terrace	94/3541		19 December 1894	Rev. J. K. Elliott
415	19 December 1894	Walter Curtis Jane Harriet Humphry Russell	Walter Curtis Jane Harriett Humphrey Russell 💍 1894/3447	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	29 30	Wellington Wellington	4 years	Home of Mr. Patching, Adelaide Road	94/3549		19 December 1894	Rev. B. J. Hallowes
416	20 December 1894	Alexander Jones Eliza Jane Bonner	Alexander James Eliza Jane Bonner 💍 1894/3291	Bachelor Spinster	Joiner	21 21	Wellington Wellington	4 years	Home of Mr. Bonner, Church Street	94/3509		20 December 1894	Rev. W. Thier
417	22 December 1894	George Wylie Mitchell Wilhelmina Sarah Elizabeth Noleggine Orlando	George Wylie Mitchell Wilhemene Sara Elsie Hollezzi De Corlando 💍 1894/3270	Bachelor Spinster	Schoolmaster	33 22	Wellington Wellington	3 days	Home of Mr. Wrigley, Austin Street	94/3488		22 December 1894	Rev. J. Wrigley
418	22 December 1894	Thomas Bryant Margaret Irvine	Thomas Bryant Margaret Irwine 💍 1894/3226 Thomas Bryant Emma Amelia Marsh Fordham 💍 1894/3467	Widower Spinster	Brickmaker	78 57	Wellington Wellington	4 years	Home of Mr. J. K. Elliott, Hanson Street	94/3540		22 December 1894	Rev. J. K. Elliott

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).