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 1503

District of Wairau 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
38	1 October 1894	Allan Satterley Ada Jane Rodgerson	Allan Satherlay Ada Jane Rogerson 💍 1894/3439	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	23 26	Spring Creek Spring Creek	4 years 26 years	Presbyterian Church, Blenheim	94/3564		1 October 1894	Rev. W. O. Robb
39	1 October 1894	William Henry Buckman Catherine Martha Gentry	William Henry Buckman Catherine Martha Gentry 💍 1894/3440	Bachelor Spinster	Draper Milliner	29 30	Blenheim Blenheim	20 years 20 years	Mr. Watterfield Residence, Market Place, Blenheim	94/3565		1 October 1894	Rev. W. O. Robb
40	5 October 1894	Edward Landon Lane Sarah Elizabeth Bartlett	Edward Landon Lane Sarah Elizabeth Bartlett 💍 1894/3443	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd	22 21	Blenheim Near Blenheim	8 years 21 years	Office Registrar of Marriages, Blenheim	94/3567		5 October 1894	E. W. Easley, Registrar
41	11 October 1894	Michael Falvey Harriett Cummings	Michael Falrey Harriett Cummings 💍 1894/3665	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	32 27	Blenheim Blenheim	10 years 1 year	Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim	94/3971		11 October 1894	E. W. Easley, Registrar, Rev. J. McNamara
42	26 October 1894	George Frederick Miller Jennings Adelaide Burrough	George Frederick Milier Jennings Adelaide Burroughs 💍 1894/3685	Bachelor Spinster	Telegraphist	26 26	Blenheim Tua Marina	1 year 26 years	Wesleyan Church, Tua Marina	94/3994		26 October 1894	Rev. T. Lee
43	26 October 1894	Richard James Wettern Susan McMorrin	Richard James Western Susan McMorrin 💍 1894/3434	Widower Spinster	Farmer	32 25	Tua Marina Tua Marina	10 years 25 years	Mr. J. Wettern's Residence, Tua Marina	94/3559		26 October 1894	Rev. R. J. Allworth
44	30 October 1894	Frederick Tuckett Dodson Alice Catherine Robinson	Frederick Tuckett Dodson Alice Catherine Robinson 💍 1894/3435	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	34 24	Spring Creek Blenheim	34 years 24 years	Church of the Nativity, Blenheim	94/3560		30 October 1894	Rev. J. S. Grace
45	12 November 1894	William Ernest Elliott Annie Mary Raad	William Ernest Elliott Annie Mary Radd 💍 1894/3441	Bachelor Spinster	Miner	28 17	Blenheim Blenheim	4 years 17 years	Rev. W. O. Robb's House, Blenheim	94/3566	William Raad, father	12 November 1894	Rev. W. O. Robb

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).