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 1553

District of Ashburton 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
868	1 October 1894	Charles Foster Alleyne Edith Rodda	Charles Foster Alleyne Edith Rodda 💍 1894/3420	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Weaver	26 21	Ashburton Ashburton	1 year 12 years	Registrar's Office	94/3619		1 October 1894	J. Ward, Registrar
869	6 October 1894	John Bayliss Caroline Greaves Hirst	John Bayliss Caroline Greaves Hirst 💍 1894/3421	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Schoolmistress	26 28	Ashburton Ashburton	5 years 3 days	Registrar's Office	94/3620		6 October 1894	J. Ward, Registrar
870	20 October 1894	John Robert Elms Jessie Paterson	John Robert Elms Jessie Paterson 💍 1894/3322	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic Servant	25 22	Ruapuna Ashburton	3 years 10 months	Presbyterian Church	94/3624		20 October 1894	Revd. G. B. Inglis
871	27 October 1894	Samuel Baird Mary Stewart	Samuel Baird Mary Stewart 💍 1894/3329 William Job Martin Mary Stewart 💍 1895/2708	Bachelor Spinster	Schoolmaster	24 22	Greenstreet Seaview	8 months 15 years	Presbyterian Church	94/3625		27 October 1894	Revd. G. B. Inglis
872	29 October 1894	John Bird Mary Clinton	John Bird Mary Clinton 💍 1894/3422	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Domestic Servant	29 23	Hinds Hinds	2 years 12 months	Registrar's Office	94/3621		29 October 1894	J. Ward, Registrar
873	10 November 1894	George Daniel Wallis Stafford Emma Maud Nelson	George Daniel Hollis Hefford Emma Land Nelson 💍 1894/3330	Bachelor Spinster	Draper	24 22	Ashburton Ashburton	18 years 14 years	Private Dwelling of John Stafford at Ashburton	94/3626		10 November 1894	Revd. G. B. Inglis
874	10 November 1894	Frederick Herbert Smith Emily Ada Stigley	Frederick Herbert Smith Emily Ada Stigley 💍 1894/3334	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	26 19	Tinwald Trevorton	4 days 15 years	Church of England	94/3630	Frank Stigley, Father	12 November 1894	Revd. Thos. A. Hamilton
875	14 November 1894	John Crocker Cawsey Elizabeth Jane Pearson	John Crocker Cawsey Elizabeth Jane Pearson 💍 1894/3332	Bachelor Spinster	Manager Gas Works Dressmaker	27 27	Ashburton Tinwald	14 years 7 years	Private Dwelling of Alfred M. Barton at Tinwald	94/3628		14 November 1894	Revd. Thos. G. Brooke
876	21 November 1894	Henry Mardon Eleanor Mabel Lowe	Henry Mardon Eleanor Mabel Lowe 💍 1894/3333	Bachelor Spinster	Flax-dresser	28 21	Tinwald Tinwald	3 years 15 years	Wesleyan Church	94/3629		21 November 1894	Revd. Thos. G. Brooke
877	21 November 1894	William Henry Ford Rachel Anderson	William Henry Ford Rachel Anderson 💍 1894/3331	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	34 22	Wheatstone Wheatstone	4 years 2 years	Presbyterian Church at Flemington	94/3629		21 November 1894	Revd. G. B. Inglis

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).