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 1504

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
46	16 November 1894	Frank Shaw Florence Graham	Frank Shaw Florence Graham 💍 1894/3666	Bachelor Spinster	Chemist	26 25	Blenheim Blenheim	8 years 2 years	Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim	94/3972		16 November 1894	Rev. J. Macnamara
47	20 November 1894	Bateman Thomas Suisen Margaret Elizabeth Normanby	Bateman Thomas Missen Margaret Elizabeth Normanby 💍 1894/3436	Bachelor Spinster	Telegraphist	29 25	Timaru Blenheim	2 years 20 years	Church of the Nativity	94/3561		20 November 1894	Rev. T. S. Grace
48	27 November 1894	Augustine Thomas Edward Fairhall Laura Watson	Augustine Thomas Edward Fairhall Laura Watson 💍 1894/3667	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	33 23	Woodbourne Fairhall Renwicktown	8 years 23 years	Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim	94/3973		27 November 1894	Rev. J. Macnamara
49	28 November 1894	James Powick Smith Sarah Botham	James Powick Smith Sarah Botham 💍 1894/3686	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	29 25	Tua Marina Tua Marina	29 years 16 years	Wesleyan Church	94/3995		28 November 1894	Rev. T. Lee
50	29 November 1894	Charles Philip William Sutherland Jane Harriet Gordon	Charles Phillip Williams Jane Harriet Gordon Sutherland 💍 1894/3437	Bachelor Spinster	Chemist Dressmaker	27 24	Blenheim Grovetown	2 years 24 years	Church of the Nativity, Blenheim	94/3562		29 November 1894	Rev. T. S. Grace
51	15 December 1894	James Bye Bell Louisa Ellen Timms	James Bye Bell Louisa Ellen Timms 💍 1894/4129	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	23 19	Blenheim Wairau Valley	5 years 19 years	Office of the Registrar, Blenheim	94/3568	Wm. Nosworthy, Deputy Registrar, father	15 December 1894	Wm. Nosworthy, Deputy Registrar
52	24 December 1894	Philip Falkner Sing John Mary Brunsher	Philip Faulkner Sing Johe Mary Brewster 💍 1894/3438	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Schoolmistress	31 35	Blenheim Blenheim	2 years 12 years	Church of the Nativity	94/3563		24 December 1894	Ven. Arch. T. S. Grace
53	27 December 1894	Thomas Buddle Stump Mary Louisa Rose	Thomas Buddle Crump Mary Louisa Rose 💍 1894/3687	Bachelor Spinster	Solicitor	27 26	Blenheim Keyworth near Blenheim	5 days 26 years	Wesleyan Methodist Church, Blenheim	94/3996		27 December 1894	Rev. John Crump

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).