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 1490

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
329	15 October 1894	James Mark Nicholls Emma Eliza Reading	James Mark Nicholls Emma Eliza Redding 💍 1894/4124	Bachelor Spinster	Pipe maker	23 22	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr Marshall, Maybank, Sydney	94/3473		15 October 1894	Mr. A. P. Turner
330	16 October 1894	Charles Francis Miller Alice Maud Vennell	Charles Francis Millward Alice Maud Vennell 💍 1894/3349	Bachelor Spinster	Forwarding Agent	29 19	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Peter's Church	94/3466	Elizabeth Mary Vennell, mother	16 October 1894	Rev. W. C. Waters
331	16 October 1894	Percy Simpson Zoe Dryden	Percy Simpson Zoe Dryden 💍 1894/4123	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	35 23	Wellington Karori	3 days years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/3443		16 October 1894	Mr. E. Wyall
332	16 October 1894	Alfred Robert Turner Margaret Annie Lizzie Donell	Alfred Robert Turner Margaret Annie Eliza Doull 💍 1894/3886	Bachelor Spinster	Coachman	23 21	Wellington Sydney	years years	House of Mr Donell, Sydney	94/4105		16 October 1894	Rev. C. J. Carr
333	16 October 1894	Percy Thompson Zoe Dryden	Percy Simpson Zoe Dryden 💍 1894/4123	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	35 23	Wellington Karori	3 days years	St. Mary's Church	94/3475		16 October 1894	Rev. A. Dawsons
334	19 October 1894	Thomas John Price Kate Woodman	Thomas John Prier Kate Woodman 💍 1894/3236	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	30 26	Upper Hutt Tākaka	years years	House of Mr Woodman, Tākaka	94/3528		19 October 1894	Rev. J. Guy
335	20 October 1894	William James Perrin Mary Ann Murray	William James Perriman Skinner Mary Ann Murray 💍 1894/3235	Widower Spinster	Carpenter	41 40	Wellington Wellington	years 2 weeks	House of Mr Perrin, Riddiford Street	94/3527		20 October 1894	Rev. J. Guy
336	22 October 1894	Thomas Weames Annie Matheson	Thomas Wearne Annie Mathieson 💍 1894/3208	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	26 22	Wellington Wellington	6 days years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/3444		22 October 1894	Mr. E. Wyall
337	23 October 1894	Archibald Brown Margaret Smart	Archibald Brown Margaret Stuart 💍 1894/3284 Thomas Brown Margaret Blair 💍 1894/1560	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	34 35	Wellington York Street	3 days years	House of Mr Smart, York Street	94/3479		23 October 1894	Rev. W. Baumber
338	27 October 1894	Percy Edward Baldwin Ida Mary Johnston	Percy Edward Baldwin Ida Mary Johnston 💍 1894/3278	Bachelor Spinster	Solicitor	27 25	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Mary's Cathedral	94/3495		27 October 1894	Rev. J. Dawson
339	27 October 1894	Alexander Bonardina Duft Elizabeth Couch	Alexander Murray Bonar Duff Elizabeth Couch 💍 1894/3221	Bachelor Spinster	Permanent Artillery	22 19	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr Stacy, Grey Street	94/3535	John Stacy, Guardian	27 October 1894	Rev. J. K. Elliott
340	29 October 1894	Thomas Barton Annie Ellen Cook	Thomas Barton Annie Ellen Cook 💍 1894/3230	Bachelor Spinster	Clicker	26 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr Cook, Leeds Street	94/3544		29 October 1894	Rev. R. J. Murray
341	29 October 1894	Charles Conquest Johnson Eliza Cook	Charles August Johnson Eliza Cook 💍 1894/3229	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	38 29	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr Cook, Leeds Street	94/3543		29 October 1894	Rev. R. J. Murray
342	1 November 1894	George William Kechy Alice Mary Buck	George William Keeling Alice Mary Buck 💍 1894/3294	Bachelor Spinster	Printer	25 19	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Paul's Cathedral	94/3572	Emma Jane Buck, mother	1 November 1894	Rev. H. F. Smith
343	2 November 1894	August John Theodor Myers Mary Jane Luman	August John Theodor Meyers Mary Jane Luman 💍 1894/3237	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	32 18	Wellington Mount Victoria	years years	House of Mr Luman, Mount Victoria	94/3529	Martin Luman, father	2 November 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).