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 659

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 June 1894 Registrar Hugh Calder

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

17 April 1894

Henry Varley Rodley
Selina Kenning

Henry Varley Rodley
Selina Kenning
💍 1894/4179

Bachelor
Spinster

Iron Assistant

24
22

Waimea Road, Nelson
Bishopdale, Nelson

7 years
22 years

The residence of Frederick Disero, Waimea Street Nelson

94/2145

Rev. Thomas Bray, Baptist Minister, Nelson

No	25
Date of Notice	17 April 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Varley Rodley	Selina Kenning
	💍 1894/4179
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Iron Assistant
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Waimea Road, Nelson	Bishopdale, Nelson
Length of Residence	7 years	22 years
Marriage Place	The residence of Frederick Disero, Waimea Street Nelson
Folio	94/2145
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas Bray, Baptist Minister, Nelson

17 April 1894

Charles Wellicott Bird
Florence Fanny Richards

Charles William Bird
Florence Fanny Richards
💍 1894/1896

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Tailoress

22
22

Nile Street, Nelson
East Nelson

3 years
22 years

The residence of James Henry Richards

94/2005

Rev. George Bond, Wesleyan Minister, Nelson

No	26
Date of Notice	17 April 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Wellicott Bird	Florence Fanny Richards
BDM Match (89%)	Charles William Bird	Florence Fanny Richards
	💍 1894/1896
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Tailoress
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Nile Street, Nelson	East Nelson
Length of Residence	3 years	22 years
Marriage Place	The residence of James Henry Richards
Folio	94/2005
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Bond, Wesleyan Minister, Nelson

17 April 1894

Edward William Cross
Georgina Newport

Edward William Cross
Georgina Newport
💍 1894/1547

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Dressmaker

24
24

Hope
Richmond

16 years
10 years

The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson

94/1571

Rev. John F. Kempthorne, Church of England, Nelson

No	27
Date of Notice	17 April 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward William Cross	Georgina Newport
	💍 1894/1547
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Dressmaker
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Hope	Richmond
Length of Residence	16 years	10 years
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson
Folio	94/1571
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	Rev. John F. Kempthorne, Church of England, Nelson

25 April 1894

George Arthur Kissling
Constance Annie Richmond

George Arthur Kissling
Constance Anna Richmond
💍 1894/1898

Bachelor
Spinster

Official

29
25

The Port Nelson
The Cliffs, 25 Square, Nelson

3 days
25 years

Christchurch

94/2007

Rev. Ralph Baker, Church of England, Nelson

No	28
Date of Notice	25 April 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Arthur Kissling	Constance Annie Richmond
BDM Match (96%)	George Arthur Kissling	Constance Anna Richmond
	💍 1894/1898
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Official
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	The Port Nelson	The Cliffs, 25 Square, Nelson
Length of Residence	3 days	25 years
Marriage Place	Christchurch
Folio	94/2007
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	Rev. Ralph Baker, Church of England, Nelson

4 May 1894

Daniel Jenner
Susan Willmurray

Daniel Jenner
Susie McMurray
💍 1894/22

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

32
21

Stoke
Nelson

4 years
21 years

The residence of James Willmurray

94/1584

Rev. William F. Evans, Wesleyan Minister, Nelson

No	29
Date of Notice	4 May 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel Jenner	Susan Willmurray
BDM Match (78%)	Daniel Jenner	Susie McMurray
	💍 1894/22
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	32	21
Dwelling Place	Stoke	Nelson
Length of Residence	4 years	21 years
Marriage Place	The residence of James Willmurray
Folio	94/1584
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	Rev. William F. Evans, Wesleyan Minister, Nelson

11 May 1894

George Henry Cressy
Mary Pelham Nelson Day

George Henry Cressey
Mary Pelham Nelson Day
💍 1894/1566

Bachelor
Widow

Medical

40
37

Brightwater
Hardy Street, Nelson

4 years
5 years

The Chapel of the Holy Evangelist, Bishopdale

94/1594

Rev. Stephen Evans, Church of England, Nelson

No	30
Date of Notice	11 May 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Cressy	Mary Pelham Nelson Day
BDM Match (98%)	George Henry Cressey	Mary Pelham Nelson Day
	💍 1894/1566
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Medical
Age	40	37
Dwelling Place	Brightwater	Hardy Street, Nelson
Length of Residence	4 years	5 years
Marriage Place	The Chapel of the Holy Evangelist, Bishopdale
Folio	94/1594
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	Rev. Stephen Evans, Church of England, Nelson

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 1903. More registers are being added almost every week.

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).