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 625

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30 June 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
192	9 June 1894	William Grant Fraser Anna Louisa Knigge	William Grant Fraser Anna Louisa Knigge 💍 1894/4195	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	27 24	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr Knigge, Roxburgh	94/2077		4 June 1894	Rev. J. Paterson
193	11 June 1894	William Neate Johnson Janet Helen Blacklock	William Neale Johnson Janet Helen Blacklock 💍 1894/1968	Bachelor Spinster	Traveller	27 23	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr Blacklock, Featherston Terrace	94/2078		11 June 1894	Rev. J. Paterson
194	11 June 1894	Walter Frederick Edwards Emma Reddick Russell	Walter Frederick Edwards Maud Riddick Russell 💍 1894/1509	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	23 22	Taita Naenae	years years	St. James Church, Lower Hutt	94/1509		11 June 1894	Rev. Joshua Jones
195	12 June 1894	John Kelly Elizabeth Mallowes	John Kelly Elizabeth Mallowes 💍 1894/1436	Bachelor Spinster	Bootmaker	23 19	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars Office, Wellington	94/1480	Julia Mallowes, mother	12 June 1894	W. S. Wyatt
196	12 June 1894	Thomas Freeman Mary Ann Wouldes	Thomas Foreman Mary Ann Wouldes 💍 1894/1527	Widower Spinster	Mariner	65 30	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr Green Street	94/1532		12 June 1894	Rev. Josiah Ward
197	12 June 1894	Albert George White Sarah Annie Ready	Albert St George White Sarah Annie Ready 💍 1894/1501	Bachelor Spinster	Engineer	23 22	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr Knigge, Avenal	94/1501		12 June 1894	C. D. Allan
198	14 June 1894	Charles George Chambers Jessie Harvey	Charles George Chambers Jessie Harvey 💍 1894/1437	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	21 22	Wellington Lower Hutt	4 days years	Registrars Office, Wellington	94/1481		14 June 1894	W. S. Wyatt
199	15 June 1894	John Fitzpatrick Mary Sullivan	John Fitzpatrick Mary Sullivan 💍 1894/2023	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	34 27	Wellington Wellington	3 days years	St. Mary's Cathedral	94/1986		15 June 1894	Rev. J. Dawson
200	16 June 1894	George Henry Rowell Ada Rosa Lee Guthrie	George Henry Rowell Ada Rosa Lee Guthrie 💍 1894/1513	Bachelor Spinster	Pastrycook	22 18	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr Guthrie, Taranaki Street	94/1572	Caroline Guthrie, mother	16 June 1894	Mr. A. J. Turner
201	16 June 1894	William Henry Graham Jane Edith Jackson	William Henry Graham Jane Edith Julia Acheson 💍 1894/1438	Widower Spinster	Civil Engineer	34 27	Wellington Wellington	5 days years	Registrars Office, Wellington	94/1482		16 June 1894	W. S. Wyatt
202	16 June 1894	John Oscar Sutherland Caroline Smith	John Oscar Cederlund Caroline Smith 💍 1894/1439	Divorced Widow	Carter	35 38	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars Office, Wellington	94/1483		16 June 1894	W. S. Wyatt
203	18 June 1894	James Henry Keys Sarah Ann Till	James Henry Keys Sarah Annie Till 💍 1894/1440	Bachelor Spinster	Plate Layer	32 27	Upper Hutt Wellington	years years	Registrars Office, Wellington	94/1484		18 June 1894	W. S. Wyatt
204	18 June 1894	William Douglas Livingstone Rebecca Barnest	William Douglas Livingstone Rebecca Barnett Macwhinnie 💍 1894/1442	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd	24 22	Wellington Wellington	4 days years	Registrars Office, Wellington	94/1485		18 June 1894	W. S. Wyatt
205	19 June 1894	John Pyke Mary McConey	John Pyke Mary McConey 💍 1894/2408	Bachelor Spinster	Tobacconist	40 29	Wellington Wellington	5 days years	St. Peter's Church	94/2575		19 June 1894	Rev. F. D. Pratt
206	19 June 1894	James Blain Horne Emily Amy Cooper	James Blain Home Emily Amy Souper 💍 1894/1535	Bachelor Spinster	Bookbinder	23 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr Budge, Adelaide Road	94/1522		19 June 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).