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 621

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
162	10 May 1894	John Finn Janet Ferguson	John Finn Janet Ferguson 💍 1894/1450	Bachelor Spinster	Barman	25 27	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/1470		10 May 1894	W. D. Wyatt
163	11 May 1894	Samuel Burrows Emily Vincent	Samuel Burrows Emily Vincent 💍 1894/1451	Bachelor Widow	Pattern Maker	43 37	Petone Wellington	years years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/1471		11 May 1894	W. D. Wyatt
164	14 May 1894	Oscar Wilson Jessie Fredric	Oscar Wilson Jessie Fredric 💍 1894/1427	Bachelor Spinster	Foreman	30 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. Green, Tory Street	94/1518		14 May 1894	Rev. J. R. Elliott
165	14 May 1894	Wesley Knight Emily Augusta Hornsby	Wesley Knight Emily Augusta Harrowby 💍 1894/2256	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	23 23	Lower Hutt Lower Hutt	3 days 3 days	House of Mr. Hornsby, Vivian Street	94/2149		14 May 1894	Rev. J. G. Carr
166	15 May 1894	Francis Wilson Smith Louisa Hathaway	Francis Wilson Smith Louisa Hathaway 💍 1894/1937	Widower Spinster	Sheep Farmer	58 37	Wellington Wellington Terrace	years years	St. Andrew's Church, Wellington Terrace	94/2046		15 May 1894	Rev. C. I. Ogg
167	16 May 1894	Archibald Steel Eugenia Browne		Bachelor Spinster	Shearer	25 21	Wellington Cambridge Terrace	6 weeks 3 months	House of Mr. Smith	Not issued. See memo.		16 May 1894
168	16 May 1894	Frederick Kilmister Isabel Elizabeth Nash	Frederick Kilminster Isabel Elizabeth Nash 💍 1894/1520	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	25 17	Karori Karori	years years	St. Mary's Church, Karori	94/1497	Ernest Kenny Nash, Father	16 May 1894	Rev. A. E. Lasent
169	21 May 1894	Archibald Govard Charlotte Short	Archibald Govern Doig Charlotte Short 💍 1894/1452	Bachelor Spinster	Painter	23 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/1472		21 May 1894	W. D. Wyatt
170	22 May 1894	John Joseph Winnecott Harriet Annie Wood	John Joseph Winnicott Harriet Annie Wood 💍 1894/1523	Widower Spinster	Mariner	28 28	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. Samuel Wood, Britomart Street	94/1500		22 May 1894	Rev. C. Dallaston
171	22 May 1894	William Davies Philippa Benedict	William Davies Philippa Benitina Dowling 💍 1894/1515	Bachelor Spinster	Horse Owner	41 19	Lower Hutt Wellington	11 years 11 years	Roman Catholic Church, Lower Hutt	94/1514	John Dowling, Father	22 May 1894	Rev. John Lane
172	22 May 1894	William Galbraith Wylie Mary Alice Ingram	William Galbraith Wylie Mary Alice Ingram 💍 1894/1507	Bachelor Spinster	Civil Servant	32 26	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Peter's Church	94/1507		22 May 1894	Rev. J. G. A. P. Hill
173	23 May 1894	James Johnston Hannah Mentha Boyce	James Johnston Hannah Martha Bryce 💍 1894/1428	Bachelor Spinster	Livery Stable Keeper	29 23	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. Campbell, Campbell Terrace	94/1519		23 May 1894	Rev. J. R. Elliott
174	23 May 1894	Thomas Mollison Elizabeth Henderson	Thomas Mollison Elizabeth Henderson 💍 1894/1810	Bachelor Spinster	Draper	22 22	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Mary of the Angels	94/1787		23 May 1894	Rev. W. Goggan
175	26 May 1894	Charles Wilson Lucilla Naomi Carter	Charles Wilson Lucilla Naomi Carter 💍 1894/1511	Bachelor Spinster	Journalist	35 20	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. Carter, Vivian Street	94/1492	Mary Ann Carter, Mother	26 May 1894	Rev. M. Shirer
176	26 May 1894	Stephen Maskrey Ellen Dalton	Stephen Maskrey Ellen Dalton 💍 1894/1453	Bachelor Spinster	Bushman	48 33	Wellington Wellington	3 days months	Registrar's Office, Wellington	94/1473		26 May 1894	W. D. Wyatt

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).