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 619

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
132	14 April 1894	Robert Campbell Cain Maude Grainer	Robert Campbell Sim Maude Grainey 💍 1894/1967	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	26 19	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mrs. Caine, Vivian Street	94/2076	Mary Grainer, Mother	14 April 1894	Rev. J. Paterson
133	14 April 1894	John Henry Hills Ellen Gertrude Anstey	John Henry Hills Ellen Gertrude Constance Reardon 💍 1894/1808	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	20 21	Paramata Wellington	years years	St. Mary of the Angels	94/1785		14 April 1894	Very Rev. J. Devoy
134	16 April 1894	Walter Tyres Caroline Semit	Walter Tyrrell Caroline Scmit 💍 1894/4070	Widower Spinster	Clerk	44 29	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Marks Church	94/1496		16 April 1894	Rev. R. Coffey
135	16 April 1894	Walter Roberts Margaret Carrie Clark	Walter Robarts Margaret Carrie Clark 💍 1894/1544	Bachelor Spinster	Musician	26 30	Wellington Wellington	6 Weeks years	House of Mr. Clark, Woolcombe Street	94/1527		16 April 1894	Rev. R. J. Herman
136	16 April 1894	William Try Newcombe Amy Alice Lancaster	William Fry Newcombe Amy Alice Lancaster 💍 1894/1542	Bachelor Spinster	Storekeeper	20 20	Karori Karori	years years	St. Mary's Church, Karori	94/1525	Stephen Lancaster, Father	16 April 1894	Rev. A. Davens
137	17 April 1894	Henry William Parsons Nina Ryan	Henry William Parsons Norah Ryan 💍 1894/1514	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	25 19	Petone Petone	years years	Roman Catholic Church, Lower Hutt	94/1573	Thomas Ryan, Father	17 April 1894	Rev. John Law
138	18 April 1894	Leonard Castle Vaughan Constance Annie Bates Brander	Leonard Castle Vaughan Constance Annie de Bathe Brandon 💍 1894/1956	Bachelor Spinster	Sheep Farmer	23 24	Wellington Wellington	2 Weeks years	St. Paul's Cathedral	94/2065		18 April 1894	Rev. J. H. Sprott
139	18 April 1894	Joseph Gee Elizabeth Pycroft	Joseph Gee Elizabeth Pycroft 💍 1894/1609	Bachelor Spinster	Ships Cook	35 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars Office, Wellington	94/1460		18 April 1894	W. Twyall
140	19 April 1894	David James Donnell Jessie Harrison	David James O'Donnell Jessie Harrison 💍 1894/1545	Bachelor Spinster	Engineer	26 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	Alexandra Home, Hanson Street	94/1529		19 April 1894	Rev. Josiah Ward
141	20 April 1894	John Duncan McCol Margaret Cahill	John Duncan McColl Margaret Cahill 💍 1894/1827	Bachelor Spinster	Tram Driver	23 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Mary of the Angels	94/1780		20 April 1894	Rev. W. G. Goggan
142	20 April 1894	Thomas Spicer Ada Prior	Thomas Spicer Ada Prier 💍 1894/1612	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	23 24	Ohariu Valley Ohariu Valley	years years		94/1461		20 April 1894	W. Twyall
143	21 April 1894	William Hedges Emily Louisa James	William Hedges Emily Louisa James 💍 1894/1610	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd	24 26	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars Office, Wellington	94/1462		21 April 1894	W. Twyall
144	24 April 1894	Edwin George Bienvenue Nellie Austin	Edwin George Bienvenu Nellie Austin 💍 1894/1505	Bachelor Spinster	Hairdresser	26 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Peters Church	94/1505		24 April 1894	Rev. W. G. Waters
145	24 April 1894	Thomas Reynolds Mary Annie Finn	Thomas Reynolds Mary Annie Finn 💍 1894/1829	Bachelor Spinster	Lineman	29 29	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Mary of the Angels	94/1782		24 April 1894	Very Rev. J. Devoy
146	25 April 1894	Robert Patton Bridget Flynn	Robert Patton Bridget Flynn 💍 1894/1807	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	28 28	Wellington Wellington	10 Weeks 5 years	St. Mary of the Angels	94/1783		25 April 1894	Very Rev. J. Devoy

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).