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 379

District of Oamaru Quarter ending 31 March 1894 Registrar W. Filleul

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

1716

21 February 1894

John Macdonald
Matilda Brooks

John Macdonald
Matilda Brooks
💍 1894/955

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

30
24

Oamaru
Oamaru

5 years
2 years

The house of Mr. Robert Murray, From Street, Oamaru

94/933

21 February 1894

Rev. A. B. Todd, Presbyterian

No	1716
Date of Notice	21 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Macdonald	Matilda Brooks
	💍 1894/955
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	5 years	2 years
Marriage Place	The house of Mr. Robert Murray, From Street, Oamaru
Folio	94/933
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. B. Todd, Presbyterian

1717

23 February 1894

John McEwen
Agnes Gibson

John McEwen
Agnes Gibson
💍 1894/957

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Employee

24
18

Oamaru
Oamaru

2 years
18 years

The house of Mr. Gibson, Chelmer Street, Oamaru

94/934

Mary Gibson, Mother

23 February 1894

Rev. A. B. Todd, Presbyterian

No	1717
Date of Notice	23 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McEwen	Agnes Gibson
	💍 1894/957
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employee
Age	24	18
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	2 years	18 years
Marriage Place	The house of Mr. Gibson, Chelmer Street, Oamaru
Folio	94/934
Consent	Mary Gibson, Mother
Date of Certificate	23 February 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. B. Todd, Presbyterian

1718

26 February 1894

James Simpson
Isabella McNeill

James Simpson
Isabella McNeil
💍 1894/886

James Simpson
Isabella Miller
💍 1894/1781

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Dressmaker

32
44

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 days
3 days

The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Oamaru

94/941

26 February 1894

The Registrar of Marriages, Oamaru

No	1718
Date of Notice	26 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Simpson	Isabella McNeill
BDM Match (97%)	James Simpson	Isabella McNeil
	💍 1894/886
BDM Match (84%)	James Simpson	Isabella Miller
	💍 1894/1781
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Dressmaker
Age	32	44
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Oamaru
Folio	94/941
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1894
Officiating Minister	The Registrar of Marriages, Oamaru

1719

26 February 1894

William McKinley
Kate Maude Zander

William McKinlay
Kate Maude Zander
💍 1894/885

Widower
Widow

Ploughman
Housekeeper

59
39

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 days
3 days

The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Oamaru

94/940

26 February 1894

The Registrar of Marriages, Oamaru

No	1719
Date of Notice	26 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William McKinley	Kate Maude Zander
BDM Match (97%)	William McKinlay	Kate Maude Zander
	💍 1894/885
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Ploughman	Housekeeper
Age	59	39
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Oamaru
Folio	94/940
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1894
Officiating Minister	The Registrar of Marriages, Oamaru

1720

16 March 1894

William John Tiddy
Elizabeth Phillips

William John Tiddy
Elizabeth Phillip
💍 1894/958

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer's Assistant

24
23

Oamaru
Oamaru

24 years
3 years

The house of John Tiddy, Eden Street, Oamaru

94/935

16 March 1894

Rev. John Steven, Presbyterian

No	1720
Date of Notice	16 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Tiddy	Elizabeth Phillips
BDM Match (97%)	William John Tiddy	Elizabeth Phillip
	💍 1894/958
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer's Assistant
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	24 years	3 years
Marriage Place	The house of John Tiddy, Eden Street, Oamaru
Folio	94/935
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Steven, Presbyterian

1721

26 March 1894

James Pocklington
Agnes Cairns

James Pocklington
Agnes Cairns
💍 1894/960

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker

24
23

Oamaru
Oamaru

14 years
14 years

Wesleyan Church, Eden Street, Oamaru

94/937

26 March 1894

Rev. J. A. Luxford, Wesleyan

No	1721
Date of Notice	26 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Pocklington	Agnes Cairns
	💍 1894/960
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	14 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Eden Street, Oamaru
Folio	94/937
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Luxford, Wesleyan

1722

28 March 1894

John Heavey
Caroline Ring

John Heavey
Caroline Ring
💍 1894/949

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Dressmaker

21
21

Oamaru
Oamaru

17 years
18 years

St. Joseph's Church, Oamaru

94/926

28 March 1894

Rev. Wm. McMullen, Roman Catholic

No	1722
Date of Notice	28 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Heavey	Caroline Ring
	💍 1894/949
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Dressmaker
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	17 years	18 years
Marriage Place	St. Joseph's Church, Oamaru
Folio	94/926
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm. McMullen, Roman Catholic

1723

28 March 1894

Andrew Peter Direen
Sarah Hickey

Andrew Direen
Sarah Hickey
💍 1894/950

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Domestic Servant

32
30

Oamaru
Oamaru

14 years
5 years

St. Joseph's Church, Oamaru

94/927

28 March 1894

Rev. Wm. McMullen, Roman Catholic

No	1723
Date of Notice	28 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Peter Direen	Sarah Hickey
BDM Match (84%)	Andrew Direen	Sarah Hickey
	💍 1894/950
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Domestic Servant
Age	32	30
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	14 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St. Joseph's Church, Oamaru
Folio	94/927
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm. McMullen, Roman Catholic

1724

29 March 1894

William Donald Burns
Florence Victoria Brown

William Donald Burns
Florence Victoria Brown
💍 1894/868

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer's Machinist
Waitress

29
28

Oamaru
Oamaru

27 years
14 days

The residence of Mr. William Donald Burns, Thames Street, Oamaru

94/938

29 March 1894

Rev. J. A. Luxford, Wesleyan

No	1724
Date of Notice	29 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Donald Burns	Florence Victoria Brown
	💍 1894/868
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer's Machinist	Waitress
Age	29	28
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	27 years	14 days
Marriage Place	The residence of Mr. William Donald Burns, Thames Street, Oamaru
Folio	94/938
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Luxford, Wesleyan

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).