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 361

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 March 1894 Registrar John Winstanley Wilkin

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

25 January 1894

William Scoular Fleming
Janet Irving

William Scoular Fleming
Janet Irving
💍 1894/931

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

40
34

Rakahouka
Roslin Plains near Invercargill

20 years
12 months

House of Mr John Irving

94/909

23 January 1894

Rev. John Ferguson

No	8
Date of Notice	25 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Scoular Fleming	Janet Irving
	💍 1894/931
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	40	34
Dwelling Place	Rakahouka	Roslin Plains near Invercargill
Length of Residence	20 years	12 months
Marriage Place	House of Mr John Irving
Folio	94/909
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 January 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Ferguson

1 February 1894

Robert Bell
Nellie Hyndman

Robert Bell
Nellie Hyndman
💍 1894/926

Bachelor
Spinster

Coach Builder

26
21

Invercargill
Invercargill

4 years
14 years

House of Mr Wm Hyndman, Ettrick St., Invercargill

94/905

1 February 1894

Rev. Geo. Lindsay

No	9
Date of Notice	1 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Bell	Nellie Hyndman
	💍 1894/926
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coach Builder
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 years	14 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr Wm Hyndman, Ettrick St., Invercargill
Folio	94/905
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. Lindsay

7 February 1894

Tracey King
Mary Ann Lowrie

Tracey King
Mary Ann Lowrie
💍 1894/961

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

24
19

Woodlands
Woodlands

20 years
13 years

Office of the Registrar

94/915

Joseph Lowrie, father

7 February 1894

J. W. Wilkin, Registrar

No	10
Date of Notice	7 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Tracey King	Mary Ann Lowrie
	💍 1894/961
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Woodlands	Woodlands
Length of Residence	20 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar
Folio	94/915
Consent	Joseph Lowrie, father
Date of Certificate	7 February 1894
Officiating Minister	J. W. Wilkin, Registrar

14 February 1894

William Young Smith
Eliza Chivers Wilkins

William Young Smith
Eliza Chivers Wilkins
💍 1894/932

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

26
25

Invercargill
Invercargill

3 days
7 years

House of Mr W. C. Wilkins

94/910

14 February 1894

Rev. John Ferguson

No	11
Date of Notice	14 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Young Smith	Eliza Chivers Wilkins
	💍 1894/932
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	7 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr W. C. Wilkins
Folio	94/910
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Ferguson

20 February 1894

James Calvert
Cecilia Eveline Dawson

James Calvert
Cecilia Evelyn Dawson
💍 1894/934

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

24
23

Roslyn Bush
Brunswick

27 years
12 years

House of Mr J. H. Dawson

94/912

20 February 1894

Rev. Robt. Thornton

No	12
Date of Notice	20 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Calvert	Cecilia Eveline Dawson
BDM Match (95%)	James Calvert	Cecilia Evelyn Dawson
	💍 1894/934
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Roslyn Bush	Brunswick
Length of Residence	27 years	12 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr J. H. Dawson
Folio	94/912
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robt. Thornton

26 February 1894

Albert Henry Henn
Hannah Jane Arthur

Albert Henry Fenn
Hannah Jane Arthur
💍 1894/933

Bachelor
Spinster

Spinner

19
29

Invercargill
Invercargill

19 years
5 years

House of Mr David Black, Beaumont St

94/911

Thomas Henn, father

26 February 1894

Rev. John Ferguson

No	13
Date of Notice	26 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Henry Henn	Hannah Jane Arthur
BDM Match (97%)	Albert Henry Fenn	Hannah Jane Arthur
	💍 1894/933
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Spinner
Age	19	29
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	19 years	5 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr David Black, Beaumont St
Folio	94/911
Consent	Thomas Henn, father
Date of Certificate	26 February 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Ferguson

5 March 1894

David Collie
Annie Burgess

David Collie
Annie Burgess
💍 1894/925

Bachelor
Spinster

Rabbiter

34
19

Invercargill
Invercargill

3 days
3 days

St. John's Church, Tay St

94/904

Joseph Burgess, father

5 March 1894

Dean Archdeacon Stocker

No	14
Date of Notice	5 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Collie	Annie Burgess
	💍 1894/925
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Rabbiter
Age	34	19
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Tay St
Folio	94/904
Consent	Joseph Burgess, father
Date of Certificate	5 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Dean Archdeacon Stocker

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).