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 261

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1894 Registrar J. M. Macfarlane

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

3 March 1894

Raymond Frederick William Blowers
Mary Elizabeth Streeter

Raymond Frederick William Blowers
Mary Elizabeth Streeter
💍 1894/615

Widower

Labourer

45
19

Christchurch
Halswell

30 years
19 years

St. Mary's Church, Christchurch

94/634

Father

3 March 1894

Rev. W. J. Bean, Church of England

No	63
Date of Notice	3 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Raymond Frederick William Blowers	Mary Elizabeth Streeter
	💍 1894/615
Condition	Widower
Profession	Labourer
Age	45	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Halswell
Length of Residence	30 years	19 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Christchurch
Folio	94/634
Consent	Father
Date of Certificate	3 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Bean, Church of England

5 March 1894

Lorenzo Muschamp
Catherine Young

Lorenzo Muschamp
Catherine Going
💍 1894/649

Bachelor

Plasterer

33
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

30 years
20 years

Holy Trinity Church, Christchurch

94/668

5 March 1894

Rev. W. A. Pascoe, Church of England

No	64
Date of Notice	5 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lorenzo Muschamp	Catherine Young
BDM Match (93%)	Lorenzo Muschamp	Catherine Going
	💍 1894/649
Condition	Bachelor
Profession	Plasterer
Age	33	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	30 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Christchurch
Folio	94/668
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Pascoe, Church of England

5 March 1894

William Barton
Lucy Ellen Studholme

William Barton
Lucy Ellen Studholme
💍 1894/4181

Bachelor

Sheep Farmer

35
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 weeks

St. Mary's Church, Christchurch

94/2155

5 March 1894

Rev. C. J. Merton, Church of England

No	65
Date of Notice	5 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Barton	Lucy Ellen Studholme
	💍 1894/4181
Condition	Bachelor
Profession	Sheep Farmer
Age	35	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 weeks
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Christchurch
Folio	94/2155
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. J. Merton, Church of England

5 March 1894

James Livingstone
Margaret Jane Hall

James Livingstone
Margaret Jane Hall
💍 1894/642

Bachelor

Farmer

24
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
22 years

St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch

94/662

5 March 1894

Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian

No	66
Date of Notice	5 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Livingstone	Margaret Jane Hall
	💍 1894/642
Condition	Bachelor
Profession	Farmer
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch
Folio	94/662
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian

6 March 1894

Thomas Kirk
Susan Ellen Major

Thomas Kirk
Susan Ellen Major
💍 1894/35

Bachelor

Labourer

31
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

14 years
19 years

Baptist Chapel, Oxford Terrace, Christchurch

94/640

Elizabeth Major, mother

6 March 1894

Rev. W. Birche, Baptist

No	67
Date of Notice	6 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Kirk	Susan Ellen Major
	💍 1894/35
Condition	Bachelor
Profession	Labourer
Age	31	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	14 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Chapel, Oxford Terrace, Christchurch
Folio	94/640
Consent	Elizabeth Major, mother
Date of Certificate	6 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Birche, Baptist

6 March 1894

Thomas Henry Dickinson
Isabella Scott Anderson

Thomas Henry Dickenson
Isabella Scott Anderson
💍 1894/1638

Bachelor

Salesman

26
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

11 years
15 years

House of Rev. G. Elmslie, Lichfield St., Christchurch

94/649

6 March 1894

Rev. G. Elmslie, Presbyterian

No	68
Date of Notice	6 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Henry Dickinson	Isabella Scott Anderson
BDM Match (98%)	Thomas Henry Dickenson	Isabella Scott Anderson
	💍 1894/1638
Condition	Bachelor
Profession	Salesman
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	11 years	15 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. G. Elmslie, Lichfield St., Christchurch
Folio	94/649
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Elmslie, Presbyterian

6 March 1894

Charles Broad
Alice Haffenden

Charles Brand
Alice Haffenden
💍 1894/617

Bachelor

Coachman
Servant

29
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 weeks
2 weeks

United Methodist Church, St. Asaph St., Christchurch

94/636

6 March 1894

Rev. J. Macfarlane, Methodist

No	69
Date of Notice	6 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Broad	Alice Haffenden
BDM Match (92%)	Charles Brand	Alice Haffenden
	💍 1894/617
Condition	Bachelor
Profession	Coachman	Servant
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 weeks	2 weeks
Marriage Place	United Methodist Church, St. Asaph St., Christchurch
Folio	94/636
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Macfarlane, Methodist

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).