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 257

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

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 February 1894

Daniel Brown
Alice Anderson

Daniel Brown
Alison Anderson Young
💍 1894/1635

Bachelor
Young

Laborer
Servant

34
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

11 months
11 months

St. Pauls Church

94/1644

3 February 1894

Rev. F. Muslie, Presbyterian

No	36
Date of Notice	3 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel Brown	Alice Anderson
BDM Match (79%)	Daniel Brown	Alison Anderson Young
	💍 1894/1635
Condition	Bachelor	Young
Profession	Laborer	Servant
Age	34	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	11 months	11 months
Marriage Place	St. Pauls Church
Folio	94/1644
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Muslie, Presbyterian

5 February 1894

Alfred Benjamin White
Wilhelmina White

Alfred Benjamin White
Wilhelmina De Place
💍 1894/770

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Tailoress

23
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 years
4 years

Registrars Office

94/901

5 February 1894

Registrar of Marriages

No	37
Date of Notice	5 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Benjamin White	Wilhelmina White
BDM Match (82%)	Alfred Benjamin White	Wilhelmina De Place
	💍 1894/770
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Tailoress
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office
Folio	94/901
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1894
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages

5 February 1894

Thomas Guy
Annie Dyall

Thomas Guy
Annie Deyell
💍 1894/1047

Bachelor
Spinster

Coalman
Servant

36
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 years
24 years

St. Saviours Church

94/1056

5 February 1894

Rev. F. C. Scott, Church of England

No	38
Date of Notice	5 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Guy	Annie Dyall
BDM Match (92%)	Thomas Guy	Annie Deyell
	💍 1894/1047
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coalman	Servant
Age	36	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	24 years
Marriage Place	St. Saviours Church
Folio	94/1056
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. C. Scott, Church of England

6 February 1894

Martin McInerney
Louisa Clement

Martin McInerney
Louisa Clement
💍 1894/627

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Servant

33
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 years
25 years

St. Lukes Church

94/646

6 February 1894

Ven. Arch. Lingard, Church of England

No	39
Date of Notice	6 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Martin McInerney	Louisa Clement
	💍 1894/627
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Servant
Age	33	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	25 years
Marriage Place	St. Lukes Church
Folio	94/646
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1894
Officiating Minister	Ven. Arch. Lingard, Church of England

6 February 1894

Richard Galway
Elizabeth Matilda Simpson

Richard Galway
Elizabeth Matilda Empson
💍 1894/684

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer

46
36

Christchurch
Christchurch

23 years
30 years

St. Pauls Church

94/681

6 February 1894

Rev. J. G. S. Home, Church of England

No	40
Date of Notice	6 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Galway	Elizabeth Matilda Simpson
BDM Match (96%)	Richard Galway	Elizabeth Matilda Empson
	💍 1894/684
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	46	36
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	23 years	30 years
Marriage Place	St. Pauls Church
Folio	94/681
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. S. Home, Church of England

10 February 1894

Richard Toidge
Amy Hocking

Richard Doidge Risdon
Amy Hocking Doidge
💍 1894/633

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

22
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Wesleyan Church

94/629

10 February 1894

Rev. H. R. Newsbury, Wesleyan

No	41
Date of Notice	10 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Toidge	Amy Hocking
BDM Match (62%)	Richard Doidge Risdon	Amy Hocking Doidge
	💍 1894/633
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church
Folio	94/629
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. R. Newsbury, Wesleyan

10 February 1894

John Simpson
Martha Jane Taylor

John Simpson
Martha Jane Taylor
💍 1894/622

Bachelor
Spinster

Agent

32
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 months
27 years

Lincoln Episcopal Church

94/642

10 February 1894

Rev. R. Tatway, Church of England

No	42
Date of Notice	10 February 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Simpson	Martha Jane Taylor
	💍 1894/622
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Agent
Age	32	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 months	27 years
Marriage Place	Lincoln Episcopal Church
Folio	94/642
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Tatway, Church of England

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).