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 253

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

10 January 1894

Robert Guthrie
Louisa Matilda Tinkler

Robert Guthrie
Louisa Matilda Tinkler
💍 1894/636

Widower
Spinster

Farmer

48
22

Christchurch
Belfast

19 years
6 years

House of Mr. Robert Guthrie

94/632

10 January 1894

Rev. J. Gow, Presbyterian

No	8
Date of Notice	10 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Guthrie	Louisa Matilda Tinkler
	💍 1894/636
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	48	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Belfast
Length of Residence	19 years	6 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Robert Guthrie
Folio	94/632
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Gow, Presbyterian

10 January 1894

Alfred Wesley Gordon
Marian Parkes Long

Alfred Wesley Gordon
Marian Parkes Long
💍 1894/671

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor

22
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

14 years
20 years

Registrars Office, Chch

94/692

Ebenezer Long, Father

10 January 1894

Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Verrall

No	9
Date of Notice	10 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Wesley Gordon	Marian Parkes Long
	💍 1894/671
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	14 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Chch
Folio	94/692
Consent	Ebenezer Long, Father
Date of Certificate	10 January 1894
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Verrall

11 January 1894

James Burgess
Helen Wilson

James Burgess
Helen Wilson
💍 1894/655

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor

23
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

House of Rev. G. Webster

94/651

11 January 1894

Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian

No	10
Date of Notice	11 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Burgess	Helen Wilson
	💍 1894/655
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	House of Rev. G. Webster
Folio	94/651
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 January 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian

12 January 1894

Frederick Meyer
Elizabeth Mahoney

Frederick Meyer
Elizabeth Mahony
💍 1894/652

Widower
Spinster

Master Mariner
Machinist

60
40

Christchurch
Christchurch

7 months
7 years

Roman Catholic Church, Barbadoes St.

94/671

12 January 1894

Rev. J. Cummings, Roman Catholic

No	11
Date of Notice	12 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Meyer	Elizabeth Mahoney
BDM Match (97%)	Frederick Meyer	Elizabeth Mahony
	💍 1894/652
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Master Mariner	Machinist
Age	60	40
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	7 months	7 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Barbadoes St.
Folio	94/671
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Cummings, Roman Catholic

12 January 1894

John Boyd Compton
Florence Annie Edwards

John Boyd Compton
Florence Annie Edwards
💍 1894/672

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Servant

22
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

22 years
12 years

Registrars Office

94/693

William Edwards, Father

12 January 1894

Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Verrall

No	12
Date of Notice	12 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Boyd Compton	Florence Annie Edwards
	💍 1894/672
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Servant
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	22 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office
Folio	94/693
Consent	William Edwards, Father
Date of Certificate	12 January 1894
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Verrall

13 January 1894

Polhill William George
Helen Mather

William George Polhill
Helen Mather
💍 1894/603

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep-farmer

34
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 days
21 years

St. Marks Church

94/621

13 January 1894

Rev. Arch. Cholmondeley, Church of England

No	13
Date of Notice	13 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Polhill William George	Helen Mather
BDM Match (64%)	William George Polhill	Helen Mather
	💍 1894/603
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep-farmer
Age	34	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 days	21 years
Marriage Place	St. Marks Church
Folio	94/621
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. Arch. Cholmondeley, Church of England

13 January 1894

James Reeve Wilkinson
Katrine Walker

James Reeve Wilkinson
Katrine Walker
💍 1894/668

Bachelor
Spinster

Librarian
Teacher

36
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
3 years

House of Mr. S. W. M. Burrell

94/689

13 January 1894

Rev. J. M. Isitt, Wesleyan

No	14
Date of Notice	13 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Reeve Wilkinson	Katrine Walker
	💍 1894/668
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Librarian	Teacher
Age	36	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. S. W. M. Burrell
Folio	94/689
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Isitt, Wesleyan

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).