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 131

District of Napier Quarter ending 31 March 1894

No	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
11	5 February 1894	James Cleer Annie Elizabeth Kennedy	James Cheer Annie Elizabeth Kennedy 💍 1894/290	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd Domestic	36 over 21	Moteo Napier	8 Years 3 Months	Residence of Mr. Rice, Paradise, Napier	94/273		5 February 1894	Rev. I. G. Paterson, Presbyterian Minister
12	5 February 1894	James Joseph Clearkin Rosina Hackett	James Joseph Clarkin Rosina Hackett 💍 1894/281	Bachelor Spinster	Groom Domestic	22 22	Taradale Taradale	4 Months 8 Days	Catholic Church, Meanee	94/282		5 February 1894	Rev. F. Gardiner, Roman Catholic Priest
13	14 February 1894	James Duncan Maclaren Sarah Mary Prosser	James Duncan McFarborne Sarah Mary Trosser 💍 1894/279	Bachelor Spinster	Gardener	26 22	Takapau, Napier Christchurch, Napier	7 Months 7 Years 13 Days	Wesleyan Chapel, Napier	94/280		14 February 1894	Rev. G. W. Spence, Wesleyan Minister
14	14 February 1894	Robert Smyth Elizabeth Gray	Robert Smyth Elizabeth Gray 💍 1894/275	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith	25 20	Hairora, Napier Hairora, Napier	2 Years 3 Days 2 Years 3 Days	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Napier	94/276	Mother	14 February 1894	S. Jago, Registrar
15	14 February 1894	William Charles Stokes Louisa Maria Goodall	William Charles Stokes Louisa Maria Goodall 💍 1894/276	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Domestic	27 18	Port Ahuriri Napier	2 Years 10 Years	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Napier	94/277	Father	14 February 1894	S. Jago, Registrar
16	17 February 1894	Edward Tier Elizabeth Streater	Edward Tier Elizabeth Streeter 💍 1894/291	Bachelor Widow	Labourer Dressmaker	21 36	Napier Napier	18 Months 5 Years	Residence of Mrs. Streater, Wellesley Road, Napier	94/274		17 February 1894	Rev. I. G. Paterson, Presbyterian Minister
17	26 February 1894	James Johnston Rosa Ann Byatt	James Johnstone Rosa Ann Byatt 💍 1894/274	Bachelor Spinster	Cabinet Maker	20 21	Napier Napier	Same as both the bride's mother 2 Years	Residence of the bride's mother, Harvey Parade, Napier	94/275	James Johnston, father of groom	26 February 1894	Rev. I. G. Paterson, Presbyterian Minister
18	2 March 1894	James Alexander Muir Emma Maria Ann Faulknor	James Alexander Muir Emma Maria Anne Faulknor 💍 1894/278	Bachelor Spinster	Accountant Bookkeeper	29 26	Napier Napier	10 Years 26 Years	St. Augustine's Church, Napier	94/279		2 March 1894	Rev. A. H. Bradbury, Church of England Minister
19	12 March 1894	George Norris Amelia Hilson	George Norris Amelia Wilson 💍 1894/277	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd Housemaid	25 22	Okawa Napier	7 Years 5 Weeks	St. Augustine's Church, Napier	94/278		12 March 1894	Rev. A. H. Bradbury, Church of England Minister
20	19 March 1894	Dugald Joseph Grant Florence Hilda Conroy	Dagald Joseph Grant Florence Hilda Conroy 💍 1894/2056	Bachelor Spinster	Sheepfarmer Schoolteacher	30 19	Takapau, Napier Takapau, Napier	1 Year 8 Months 1 Year 3 Months	Cathedral, Napier	94/2100		19 March 1894	Rev. De Berdt Hovell, Church of England Minister

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 1894. More registers will be added as the project continues.

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).