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 024

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 March 1894 Registrar E. H. Lyons

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

147

29 March 1894

Thomas Henry Golding
Rose Charlotte Cawdron

Thomas Henry Golding
Rosa Charlotte Caudron
💍 1894/303

Bachelor
Spinster

Mill Hand

24
22

Auckland
Auckland

10 years
10 years

House of Rev. J. Winter, Karangahape Road

94/78

29 March 1894

Rev. J. F. Prior, Wesleyan

No	147
Date of Notice	29 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Henry Golding	Rose Charlotte Cawdron
BDM Match (95%)	Thomas Henry Golding	Rosa Charlotte Caudron
	💍 1894/303
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mill Hand
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	10 years	10 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. J. Winter, Karangahape Road
Folio	94/78
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. Prior, Wesleyan

148

29 March 1894

George Henry Melbourn White
Marion King Tunisha

George Henry Melbourne White
Marion King
💍 1894/115

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer

42
31

Porangahau
Porangahau

18 years
5 years

St. Paul's Church

94/14

29 March 1894

Rev. C. H. Nelson, Church of England

No	148
Date of Notice	29 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Melbourn White	Marion King Tunisha
BDM Match (77%)	George Henry Melbourne White	Marion King
	💍 1894/115
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer
Age	42	31
Dwelling Place	Porangahau	Porangahau
Length of Residence	18 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church
Folio	94/14
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Nelson, Church of England

149

30 March 1894

Alfred Walton Messager
Ann Gillehdale Thompson

Alfred Walter Messenger
Ann Gilderdale Thompson
💍 1894/1961

Bachelor
Spinster

Fruiterer

25
22

Auckland
Auckland

25 years
22 years

St. John Baptist Church, Northcote

94/2091

30 March 1894

Rev. A. J. Davis, Church of England

No	149
Date of Notice	30 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Walton Messager	Ann Gillehdale Thompson
BDM Match (87%)	Alfred Walter Messenger	Ann Gilderdale Thompson
	💍 1894/1961
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fruiterer
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	25 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St. John Baptist Church, Northcote
Folio	94/2091
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. J. Davis, Church of England

150

30 March 1894

Ernest Arthur Carter
Ella Maud Nightingale

Ernest Arthur Carter
Ella Maude Nightingale
💍 1894/1135

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

22
15

Waikomiti
Waikomiti

16 years
1 year

House of Rev. P. H. Nightingale, Waikomiti

94/1146

Peter Henry Nightingale, father

30 March 1894

Rev. R. Sommerville, Presbyterian

No	150
Date of Notice	30 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Arthur Carter	Ella Maud Nightingale
BDM Match (98%)	Ernest Arthur Carter	Ella Maude Nightingale
	💍 1894/1135
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	22	15
Dwelling Place	Waikomiti	Waikomiti
Length of Residence	16 years	1 year
Marriage Place	House of Rev. P. H. Nightingale, Waikomiti
Folio	94/1146
Consent	Peter Henry Nightingale, father
Date of Certificate	30 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Sommerville, Presbyterian

151

30 March 1894

Kiwara Te Roa
Rahera Paora

Kiwara Te Ro
Rahera Paora
💍 1894/142

Bachelor
Widow

Settler

40
24

Auckland
Auckland

40 years
24 years

Registrar's Office

94/140

30 March 1894

E. H. Lyons, Registrar

No	151
Date of Notice	30 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Kiwara Te Roa	Rahera Paora
BDM Match (96%)	Kiwara Te Ro	Rahera Paora
	💍 1894/142
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Settler
Age	40	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	40 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	94/140
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1894
Officiating Minister	E. H. Lyons, Registrar

152

30 March 1894

James Richard Wood
Edith Emily Poole

James Michael Wood
Edith Emily Poole
💍 1892/3840

James Michael Wood
Edith Emily Poole
💍 1894/81

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman

29
23

Auckland
Auckland

4 years
4 years

Home of Rev. T. P. Poole, Ponsonby

94/54

30 March 1894

Rev. G. Aldridge, Church of England

No	152
Date of Notice	30 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Richard Wood	Edith Emily Poole
BDM Match (92%)	James Michael Wood	Edith Emily Poole
	💍 1892/3840
BDM Match (92%)	James Michael Wood	Edith Emily Poole
	💍 1894/81
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Home of Rev. T. P. Poole, Ponsonby
Folio	94/54
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Aldridge, Church of England

153

30 March 1894

Albert Bray
Matilda Ellen Burt

Albert Bray
Matilda Ellen Burt
💍 1894/1076

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman

24
19

Auckland
Auckland

4 years
19 years

St. Matthew's Church

94/1110

Robert Burt, father

30 March 1894

Rev. L. FitzGerald, Church of England

No	153
Date of Notice	30 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Bray	Matilda Ellen Burt
	💍 1894/1076
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 years	19 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church
Folio	94/1110
Consent	Robert Burt, father
Date of Certificate	30 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. FitzGerald, 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).