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 016

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

1 March 1894

John Wakefield
Catherine Jane Bruce

John Wakefield
Catherine Jane Bruce
💍 1894/1959

Bachelor
Spinster

Gentleman

35
19

Auckland
Ponsonby

8 years

All Saints Church

94/2069

Walter Bruce, Father

1 March 1894

Rev. M. Calder, Church of England

No	92
Date of Notice	1 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Wakefield	Catherine Jane Bruce
	💍 1894/1959
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gentleman
Age	35	19
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Ponsonby
Length of Residence	8 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church
Folio	94/2069
Consent	Walter Bruce, Father
Date of Certificate	1 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Calder, Church of England

1 March 1894

Frederick William Hutchinson
Margaret Maude Schiller

Frederick William Schiller
Margaret Winifred Hutchison
💍 1894/155

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer

55
34

Auckland
Parnell

12 years
10 years

Registrar's Office

94/129

1 March 1894

E. H. Lyons, Registrar

No	93
Date of Notice	1 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick William Hutchinson	Margaret Maude Schiller
BDM Match (62%)	Frederick William Schiller	Margaret Winifred Hutchison
	💍 1894/155
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	55	34
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Parnell
Length of Residence	12 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	94/129
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 March 1894
Officiating Minister	E. H. Lyons, Registrar

2 March 1894

John Walker
Selina Boseley

John Walker
Selina Boseley
💍 1894/111

Bachelor
Widow

Sexton

57
58

Auckland
Auckland

50 years
35 years

House of Mrs. S. Boseley, 35 Cook Street

94/10

2 March 1894

Rev. J. Guy, Primitive Methodist

No	94
Date of Notice	2 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Walker	Selina Boseley
	💍 1894/111
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Sexton
Age	57	58
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	50 years	35 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. S. Boseley, 35 Cook Street
Folio	94/10
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Guy, Primitive Methodist

5 March 1894

Henry Tanner
Violet Corbett

Henry Tanner
Violet Corbett
💍 1894/1098

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

26
19

Onehunga
Devonport

14 years
6 months

House of W. J. Hill, Devonport

94/1033

Thomas Corbett, Father

5 March 1894

Rev. S. Hill, Presbyterian

No	95
Date of Notice	5 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Tanner	Violet Corbett
	💍 1894/1098
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Onehunga	Devonport
Length of Residence	14 years	6 months
Marriage Place	House of W. J. Hill, Devonport
Folio	94/1033
Consent	Thomas Corbett, Father
Date of Certificate	5 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Hill, Presbyterian

5 March 1894

William Stennett
Harriet Dinis

William Stevens
Harriet Dines
💍 1894/158

Widower
Widow

Labourer

58
50

Auckland
Auckland

12 years
3 years

Registrar's Office

94/132

5 March 1894

E. H. Lyons, Registrar

No	96
Date of Notice	5 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Stennett	Harriet Dinis
BDM Match (84%)	William Stevens	Harriet Dines
	💍 1894/158
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Labourer
Age	58	50
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	12 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	94/132
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1894
Officiating Minister	E. H. Lyons, Registrar

5 March 1894

Charles Blomfield
Ella Elizabeth Schiller

Charles Blomfield
Ella Elizabeth Schiler
💍 1894/244

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder

23
22

Ponsonby
Parnell

10 years
4 years

St. Andrews Church

94/31

5 March 1894

Rev. A. Carrick, Presbyterian

No	97
Date of Notice	5 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Blomfield	Ella Elizabeth Schiller
BDM Match (98%)	Charles Blomfield	Ella Elizabeth Schiler
	💍 1894/244
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Ponsonby	Parnell
Length of Residence	10 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church
Folio	94/31
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Carrick, Presbyterian

5 March 1894

James Marshall
Hannah Cecilia Lore

James Marshall Laing
Hannah Cecilia Love
💍 1894/233

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

25
29

Papatoitoi
Auckland

4 years
7 years

St. Matthews Church

94/42

5 March 1894

Rev. L. Fitzwilliam, Church of England

No	98
Date of Notice	5 March 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Marshall	Hannah Cecilia Lore
BDM Match (82%)	James Marshall Laing	Hannah Cecilia Love
	💍 1894/233
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	25	29
Dwelling Place	Papatoitoi	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 years	7 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church
Folio	94/42
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. Fitzwilliam, 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).