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 008

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 March 1894

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

22 January 1894

Charles John Baker
Eva Eleanor Spier

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

27
20

Ohaupo
Parnell

2 years
4 years

House of Mrs. S. A. Baker, 4 York Street, Parnell

94/151

Sarah Ann Walker, mother

22 January 1894

Rev. S. J. Verpell, Wesleyan

No	36
Date of Notice	22 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles John Baker	Eva Eleanor Spier
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Ohaupo	Parnell
Length of Residence	2 years	4 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. S. A. Baker, 4 York Street, Parnell
Folio	94/151
Consent	Sarah Ann Walker, mother
Date of Certificate	22 January 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. J. Verpell, Wesleyan

22 January 1894

Francis John Burns
Alice Cook

Francis John Burns
Alice Cook
💍 1892/3838

Francis John Burns
Alice Cook
💍 1894/225

Widower
Spinster

Warehouseman

28
20

Auckland
Auckland

28 years
20 years

St. Patrick's Cathedral

94/26

Eliza Cook, mother

22 January 1894

Rev. J. J. Hackett, Roman Catholic

No	37
Date of Notice	22 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis John Burns	Alice Cook
	💍 1892/3838
	💍 1894/225
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Warehouseman
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	28 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Cathedral
Folio	94/26
Consent	Eliza Cook, mother
Date of Certificate	22 January 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Hackett, Roman Catholic

22 January 1894

George William Armstrong
Elizabeth Bishop

George William Armstrong
Elizabeth Bishop
💍 1894/761

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

44
21

Auckland
Auckland

33 years
9 years

House of Mr. C. Bishop, Mt. Eden

94/760

22 January 1894

Rev. M. S. West, Presbyterian

No	38
Date of Notice	22 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George William Armstrong	Elizabeth Bishop
	💍 1894/761
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	44	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	33 years	9 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. C. Bishop, Mt. Eden
Folio	94/760
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 January 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. S. West, Presbyterian

22 January 1894

James Joseph Massey
Mary Elizabeth Harrison

James Joseph Massey
Mary Elizabeth Harrison
💍 1894/88

Bachelor
Spinster

Saddler

27
24

Otahuhu
Otahuhu

6 months
18 years

Registrar's Office

94/111

22 January 1894

S. H. Lyons, Registrar

No	39
Date of Notice	22 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Joseph Massey	Mary Elizabeth Harrison
	💍 1894/88
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Otahuhu	Otahuhu
Length of Residence	6 months	18 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	94/111
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 January 1894
Officiating Minister	S. H. Lyons, Registrar

23 January 1894

Willie Forster Deed
Mary Jane Hickey

Willie Forster Deed
Mary Jane Hickey
💍 1894/70

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

27
21

Wainui
Auckland

27 years
4 years

St. Benedict's Church, Newton

94/169

23 January 1894

Rev. J. C. Downey, Roman Catholic

No	40
Date of Notice	23 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Willie Forster Deed	Mary Jane Hickey
	💍 1894/70
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Wainui	Auckland
Length of Residence	27 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Benedict's Church, Newton
Folio	94/169
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 January 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Downey, Roman Catholic

23 January 1894

Francis Hanbury Masfen
Mary Edith Courtenay

Francis Hanbury Masfen
Mary Edith Courtayne
💍 1894/114

Bachelor
Spinster

Agent

31
28

Auckland
Auckland

8 years
28 years

St. Paul's Church, Auckland

94/13

23 January 1894

Rev. C. M. Nelson, Church of England

No	41
Date of Notice	23 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Hanbury Masfen	Mary Edith Courtenay
BDM Match (90%)	Francis Hanbury Masfen	Mary Edith Courtayne
	💍 1894/114
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Agent
Age	31	28
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	8 years	28 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Auckland
Folio	94/13
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 January 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. M. Nelson, Church of England

23 January 1894

Frederick William Sage
Julia Goodwin

Frederick William Gaze
Julia Goodwin
💍 1894/574

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper

26
26

Auckland
Auckland

10 years
25 years

House of Mr. R. Goodwin, 25 Exeter Street, Newton

94/592

23 January 1894

Rev. J. Blaikie, Baptist

No	42
Date of Notice	23 January 1894
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick William Sage	Julia Goodwin
BDM Match (95%)	Frederick William Gaze	Julia Goodwin
	💍 1894/574
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	10 years	25 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. R. Goodwin, 25 Exeter Street, Newton
Folio	94/592
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 January 1894
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Blaikie, Baptist

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).