Intentions to Marry, 1877

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840389, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, April 16 2025

Page 323

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30 September 1877 Registrar H. C. Wilmer

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

179

05 September 1877

James Wall
Sarah Carroll
formerly Colton

James Wall
Sarah Carroll
💍 1877/1656

James Mason
Mary Ann Carroll
💍 1877/816

Bachelor
Widow

Brick Labourer
Cook

22
25

Wellington
Do

8 months

Swinton House of Herl John Moir Holcombe Street - Wellington

77/1608

05 September

Rev. John Moir

No	179
Date of Notice	05 September 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Wall	Sarah Carroll formerly Colton
	💍 1877/1656
BDM Match (63%)	James Mason	Mary Ann Carroll
	💍 1877/816
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Brick Labourer	Cook
Age	22	25
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Do
Length of Residence		8 months
Marriage Place	Swinton House of Herl John Moir Holcombe Street - Wellington
Folio	77/1608
Consent
Date of Certificate	05 September
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Moir

180

06 September 1877

Arthur Winton
Mary Eliza Lewis Linnell

Arthur Winton Brown
Mary Eliza Lewis Linnell
💍 1877/1648

Bachelor
Spinster

Groom

20
18

Wellington
Do

12 yrs
18 yrs

St Peters Willis Street - Wellington

77/1605

A Brown, Father of bride, in Colony

06 September

Rev. Archdeacon Stock

No	180
Date of Notice	06 September 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Winton	Mary Eliza Lewis Linnell
BDM Match (84%)	Arthur Winton Brown	Mary Eliza Lewis Linnell
	💍 1877/1648
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Groom
Age	20	18
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Do
Length of Residence	12 yrs	18 yrs
Marriage Place	St Peters Willis Street - Wellington
Folio	77/1605
Consent	A Brown, Father of bride, in Colony
Date of Certificate	06 September
Officiating Minister	Rev. Archdeacon Stock

181

07 September 1877

Herbert Johanson
Mina Johnson

Reinert Johanson
Mina Johnsen
💍 1877/1654

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

24
25

Wellington
Do

3 days
Do

House of Kennet Johanson, Hamington Street - Wellington

77/1606

07 September

Rev. John Moir

No	181
Date of Notice	07 September 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Johanson	Mina Johnson
BDM Match (87%)	Reinert Johanson	Mina Johnsen
	💍 1877/1654
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Do
Length of Residence	3 days	Do
Marriage Place	House of Kennet Johanson, Hamington Street - Wellington
Folio	77/1606
Consent
Date of Certificate	07 September
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Moir

182

08 September 1877

Thomas William Coulson
Esther Thompson Horsley

Thomas William Coulson
Esther Thomson Horsley
💍 1877/2156

Bachelor
Spinster

Moulder
Dressmaker

23
22

Wellington
Do

9 months
9 months

House of James Dickenson Barker Street - Wellington

77/2122

08 September

Rev. H Dawnsbury

No	182
Date of Notice	08 September 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas William Coulson	Esther Thompson Horsley
BDM Match (98%)	Thomas William Coulson	Esther Thomson Horsley
	💍 1877/2156
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Moulder	Dressmaker
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Do
Length of Residence	9 months	9 months
Marriage Place	House of James Dickenson Barker Street - Wellington
Folio	77/2122
Consent
Date of Certificate	08 September
Officiating Minister	Rev. H Dawnsbury

183

10 September 1877

Francis Taylor
Janet Short
formerly Tim

Francis Taylor
Janet Short
💍 1877/2157

Widower
Widow

Licensed Victualler

51
37

Johnsonville
Do

4 years
Many yrs

Wesleyan Church Manners Street - Wellington

77/2123

10 September

Rev. Alex Kent

No	183
Date of Notice	10 September 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Taylor	Janet Short formerly Tim
	💍 1877/2157
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Licensed Victualler
Age	51	37
Dwelling Place	Johnsonville	Do
Length of Residence	4 years	Many yrs
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church Manners Street - Wellington
Folio	77/2123
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 September
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alex Kent

184

10 September 1877

William Archibald Mason
Elizabeth Hill

William Archibald Mason
Elizabeth Hill
💍 1877/1721

Bachelor
Spinster

Compositor

25
19

Wellington
Do

3 yrs
19 yrs

House of John Hill Mayoubank Street - Wellington

77/1609

Father

10 September

Rev. Robertson

No	184
Date of Notice	10 September 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Archibald Mason	Elizabeth Hill
	💍 1877/1721
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Compositor
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Do
Length of Residence	3 yrs	19 yrs
Marriage Place	House of John Hill Mayoubank Street - Wellington
Folio	77/1609
Consent	Father
Date of Certificate	10 September
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robertson

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).