Intentions to Marry, 1878

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840390, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, March 5 2025

Page 351

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 March 1878

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

2 January 1878

James William Widney
Barbara Fraser

James William Bruce
Barbara Fraser
💍 1878/312

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner
Servant

37
25

Wellington
do

2 years
3 [months]

Registrar's Office Wellington

78/926

2 January 1878

The Registrar Wellington

No	1
Date of Notice	2 January 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James William Widney	Barbara Fraser
BDM Match (88%)	James William Bruce	Barbara Fraser
	💍 1878/312
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner	Servant
Age	37	25
Dwelling Place	Wellington	do
Length of Residence	2 years	3 [months]
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Wellington
Folio	78/926
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 January 1878
Officiating Minister	The Registrar Wellington

2 January 1878

William Frederick Moran
Jane Lingard

William Fred Moran
Grace Lingard
💍 1878/3327

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

20
21

Wellington
do

20 years

At the House of the Bride's Mother, Manners St, Wellington

78/256

Sarah Jane Moran, mother

2 January 1878

Rev. J. Moir, Pres

No	2
Date of Notice	2 January 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Frederick Moran	Jane Lingard
BDM Match (78%)	William Fred Moran	Grace Lingard
	💍 1878/3327
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	20	21
Dwelling Place	Wellington	do
Length of Residence	20 years
Marriage Place	At the House of the Bride's Mother, Manners St, Wellington
Folio	78/256
Consent	Sarah Jane Moran, mother
Date of Certificate	2 January 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Moir, Pres

5 January 1878

James Edward True
Clara Wilson

James Edward True
Clara Eltham
💍 1878/355

Bachelor
Spinster

Barman

23
17

Wellington
do

2 years

At the House of Mrs Oakley, Newtown

78/310

Eliza Oakley, mother

5 January 1878

Rev. J. Moir, Pres

No	3
Date of Notice	5 January 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Edward True	Clara Wilson
BDM Match (75%)	James Edward True	Clara Eltham
	💍 1878/355
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barman
Age	23	17
Dwelling Place	Wellington	do
Length of Residence	2 years
Marriage Place	At the House of Mrs Oakley, Newtown
Folio	78/310
Consent	Eliza Oakley, mother
Date of Certificate	5 January 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Moir, Pres

4 January 1878

Robert Keul
Catherine Smith

Robert Kent
Catherine Smith
💍 1878/326

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

40
27

do
do

20 years

At the residence of Mr Keul, Pipitea Point, Wellington

78/257

4 January 1878

Rev. J. Moir, Pres

No	4
Date of Notice	4 January 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Keul	Catherine Smith
BDM Match (91%)	Robert Kent	Catherine Smith
	💍 1878/326
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	40	27
Dwelling Place	do	do
Length of Residence	20 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of Mr Keul, Pipitea Point, Wellington
Folio	78/257
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 January 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Moir, Pres

7 January 1878

Alexander Hislop
Maggie Buttars

Alexander Robert Hislop
Maggie Buttars
💍 1878/372

Bachelor
Spinster

Watchmaker

23
23

do
do

4 months
3 days

Rev. J. Paterson's House, Terrace, Wellington

78/303

7 January 1878

Rev. J. Paterson

No	5
Date of Notice	7 January 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Hislop	Maggie Buttars
BDM Match (85%)	Alexander Robert Hislop	Maggie Buttars
	💍 1878/372
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Watchmaker
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	do	do
Length of Residence	4 months	3 days
Marriage Place	Rev. J. Paterson's House, Terrace, Wellington
Folio	78/303
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 January 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson

7 January 1878

Patrick Kilroy
Mary Carrol

Patrick Kilroy
Mary Carroll
💍 1878/356

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

29
25

do
do

3 years

Catholic Chapel, Boulcott Street, Wellington

78/311

7 January 1878

Rev. W. Mahoney, RC

No	6
Date of Notice	7 January 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick Kilroy	Mary Carrol
BDM Match (96%)	Patrick Kilroy	Mary Carroll
	💍 1878/356
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	do	do
Length of Residence	3 years
Marriage Place	Catholic Chapel, Boulcott Street, Wellington
Folio	78/311
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 January 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Mahoney, RC

7 January 1878

John Surry Kerslake
Kate Lee

John Jury Kerslake
Kate Lee
💍 1878/286

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

29
24

do
do

2 years
1 1/2 years

At residence of Mr H.B. Redstone, Ghuznee Street, Wellington

78/239

7 January 1878

Rev. H.B. Redstone, Minister

No	7
Date of Notice	7 January 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Surry Kerslake	Kate Lee
BDM Match (95%)	John Jury Kerslake	Kate Lee
	💍 1878/286
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	do	do
Length of Residence	2 years	1 1/2 years
Marriage Place	At residence of Mr H.B. Redstone, Ghuznee Street, Wellington
Folio	78/239
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 January 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. H.B. Redstone, Minister

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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 1908. 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).