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 357

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

13 February 1878

John Edward Thompson
Agnes Talbot

John Edward Thompson
Agnes Talbot
💍 1878/293

Bachelor
Widow

Hotel Keeper

46
50

Wellington
Wellington

5 days
5 days

St. Paul's Cathedral, Mulgrave Street

78/245

13 February 1878

Rev. B. W. Harvey, CofE

No	43
Date of Notice	13 February 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Edward Thompson	Agnes Talbot
	💍 1878/293
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Hotel Keeper
Age	46	50
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	5 days	5 days
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Cathedral, Mulgrave Street
Folio	78/245
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. W. Harvey, CofE

13 February 1878

Charles Henry Hills
Elizabeth Edwards

Charles Henry Hills
Elizabeth Ellen Edwards
💍 1878/351

Edward Henry Gibbs
Elizabeth Ann Edwards
💍 1878/3140

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

24
20

Wellington
Wellington

3 years
3 years

Baptist Church, Herbert Street

78/283

Robert Edwards, Father

13 February 1878

Rev. Saml. Costall, Bapt

No	44
Date of Notice	13 February 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Hills	Elizabeth Edwards
BDM Match (87%)	Charles Henry Hills	Elizabeth Ellen Edwards
	💍 1878/351
BDM Match (67%)	Edward Henry Gibbs	Elizabeth Ann Edwards
	💍 1878/3140
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church, Herbert Street
Folio	78/283
Consent	Robert Edwards, Father
Date of Certificate	13 February 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. Saml. Costall, Bapt

13 February 1878

Alexander Binnie
Ida Redaelli

Bachelor
Spinster

Cook

21
16

Wellington
Wellington

20 months
1 year

Roman Catholic Church, Boulcott Street

78/308

Tutso Redaelli, Father

13 February 1878

The Very. Revd. J. J. P. O'Reily, RC

No	45
Date of Notice	13 February 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Binnie	Ida Redaelli
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cook
Age	21	16
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	20 months	1 year
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Boulcott Street
Folio	78/308
Consent	Tutso Redaelli, Father
Date of Certificate	13 February 1878
Officiating Minister	The Very. Revd. J. J. P. O'Reily, RC

15 February 1878

John Gerry then Richards
Euphemia Ness Barnes

John Geryther Richards
Euphemia Nefs Barnes
💍 1878/353

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Servant

31
30

Wellington
Wellington

13 years
6 years

House of Revd. J. Paterson, The Terrace

78/305

15 February 1878

Rev. J. Paterson, Pres

No	46
Date of Notice	15 February 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Gerry then Richards	Euphemia Ness Barnes
BDM Match (91%)	John Geryther Richards	Euphemia Nefs Barnes
	💍 1878/353
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Servant
Age	31	30
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	13 years	6 years
Marriage Place	House of Revd. J. Paterson, The Terrace
Folio	78/305
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, Pres

16 February 1878

Alfred Leslie Payton
Harriet Letitia Kerr

Alfred Leslie
Harriet Letitia Payton
💍 1878/287

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman

29
19

Wellington
Wellington

2.5 years
1.75 years

House of Revd. H. B. Redstone, Willis Street

78/240

Charles J. Kerr, Father

16 February 1878

Revd. H. B. Redstone, United

No	47
Date of Notice	16 February 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Leslie Payton	Harriet Letitia Kerr
BDM Match (69%)	Alfred Leslie	Harriet Letitia Payton
	💍 1878/287
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	29	19
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	2.5 years	1.75 years
Marriage Place	House of Revd. H. B. Redstone, Willis Street
Folio	78/240
Consent	Charles J. Kerr, Father
Date of Certificate	16 February 1878
Officiating Minister	Revd. H. B. Redstone, United

18 February 1878

William Gilchrist
Lucy Hannah Harris

William Gilchrist
Lucy Hannah Harris
💍 1878/329

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

25
18

Wellington
Pahautanui

3 days
18 years

House of W. David Harris, Pahautanui

78/284

David Harris, Father

18 February 1878

Rev. Jas. A. Newth, CofE

No	48
Date of Notice	18 February 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Gilchrist	Lucy Hannah Harris
	💍 1878/329
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	25	18
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Pahautanui
Length of Residence	3 days	18 years
Marriage Place	House of W. David Harris, Pahautanui
Folio	78/284
Consent	David Harris, Father
Date of Certificate	18 February 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jas. A. Newth, CofE

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 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).