Intentions to Marry, 1879

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840391, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, April 30 2025

Page 388

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 December 1879

No	Date of Notice	Names and Surnames of Parties	BDM Match	Condition	Calling or Profession	Age	Dwelling Place	Length of Residence	Marriage Place	Folio	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
252	1 October 1879	Andrew Swanston Jane Hogan	Andrew Swanston Jane Hogan 💍 1879/2510	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Servant	25 24	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	House of Richard Jas. Paterson	79/2532	1 October 1879	Jas. Paterson
253	3 October 1879	Cornelius Sullivan Mary Brown	Cornelius Sullivan Mary Brown 💍 1879/3015 John Gray Mary Brown 💍 1879/419	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	23 23	Wellington Wellington	12 months 12 months	St. Mary's of the Angels	79/2533	3 October 1879	Archdeacon Stock
254	3 October 1879	William Hartley Elizabeth Ellen Richards	William Hartley Elizabeth Ellen Richardson 💍 1879/2489	Widower Spinster	Carpenter	34 24	Wellington Wellington	5 years 4 years	St. Peter's Church	79/2510	3 October 1879	Archdeacon Stock
255	4 October 1879	Gaddes Tobe Skinner Susan Brewer	George Thomas Job Skinner Susan Brewer 💍 1879/3055	Bachelor Widow	Painter	24 27	Wellington Wellington	12 months 24 years	House of J. J. Skinner	79/2534	4 October 1879	Rev. D. Kirk
256	6 October 1879	John Montgomery Margaret Jane Ree	John Montgomery Margaret Tucker 💍 1879/2695	Bachelor Widow	Joiner	30 32	Wellington Wellington	3 years 1 year	House of Mr. Calder	79/3051	6 October 1879	Rev. C. O. Mogg
257	6 October 1879	Phillip Scott Lydia Cason	Phillip Scott Lydia Cason 💍 1879/2497	Widower Spinster	Engineer	38 24	Wellington Wellington	12 months 9 months	Registrar's Office	79/2543	6 October 1879	Registrar
258	7 October 1879	William Hide Thompson Elizabeth Jane Bottrell	William Hide Thompson Elizabeth Frances Bottrell 💍 1879/2511	Bachelor Spinster	Seaman	25 21	Wellington Wellington	1 year 10 months	House of Mr. Kendall	79/2538	7 October 1879	Rev. Jas. Paterson
259	14 October 1879	William John O'Donnell Mary Standen	William John O'Donnell Mary Ann Standen 💍 1879/3048	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	24 21	Wellington Karori	6 months 21 years	House of Mr. Standen	79/2582	14 October 1879	Rev. Wm. Ballachie
260	15 October 1879	Joseph Netslet Gertrude Maggie Crossing	Joseph Webster Gertrude Maggie Croshing 💍 1879/3047	Bachelor Widow	Cab Proprietor	41 33	Wellington Wellington	32 months 6 months	House of Rev. Jno. Muir	79/2586	15 October 1879	Rev. Jno. Muir
261	15 October 1879	Jno. Scott Macdonald Agatha Parker	John Scott McDonald Agatha Parkes 💍 1879/3052	Bachelor Spinster	Storeman	27 22	Wellington Wellington	3 years 2 years	House of Rev. H. B. Redstone	79/2586	15 October 1879	Rev. H. B. Redstone
262	16 October 1879	William Nelson Emily Kathleen Nicol	William Wilson Emily Kathleen Nicol 💍 1879/2512	Bachelor Spinster	Cabinetmaker Dressmaker	26 22	Wellington Wellington	25 months 5 months	House of Rev. J. Paterson	79/2534	16 October 1879	Rev. J. Paterson
264	18 October 1879	William Smith Vearinah Penn	William Smith Vearinah Penn 💍 1879/3051	Bachelor Spinster	Shoemaker	29 28	Wellington Wellington	2 1/2 years 2 1/2 years	House of Mr. Bennett	79/2585	18 October 1879	Rev. H. B. Redstone

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 1898. More registers will be added when the Archives NZ Wellington reading room re-opens in September 2025.

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).