Intentions to Marry, 1881

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840393, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, January 31 2025

Page 424

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31st day of December 1881

No	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
213	24 Nov 1881	James Grafton Grey June Mary Stanislaus 6'Keane	James Grattan Grey Jane Mary Stanslaus OKeane 💍 1881/2569	Widower Spinster	Journalist	34 26	Wellington	year 13 months	St Mary of the Angels	81/2454		24 Nov 1881	Rev P. Kinegan
214	28 Nov 1881	Charles Edward Hardwick Frances Carpenter	Charles Henry McLeod Hawk Frances Carpenter 💍 1881/2574	Bachelor Spinster	Telegraphist	25 26		years	St Pauls Cathedral	81/2458		28 Nov 1881	Rev B. W. Harvey
215		Arthur Goldfinch Helen Judge	Arthur Goldfinch Helen Judge 💍 1881/2526	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	24 20	Pahautanui		Residence of Rev J. Levin	81/2619	Father		Rev John Moir
216		Edward Frederick Warren Elizabeth Anne Ingle	Edward Frederick Warren Elizabeth Anne Ingle 💍 1881/2514	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	24 22	Wellington	3 days 1 year	House of Rev. J. Paterson, Murphy Street	81/2597			Rev J. F. Henton
217		Alfred Leonard Fraser Martha Jane Atkinson	Alfred Leonard Fraser Martha Jane Atkinson 💍 1881/2542	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	22 18		years	House of Mr S. H. Fraser, Manners Street	81/2624	Thomas Collinson, Father		Rev John Moir
218	29 Nov 1881	Joseph Moore Emma Brittland	Joseph Moore Emma Britland 💍 1881/2539	Bachelor Spinster	Bricklayer	23 21			House of Mr Joseph Moore, Adelaide Road	81/2623		29 Nov 1881	Rev H. B. Reastone
219	1 Dec 1881	William Mitchell June Gardiner	William Mitchell Jane Gardner 💍 1881/2565	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	22 21	Pahautanui	14 days years	House of Rev. J. Paterson, Terrace	81/2649		1 Dec 1881	Rev James Paterson
220		Thomas Jones Nellie Andrews	Thomas Robert Jones Nellie Andrews 💍 1881/2540 Thomas Shanks Sarah Andrews 💍 1881/122	Bachelor Spinster	Printer	22 21	Wellington		House of Mr Andrews, Tory Street	81/2624			Rev H. B. Reastone
221	2 Dec 1881	William Edward Taylor Elizabeth Hall	William Edward Taylor Elizabeth Hall 💍 1881/2519 David Parker Elizabeth Hall 💍 1881/1503	Bachelor Spinster	Draper	36 26		6 days years	St Peters Church	81/2603		2 Dec 1881	Ven Archdeacon Stock
222	3 Dec 1881	Louis William Ludwig Christina Murray	Louis William Ludwig Christina Murray 💍 1881/2604	Bachelor Spinster	Watchmaker	30 30			House of Bridegroom, Sydney Street	81/2666		3 Dec 1881	Rev Charles S. Ogg
223	5 Dec 1881	Walter James Bass Caroline Smart	Walter James Barr Caroline Smart 💍 1881/2541	Bachelor Spinster	Bricklayer	21 21			House of Mrs Sargent, Newtown	81/2625		5 Dec 1881	Rev H. B. Reastone
224		Byrns Alfred Webb Henry Louisa Dowd	Cyrus Alfred Webb Mary Louisa Dowd 💍 1881/2564	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	25 23			House of Mrs Webb, Mulgrave Street	81/2648			Rev James Paterson

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 1894. More registers will be added as the project continues.

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).