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 416

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30th day of September 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
129	14 July 1881	Joseph Eaward Poole Eliza Doran	Joseph Edward Poole Eliza Doran 💍 1881/1762	Bachelor Spinster	Book maker	35 20	Wellington	years 6 months	Registrars Office	81/1887	Alexander William Doran, Father	14 July 1881	J. G. Holdsworth
130	16 July 1881	Thomas Reading Rose Edwards	Thomas Reading Rose Edwards 💍 1881/2603	Bachelor Spinster	Striker	29 24	Petone Lower Hutt	years	St Andrews Church	81/1665		16 July 1881	Revd. C. S. Ogg
131	18 July 1881	Charles Houghton Jessey Whitwell	Charles Hodgson Jessey Whitwell 💍 1881/1763	Bachelor Spinster	Bank Clerk	21 22	Wellington Nelson	2 years years	Registrars Office	81/1788		18 July 1881	J. G. Holdsworth
132	19 July 1881	David Herlihy Frances Catherine O'Riley	David Herbhy Frances Catherine OReily 💍 1881/1788	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	24 18	Wellington	8 weeks 4 days	St Mary's Cathedral	81/1814	Hannah O'Riley, Mother	19 July 1881	Revd. J. McNamara
133	21 July 1881	David McNamara Jane Chambers	David McNamara Jane Chambers 💍 1881/1789	Bachelor Spinster	Coachman	26 21		years	St Mary's Cathedral	81/1815		21 July 1881	Revd. J. McNamara
134	22 July 1881	John McGinity Clara Clarke	John McGinity Clara Clarke 💍 1881/1765	Bachelor Spinster	Cook	32 33		3 years 3 years	Registrars Office	81/1790		22 July 1881	J. G. Holdsworth
135	23 July 1881	Alfred Bullock Elizabeth Rosina Davidson	Alfred Bullock Elizabeth Rosina Davidson 💍 1881/2602	Bachelor Spinster	Stationer	23 18		years	House of Alfred Bullock	81/2664	Elizabeth Nelson, Mother	23 July 1881	Revd. C. S. Ogg
136	25 July 1881	Thomas Henry Kerby Jane Cadenhead	Thomas Henry Kirby Jane Cadenhead 💍 1881/1766	Bachelor Spinster	Stoker	27 17		years 1 week	Registrars Office	81/1791	David Cadenhead, Father	25 July 1881	J. G. Holdsworth
137	1 August 1881	George Henry Davies Rose Alma Godfrey	George Henry Davies Rose Alma Godfrey 💍 1881/1792	Bachelor Spinster	Civil Servant	37 26		years 1 week	St Peters	81/1818		1 August 1881	Ven. Archdeacon Stock
138	3 August 1881	John Ruffell Russell Mary Ellen Nicholls	John Ruffell Russell Mary Ellen Michel 💍 1881/1761	Bachelor Spinster		25 23	Karori	4 days	St Marys	81/1778		3 August 1881	Revd. W. Ballachey
139	4 August 1881	George Henry Astridge Sarah Ann Marshall	George Henry Astridge Sarah Ann Marshall 💍 1881/1801 George Anderson Mary Ann Marshall 💍 1881/1085	Bachelor Spinster	Groom	21 24	Wellington	years 4 years	Congregational Church	81/1826		4 August 1881	Revd. W. H. West
140	6 August 1881	Johann Johnson Lena Christy	Johann Johnson Lena Christy 💍 1881/1767	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	26 20		3 years 2 years	Registrars Office	81/1792	Boletta Christy, Mother	6 August 1881	J. G. Holdsworth

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).