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 407

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30th day of June 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
56	2 April 1881	John Henry Ransome Mary March	John Henry Ransome Mary Marsh 💍 1881/2953	Bachelor Spinster	Grocer	24 26	Wellington Wellington	5 years 2 years	Rev. Mr. Roothers House	81/1419		2 April 1881	Rev. H. B. Redstone
57	4 April 1881	Samuel Robinson Murray Florence Marsden	Samuel Robertson Murray Florence Marsden 💍 1881/2938	Bachelor Spinster	Engineer	24 23	Wellington Wellington	7 years 9 years	House of Revd. b. S. Ogg Terrace	81/1428		4 April 1881	Rev. C. S. Ogg
58	4 April 1881	Edward Jerningham McIntosh Sarah Edmond Mudgway	Edward Terningham McIntosh Sarah Edmond Musgway 💍 1881/964	Bachelor Spinster	Hotel Keeper	22 17	Lower Hutt Lower Hutt	2 years 2 years	Mr. Wethers	81/1906	William Howis, Step father	4 April 1881	Rev. W. Cannell
59	4 April 1881	Andrew Jeffory Margaret Ann Blyth	Andrew Jaffray Duncan Margaret Ann Blyth 💍 1881/1528	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	21 18	Wellington Wellington	3 years 3 years	House of father of Bride Pipitea Point	81/1526	Eliza Blyth, Mother	4 April 1881	Rev. James Paterson
60	4 April 1881	James Alder Stratford Lora Lavinia Isabel Foster	James Alder Stratford Laura Lavina Isabell Foster 💍 1881/954	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	20 21	Wellington Wellington	4 years 3 years	Mr. Thomas's House Boston Terrace	81/916	Elizabeth Thomson, mother	4 April 1881	Rev. A. B. Masten
61	7 April 1881	James Albert Moreland Elizabeth Williams	James Albert Moreland Elizabeth Williams 💍 1881/1400	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	29 31	Wellington Wellington	15 months 2 years	Registrars office Wellington	81/1374		7 April 1881	J. G. Holdsworth
62	7 April 1881	Frederick Edward Jenks Ann Fraser	Frederick Edward Jenks Ann Fraser 💍 1881/1398	Bachelor Spinster	Plumber	26 18	Wellington Wellington	5 days 4 years	Registrars office Wellington	81/1372	Ann Fraser, Mother	7 April 1881	J. G. Holdsworth
63	11 April 1881	Frank Waldegrave Sarah Howorth	Frank Waldegrave Sarah Howorth 💍 1881/1319	Bachelor Spinster	Civil Servant	24 20	Wellington Dunedin	4 years Dunedin	St Pauls	81/1287	Edward Howorth, Father	11 April 1881	Ven. Archdeacon Edwards
64	12 April 1881	Edwin Butt Isabella Sophia Boulton	Edwin Butt Isabella Sophia Boulton 💍 1881/935	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer	21 19	Pahautanui Pahautanui	Pahautanui Pahautanui	House of Edward Boulton	81/894	Edward Boulton, Father	12 April 1881	Revd. John Moir
65	12 April 1881	Charles Gibbs Mary Catherine McManaway	Charles Gibbs Mary Catherine McManaway 💍 1881/942	Bachelor Spinster	Lithographer	24 21	Wellington Wellington	Wellington Wellington	Roman Catholic Cathedral	81/900		12 April 1881	Revd. Father McNamara
66	13 April 1881	William Henry Green Emma Elizabeth Cato	William Henry Green Emma Elizabeth Cato 💍 1881/1446	Bachelor Spinster	Printer	28 26	Wellington Wellington	Wellington 1 year	Mr. Cato's House Willis Street	81/1410		13 April 1881	Revd. H. B. Redstone
67	13 April 1881	Frederick Mason Alice Styles	Fredrick Mason Alice Styles 💍 1881/2939	Bachelor Spinster	Grocer	31 21	Wellington Wellington	4 years Wellington	Mr. Mason's House Ingestre Road	81/1429		13 April 1881	Revd. C. S. Ogg

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).