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 413

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
104	26 May 1881	William John Monaghan Nora Helen Mulhane	William John Monaghan Nora Ellen Mulhane 💍 1881/945	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	33 23	Karori Wellington	years 2 years	St. Marys Cathedral	81/1903		26 May 1881	Rev. John Mc Namara
105	30 May 1881	Richard Matheson Mary Ann Amelia Leason	Richard Matthison Mary Ann Amelia Mason 💍 1881/1531	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	37 29		5" years	Masonic House Boulcott Street	81/1529		30 May 1881	Rev. James Paterson
106	3 June 1881	Alfred Ernest Wilton Clara Bowles	Alfred Ernest Wilton Clara Bowles 💍 1881/1433	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	20 19	Ohiri Wellington	1 year	Registrars Office	81/1883	Elijah Wilton, Father	3 June 1881	J. G. Holdsworth, Registrar
107	4 June 1881	Archibald Ferguson Agnes Thomson	Archibald Ferguson Agnes Thomson 💍 1881/2946	Widower Widow	Colliery Manager	38 27		18 months years	House of Mrs James Glover, Frederick Street	81/1418		4 June 1881	Rev. W. H. West, Congre
108	6 June 1881	James Bain Robertson Mary Alice Loudon	James Bain Robertson Mary Alice London 💍 1881/1532	Bachelor Spinster		24 20	Johnsonville	4 days years	Mr. Bowlers House, Johnsonville	81/1530	No relation in Colony	20 June 1881	Rev. James Paterson, Pres
109	7 June 1881	Alfred Andrews Louisa Jane Evelyn Moffitt	Alfred Andrews Louisa Jane Evelyn Moffitt 💍 1881/977	Bachelor Spinster	Civil Service	39 19	Wellington	10 days years	St. Peters Church	81/1912	John Lindsay Moffitt, Father	7 June 1881	Venerable Archdeacon Stock, [illegible]
110	8 June 1881	Timothy Wood Sarah McPhun	Timothy Wood Sarah McPhem 💍 1881/1434	Bachelor Widow	Mariner	26 38		7 years years	Registrars Office	81/1884		8 June 1881	J. G. Holdsworth, Registrar
111	9 June 1881	Herbert Albert Norris Rosetta Wilmer Mackenzie	Herbert Albert Morris Rosetta Wilmas MacKenzie 💍 1881/972	Bachelor Spinster	Surveyor	21 22		2 years years	Wesleyan Church, Lower Hutt	81/904		9 June 1881	Rev. William Cannell, Pres
112	10 June 1881	Michael Joseph Gannon Isabella Kate Wyllie	Michael Joseph Gannon Isabella Kate Wyllie 💍 1881/953	Bachelor Widow	Native Land Agent	28 38		14 days	Roman Catholic Cathedral	81/1904		10 June 1881	Rev. [illegible] Mc Namara, R.C.
113	11 June 1881	William Daniel Vogel Wilhelmine Amalie Larsen	William Daniel Vogel Wilhelmina Amalie Larsen 💍 1881/938	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	29 23		1 year 6 months	Bethel Chapel	81/1897		18 June 1881	Rev. Samuel Costall, Bapt
114	18 June 1881	Archibald William Wilson Mary Moyle	Archibald William Wilson Mary Moyle 💍 1881/1435	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	28 30		1 year years	Registrars Office	81/1385		18 June 1881	J. G. Holdsworth, Registrar
115	25 June 1881	Edmund James Nankivell Martha Ryder	Edward James Nation Martha Ryder 💍 1881/1436	Bachelor Spinster	Printer	24 19		4 years 5 years	Registrars Office	81/1886	Emmanuel Ryder, Father	25 June 1881	J. G. Holdsworth, Registrar

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).