Intentions to Marry, 1882

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840394, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole at Archives NZ Wellington, April 16 2025

Page 421

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30 June 1882

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
103	22 May 1882	Thomas Jones Caroline Harris	Thomas Jones Caroline Harris 💍 1882/1265	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	26 20	Pahautanui Horokiri Valley	years	House of the Rev. James Paterson	82/1097	William Harris, Father	22 May 1882	Rev. J. Paterson
104	22 May 1882	Charles Henry Guise Jane Harrison	Charles Henry Guise Jane Harrison 💍 1882/1258	Bachelor Spinster	Bookmaker	22 17	Wellington		Arnold Street Methodist Free Church Courtenay Place	82/1095	George Harrison, Father	22 May 1882	Rev. H. B. Redstone, Minister
105	23 May 1882	Joseph Carter Annie Eusiton	Joseph Carter Annie Usieton 💍 1882/1145	Widower Widow	Warrant Officer	50 38			Registrar's Office	82/1116		23 May 1882	J. G. Holdsworth, Reg
106	25 May 1882	James Hutcheson Amelia Ann Freeman	James Hutchison Amelia Annie Freeman 💍 1882/1254	Bachelor Spinster	Salesman	24 23		4 days	St. Paul's	82/1091		25 May 1882	Archdeacon Thorpe, Offs
107	26 May 1882	William Thomas Mary Elizabeth Chaney	William Thomas Pumfrey Mary Elizabeth Chaney 💍 1882/1147	Widower Spinster	Farmer	27 18	Noahauranga Wellington	years	Cathedral	82/1118	John Allen Chaney, Father	29 May 1882	J. G. Holdsworth, Reg
108	26 May 1882	Charles Henry Cough Kate Moody	Charles Henry Compton Kate Moody 💍 1882/1159	Bachelor Spinster	Printer	29 19			St. Church's	82/1129	Charles Moody, Father	26 May 1882	Rev. C. D. de Castro, Offs
109	27 May 1882	Christopher Stephen Mary Harriett Power	Christopher Stephen George Bourk Mary Harriet Power 💍 1882/1489	Bachelor Spinster	Groom	27 19			St. Mary's Church	82/1098	Thomas Power, Father	27 May 1882	Rev. P. Kerrigan, Offs
110	29 May 1882	Robert Writer Mary Leonard Trueman	Alfred Walter Rudman Mary Leonard Trueman 💍 1882/1146	Widower Spinster	Butcher	40 23	Upper Hutt Petone	3 months	Registrar's Office	82/1114		29 May 1882	J. G. Holdsworth, Reg
111	29 May 1882	George Davis Ellen Madigan	George Davis Ellen Madigan 💍 1882/1161	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	34 30	Sukapu Kawarau	years 3 months	St. Mary's	82/1131		29 May 1882	Rev. John McTavish, Offs
112	30 May 1882	John Phelpst Helen Craig Duncan	John Philpot Helen Craig Davidson 💍 1882/1492	Bachelor Spinster	Storeman	24 24	Wellington	years	House of the Rev.	82/1081		30 May 1882	Rev. G. S. Ogg, Pres
113	31 May 1882	William Ronson Mary Unverden	William Benson Mary Underdown 💍 1882/1148 William Rolton Mary Ann Henfling 💍 1883/175 William Gibson Mary Perry 💍 1882/275 William Donaldson Mary Lee 💍 1882/3259 William Ryan Mary Head 💍 1882/2007 William Donaldson Mary Chiplin 💍 1882/1784 William Elliot Hogg Mary Ann Eden 💍 1882/2970 William Morrison Mary Ryan 💍 1882/2990 William Dobson Mary Ann Kislingbury 💍 1882/787	Bachelor Widow	Farmer	57 57	Porirua Road	2	Registrar's Office	82/1119		31 May 1882	J. G. Holdsworth, Reg
114	1 June 1882	Albert Hasfield Emma Kensten	Albert Hatfield Emma Tustin 💍 1882/1259	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith	24 21	Wellington		Middleton's Home, Woolcombe Chapel	82/1096		3 June 1882	Rev. H. B. Reastone, Minister

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).