Intentions to Marry, 1883

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840395, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, May 16 2025.

Page 395

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30 June 1883

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
92	26 April 1883	Denis Quille Margaret Breen	Denis Guille Margaret Breen 💍 1883/1313	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	28 22	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Mary's Cathedral	83/1120		26 April 1883	Rev. John M'Namara
93	26 April 1883	David James Brenner Helen Featherston	David James Bremner Helen Featherston 💍 1883/2611	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	30 30	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Paul's Cathedral	83/12542		26 April 1883	Rev. R. J. Thorpe
94	27 April 1883	Frederick Andrew Lucy Clark	Frederick Andrew Lucy Clark 💍 1883/999	Widower Spinster	Farmer	38 23	Wellington Wellington	4 Weeks 4 days	Registrars Office	83/1094		27 April 1883	J. G. Holdsworth
95	28 April 1883	Walter Frank Knowles Lizzie Holmes	Walter Frank Knowles Lizzie Holmes 💍 1883/2612	Bachelor Spinster	Clergyman	26 22	Avonside Christchurch Wellington	years years	St. Paul's Cathedral	83/2543		28 April 1883	Rev. Francis Knowles
96	30 April 1883	Christian Frederik Jorgensen Marion Morgan Jorgensen	Christian Fredrick Jorgensen Marianne Morgan 💍 1883/22	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	23 19	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Peter's Church	83/1098	No relation in Colony	14 May 1883	Ven. Archdeacon Stock
97	2 May 1883	John New Mathilda Nilson	Johan Carl Frederick Bew Mathilda Nilson 💍 1883/40	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	29 30	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. Hoffmeister Martin Square	83/1092		2 May 1883	Rev. H. B. Reastone
98	7 May 1883	George Laurie Elizabeth Clayton	George Lawrie Elizabeth Claxton 💍 1883/1330 George Payne Elizabeth Wakeman 💍 1883/2363 George Lindsay Elizabeth Newton 💍 1883/2756 George Carruck Elizabeth Cowling 💍 1883/238 George Cotton Elizabeth Allen 💍 1883/1865 George Williams Elizabeth Robertson 💍 1883/266	Bachelor Widow	Dealer	35 35	Wellington Wellington	years 1 Week	Residence of Rev. C. J. Ogg Terrace	83/1113		7 May 1883	Rev. C. J. Ogg
99	7 May 1883	Edward Thomas Berry Annie James	Edward Thomas Benge Annie James 💍 1883/1010	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	24 23	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. Smith Adelaide Road	83/1061		7 May 1883	Rev. R. Bavin
100	8 May 1883	Isaac Wilkins Sarah Morrall	Isaac Wilkins Sarah Morrall 💍 1883/1002	Widower Widow	Publican	56 52	Upper Hutt Wellington	years 3 days	Registrars Office	83/1094		8 May 1883	J. G. Holdsworth
101	8 May 1883	Joseph Stuart Bell Florence Fountain Herkes	Joseph Stuart Allan Florence Fountain Hesketh 💍 1883/1314	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	21 22	Wellington Wellington	years months	Roman Catholic Cathedral	83/1121		8 May 1883	Rev. J. M'Namara
102	9 May 1883	John Myles Clapwell Jessie Maria Whipps	John Myles Maxwell Jessie Maria Whipp 💍 1883/1004	Bachelor Spinster	Plumber	24 23	Wellington Wellington	14 months 3 days	Registrars Office	83/1048		9 May 1883	J. G. Holdsworth
103	10 May 1883	Louis Brookes Eliza Fanny Price	Louis Brookes Linklater Eliza Fanny Price 💍 1883/992	Bachelor Spinster	Law Accountant	25 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	Residence of Mr. Price College Street	83/1059		10 May 1883	Rev. Ramsford Bavin

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).