Intentions to Marry, 1884

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840396, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, April 30 2025

Page 847

District of Wanganui Quarter ending 30 June 1884

No	Date of Notice	Names and Surnames of Parties	BDM Match	Condition	Calling or Profession	Age	Dwelling Place	Length of Residence	Marriage Place	Folio	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
15	2 April 1884	William Pickanin Isabella Stevenson	William Pickup Isabella Stevenson 💍 1884/2065	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	21 21	Wanganui Wanganui	11 yrs 10 yrs	In the Wesleyan Church, Wanganui	84/1135	2 April 1884	Rev. V. J. Williams, Wesleyan
16	17 April 1884	John Best Harriet Wells	John Rutson Harriett Wells 💍 1884/998	Widower Widow	Farmer	44 40	Aramoho Wanganui	8 wks 8 days	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Wanganui	84/1129	17 April 1884	G. W. Woon, Registrar
17	18 April 1884	James Cox Elizabeth Ward	James Cox Elizabeth Ward 💍 1884/999	Bachelor Widow	Labourer	47 45	Wanganui Wanganui	6 mos 6 yrs	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Wanganui	84/1130	18 April 1884	G. W. Woon, Registrar
18	24 April 1884	John Howell Elizabeth Law	John Howell Elizabeth Lang 💍 1884/993	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	25 23	Perrikama Waitotara do	6 yrs 6 days	In the residence of John Howell, Perrikama Waitotara	84/1125	24 April 1884	Rev. V. Cameron, Church of England
19	23 April 1884	Morford Potter Eleanor Comas	Morford Cottle Eleanor Lomax 💍 1884/2488	Bachelor Spinster	Dentist	23 23	Wanganui Rangitikei	11 mos 9 yrs	In the Church of England, Wanganui	84/1142	23 April 1884	Rev. F. L. Tudor
20	28 April 1884	Charles Henry Tyler Victoria Augusta Barton	Charles Henry Tyler Barton Victoria Augusta Kitcher 💍 1884/2076	Bachelor Spinster	Draper	22 22	Wanganui Wanganui	6 mos 5 yrs	In the Wesleyan Church, Wanganui	84/1136	28 April 1884	Rev. Wm. Tinsley, Wesleyan
21	10 May 1884	Alexander Smith Jane Wilson	Alexander Smith Laird Jane Wilson 💍 1884/994	Bachelor Spinster	Gardener	27 20	Wanganui Kaitoke	12 yrs 3 yrs	In the residence of James Wilson, Wicksteed St, Wanganui	84/1161	10 May 1884	Rev. Jas. Treadwell, Presbyterian
22	10 May 1884	Johannes Brandt Christina Danson	Johanes Brandt Christina Hanson 💍 1884/1000	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	32 26	Kai-iwi Kai-iwi	3 yrs 3 yrs	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Wanganui	84/1131	10 May 1884	G. W. Woon, Registrar
23	13 May 1884	George Louis Wheeler Annie Smith	George Corrie Wheeler Annie Smith 💍 1884/992 Francis Elliot McChesney Annie Smith 💍 1884/3016 Malcolm Grieve Annie Smith 💍 1884/2316	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	33 24	Wanganui Wanganui	3 days 24 yrs	In the residence of Mr. R. Smith, Richard St, Wanganui	84/1134	13 May 1884	Rev. P. Harrison, Church of England
24	30 May 1884	Charles Thomas Colette Storms Bramble		Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	21 24	River Bank Durie Town	21 yrs 24 yrs	In the residence of Mr. John Lee Geiss, Durietown	84/1137	30 May 1884	Rev. Wm. Tinsley, Wesleyan
25	27 May 1884	James Meehan Esther Tyler	James Meehan Esther Tyler 💍 1884/2084	Bachelor Spinster	Constable	30 24	Wanganui Wanganui	6 yrs 3 yrs	In the Roman Catholic Church, Wanganui	84/1138	27 May 1884	Rev. J. K. Kirk, Roman Catholic
26	2 June 1884	Henry Robertson Margaret Ann Ross Young	Henry Robertson Margaret Ann Ross Young 💍 1884/995	Widower Spinster	Labourer	48 35	Wanganui Wanganui	4 days 7 mos	In the residence of Mr. Copeland, Bell St, Wanganui	84/1141	2 June 1884	Rev. Jas. Treadwell, Presbyterian

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).