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 778

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30 September 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	Consent	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
179	28 July 1884	Frank Toms Mary Jane Parnell	Frank Toms Mary Jane Parnell 💍 1884/3839	Bachelor Spinster	Boilermaker	23 18	Wellington Wellington	years years	The House of the Revd H. B. Reastone	84/2197	William Henry Parnell, Father	28 July 1884	Revd H. B. Reastone, United
180	31 July 1884	George Smithers Letitia Elizabeth Pearce		Bachelor Spinster	Printer	27 20	Pahautanui Pahautanui	years years	Mr Pearce's House, Pahautanui	84/2198	James Pearce, Father	31 July 1884	Revd Jno. Blackburne, Copp
181	1 August 1884	John Cullinane Ada Hoghton	John Cullinane Ada Hoghton 💍 1884/609	Bachelor Spinster	Constable	36 32	Johnsonville Wellington	3 months 1 year	Registrar's Office, Wellington	84/2169		1 August 1884	Mr. T. Wyatt, Deputy
182	1 August 1884	Benjamin Houlder Anne Eliza Smith	Benjamin Houlder Anne Eliza Smith 💍 1884/611	Bachelor Spinster	Milkman	22 18	Ohio Wellington	years years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	84/2171	Amelia Smith, mother	1 August 1884	Mr. T. Wyatt, Deputy
183	4 August 1884	Walter Dunning Emmarah Eliza Freeman	Walter Dunning Emmarah Eliza Freeman 💍 1884/1232	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	26 23	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Paul's Cathedral	84/2192		4 August 1884	Revd G. N. S. Walpole
184	4 August 1884	George Manley Smith Matilda Drake	George Munley Smith Matilda Drake 💍 1884/1265	Bachelor Spinster	Accountant	44 39	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Mark's Church	84/2140		4 August 1884	Revd R. Coffey, Copp
185	4 August 1884	John Reuben Ingram Catherine Theresa Smith	John Reuben Ingram Catherine Theresa Smith 💍 1884/610	Bachelor Widow	Stationer	37 38	Wellington Wellington	2 years years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	84/2140		4 August 1884	Mr. T. Wyatt, Deputy
186	7 August 1884	John Arcus Margaret Elizabeth Teasdale	John Avens Margaret Elizabeth Teasdale 💍 1884/1239	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	29 23	Wellington Wellington	years 4 months	St. Andrew's Church	84/2203		7 August 1884	Revd C. S. Ogg, Pres
187	7 August 1884	Francis McGregor Effie Marsh	Francis McGregor Effie Marsh 💍 1884/3829	Bachelor Spinster	Baker	26 21	Wellington Wellington	2 years years	Residence of Mr. Pearman	84/2196		7 August 1884	Revd N. B. Reastone, United
188	8 August 1884	Jeremiah Hurley Mary Dudley	Jeremiah Hurley Mary Dudly 💍 1884/2869	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	28 25	Wellington Wellington	6 days 1 year	St. Mary of the Angels	84/2602		8 August 1884	Revd P. Kerrigan, RC
189	9 August 1884	Henry Williams Hester Barlow	Henry Williams Hester Barlow 💍 1884/3073	Bachelor Spinster	Mechanic	26 18	Petone Karori	16 months years	Wesleyan Church, Taranaki Street	84/2758	Joseph Shape Barlow, father	9 August 1884	Revd W. C. Oliver, Wes
190	11 August 1884	Philip Roberts Mary Ann Thomas Symons	Philip Roberts Mary Ann Thomas Symons 💍 1884/2675	Widower Spinster	Farmer	50 37	Wellington Wellington	years years	Residence of Mr. Samuel Luke, Junr., Taranaki Street	84/2154		11 August 1884	Revd A. J. Smith, Prim

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).