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 771

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 December 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
262	14 November 1884	Maurice Lyons Pauline Frankel	Maurice Lyons Pauline Frankel 💍 1884/1600	Bachelor Spinster	Tobacconist	24 20	Wellington Timaru	2 weeks years	Jewish Synagogue	84/3099	Jacob Frankel, Father	14 November 1884	Revd. H. van Staveren
263	14 November 1884	Henry Southwood Matilda Thacker	Henry Southwood Matilda Thacker 💍 1884/1670	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	28 21	Wellington Wellington	7 months years	House of Mr. Peak, Dixon Street	84/3669		14 November 1884	Revd. A. J. Smith
264	15 November 1884	William Nathora Catherine Power	William Northover Catharine Power 💍 1884/3285	Bachelor Spinster	Fellmonger	25 21	Ngahauranga Wellington	1 month 6 months	St. Pauls Cathedral	84/3111		15 November 1884	Revd. R. J. Thorpe
265	15 November 1884	John James Abrahall Elizabeth Ann Huxstable	John James Abrahall Elizabeth Ann Huxtable 💍 1884/1702	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	27 28	Petone Petone	12 months 3 years	St. James' Church, Hutt	84/3695		15 November 1884	Revd. C. J. S. Cross
266	17 November 1884	James Garlick Rachel Mary Hatten	James Garlick Rachel Mary Hatten 💍 1884/3294	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	39 23	Wellington Wellington	8 days	St. Peters Church, Ngahauranga	84/3108		17 November 1884	Ven. Archdeacon Stock
267	17 November 1884	Jeremiah Emery Margaret Roberts	Jeremiah Emeny Margaret Roberts 💍 1884/3286	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	23 24	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Pauls Cathedral	84/3112		17 November 1884	Revd. R. J. Thorpe
268	17 November 1884	James Canning Isabella Ogilvie	James Canning Isabella Ogilvie 💍 1884/3356	Bachelor Spinster	Livery Stable Keeper	25 28	Wellington Wellington	6 days 6 days	St. Marys Cathedral	84/3141		17 November 1884	Revd. John McNamara
269	19 November 1884	Thomas James Johnston Alice Jane Haughton	Thomas James Johnston Alice Jane Haughton 💍 1884/1637	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	27 24	Wellington Wellington	years 11 months	St. Pauls Cathedral	84/3551		19 November 1884	Revd. R. J. Thorpe
270	20 November 1884	Isaiah Sako Bridget Ann O'Brien	Isaiah Fake Bridget Ann OBrien 💍 1884/3692	Bachelor Spinster	Waiter	21 18	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Mary of the Angels	84/3190	John O'Brien, Father	20 November 1884	Revd. P. Kerrigan
271	20 November 1884	David Brown Ellen Avery	David Brown Ellen Avery 💍 1884/3617 William Brown Eliza Avery 💍 1884/1246	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	21 23	Upper Hutt Wellington	years 1 year	Registrars Office	84/3126		20 November 1884	W. S. Wyall
272	21 November 1884	Francis Brady Sarah Crippin	Francis Brady Sarah Crippin 💍 1884/3340	Bachelor Spinster	Waiter	30 23	Wellington Wellington	years 1 year	St. Marys Cathedral	84/3169		21 November 1884	Revd. John McNamara
273	21 November 1884	Earie Robert Redwood Sarah Jane Mence	Edwin Robert Reeve Sarah Jane Mence 💍 1884/1599	Bachelor Spinster	Steward	30 28	Wellington Wellington	years 1 year	House of Mr. Mence, Sydney Street	84/3098		21 November 1884	Revd. C. J. Ogg

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).