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 775

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
215	16 September 1884	Benjamin Wrighton Isabel Hesseltine	Benjamin Wrightson Isabel Heselton 💍 1884/2674	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	28 26	Wellington Wellington	5 day 15 inst	St Peters Church	84/2153		16 September 1884	Venble Archdeacon Stock B.A.
216	18 September 1884	Charles Genge Jacob Alice Wood	Charles George Jacob Alice Wood 💍 1884/1241 Ernest Gregory Pilcher Alice Wood 💍 1885/365	Bachelor Spinster	Steward	26 24	Wellington Wellington	1 year 1 year	Registrars office Wellington	84/2183		18 September 1884	Mr. W. L. Wyatt Deputy Registrar
217	19 September 1884	Thomas Harris Strong Frances Bridget Drougott	Thomas Harris Frances Bridget Dromgool 💍 1884/1590	Bachelor Spinster	Warder	21 25	Wellington Wellington	years years	St Marks Church	84/3090		19 September 1884	Revd R. Coffey B.A.
218	20 September 1884	Christopher Bradley Ellen Lydia Garmoway	Christopher Bradley Ellen Lydia Gannaway 💍 1885/335	Widower Spinster	Engine Fitter	41 40	Wellington Wellington	3 months 9 months	Registrars office Wellington	84/2204		20 September 1884	Mr. W. L. Wyatt Deputy Registrar
219	20 September 1884	James Campbell Elizabeth Thomas	James Campbell Elizabeth Thomas 💍 1884/1240	Bachelor Spinster	Watchmaker	33 36	Wellington Wellington	3 years 6 months	Revd G. S. Oggs House Terrace	84/2204		20 September 1884	Revd G. S. Ogg B.A.
220	23 September 1884	James Ernest Love Phoebe Fisher	James Ernest Love Phoebe Fisher 💍 1884/1244	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd	21 16	Paramatta Paramatta	18 months years	Registrars office Wellington	84/2184	Cornelius Fisher, father	23 September 1884	Mr. W. L. Wyatt Deputy Registrar
221	24 September 1884	James Stephen Smith Sarah Anne Lewer	James Stephen Smith Sarah Anne Lewer 💍 1884/1245	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	23 15	Ohariu Ohariu	years years	Registrars office Wellington	84/2185	Emma Lewer, mother	24 September 1884	Mr. W. L. Wyatt Deputy Registrar
222	25 September 1884	William Brown Eliza Avery	William Brown Eliza Avery 💍 1884/1246 David Brown Ellen Avery 💍 1884/3617	Bachelor Spinster	Bootmaker	24 24	Upper Hutt Upper Hutt	years years	Registrars office Wellington	84/2186		25 September 1884	Mr. W. L. Wyatt Deputy Registrar
223	26 September 1884	Alexander Stitt Mary Anne Draighicarick	Alexander Stitt Mary Anne Draghicavich 💍 1884/1247	Bachelor Widow	Merchant	38 27	Wellington Wellington	4 days 8 days	Registrars office Wellington	84/2189		26 September 1884	Mr. W. L. Wyatt Deputy Registrar
224	27 September 1884	Robert Hamilton Cole Agnes Beveridge	Robert Hamilton Cole Agnes Beveridge 💍 1884/3840	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	23 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Bridegroom Webb Street	84/2199		27 September 1884	Rev H. B. Redstone United
225	27 September 1884	George Nicholas Homand Emily Amelia Berg	George Nicholas Howard Emily Amelia Berg 💍 1884/1236	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	29 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Rev. H. B. Redstone	84/2198		27 September 1884	Rev H. B. Redstone United

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).