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 783

District of Wellington 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	Consent	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
136	14 June 1884	Frederick George Hind Emily Rudd	Frederick George Hind Emily Rudd 💍 1884/2103	Bachelor Spinster	Cabinet maker	24 21	Wellington Wellington	3 months 3 days	St. Mark's Church	84/1202		14 June 1884	Rev. R. Coffey
137	9 June 1884	Peter Harmay Dickson Jeanie Campbell	Peter Hannay Dickson Jeannie Campbell 💍 1884/3742	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	23 24	Wellington Wellington	14 days years	Capt. Campbell's House, Brougham Street	84/1249		9 June 1884	Rev. J. Patterson
138	9 June 1884	Hector McDonald Sarah Roberts	Hector McDonald Sarah Roberts 💍 1884/2158	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	28 24	Wellington Wellington	5 days years	St. Mary of the Angels	84/1149		9 June 1884	Rev. P. Kerrigan
139	11 June 1884	Charles Skinner Jane McDowell	Charles Skinner Jane McDowell 💍 1884/2119 Thomas Tanner Mary McDowell 💍 1884/247	Widower Widow	Mariner	36 30	Wellington Wellington	years 1 year	Registrar's Office	84/1226		11 June 1884	W. L. Wyatt, Deputy
140	12 June 1884	Frank Redford Annie Fraser	Frank Bedford Annie Fraser 💍 1884/1235	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	27 20	Wellington Wellington	years years	Residence of Mr. Fraser, Manners Street	84/1195	Francis Humphrey Fraser, Father	12 June 1884	Rev. H. B. Redstone
141	14 June 1884	John Creighton Elizabeth Norbury	John Creighten Elizabeth Norbury 💍 1884/2098	Widower Spinster	Labourer	40 31	Wellington Wellington	1 year years	Mr. Norbury's House, Taranaki Street	84/1168		14 June 1884	Rev. H. B. Redstone
142	14 June 1884	Charles Cheetham Roberts Eleana Caroline Haase	Charles Chutham Roberts Eleanor Caroline Haase 💍 1884/2099	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	29 27	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Paul's Cathedral	84/1198		14 June 1884	Rev. R. J. Thorpe
143	16 June 1884	Thomas John Oak Sarah Ann Orsborn	Thomas John Oak Sarah Ann Osborn 💍 1884/2096	Bachelor Spinster	Milkman	20 26	Wellington Wellington	10 days 10 days	Rev. Mr. Oliver's House, Taranaki Street	84/1166	No relation in Colony	30 June 1884	Rev. W. C. Oliver
144	16 June 1884	Thomas Wilson Judd Alice Chapman	Thomas Wilson Alice Chapman 💍 1884/984 James Rainey Alice Chapman 💍 1884/360	Bachelor Spinster	Painter	23 20	Wellington Wellington	years 3 months	St. Peter's Church	84/1239	John Chapman, Father	16 June 1884	Ven'ble Archdeacon Stock
145	17 June 1884	William John Williams Clara Amelia Mitchell	William John Williams Clara Amelia Mitchell 💍 1884/2159	Bachelor Spinster	Storeman	25 19	Wellington Wellington	9 months years	House of Mr. James Mitchell, Kent Terrace	84/1180	James Mitchell, Father	17 June 1884	Rev. A. J. Smith
146	19 June 1884	Charles Alfred Durie Sarah Jane Warmington	Charles Alfred Darie Sarah Jane Warmington 💍 1884/985	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	38 28	Wellington Wellington	3 days 2 months	St. Peter's Church	84/1240		19 June 1884	Ven'ble Archdeacon Stock
147	19 June 1884	Max Bollinger Margaret Isabella Sproule Smith	Max Bollinger Margaret Isabella Sproull Smith 💍 1884/973	Bachelor Widow	Constable	35 32	Wellington Wellington	3 weeks 2 weeks	Presbyterian Church, Woolcombe Street	84/1250		19 June 1884	Rev. James Paterson

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).