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 785

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
112	5 May 1884	William Cooksey Catherine Bruce	William Cooksey Catherine Bruce 💍 1884/2108	Widower Spinster	Carrier	49 54	Wellington Wellington	3 days 3 days	Registrars office Wellington	84/1216		5 May 1884	A. M. Smith, Depy
113	8 May 1884	James Harry Ball Joannah Martyn	James Harry Ball Joannah Martyn 💍 1884/2109	Bachelor Spinster	Coach Painter	24 26	Wellington Wellington	6 Weeks 3 months	Registrars office Wellington	84/1217		8 May 1884	A. M. Smith, Depy
114	9 May 1884	William McGowan Louisa Maria Pierard	William McGowan Louisa Maria Pierard 💍 1884/3743	Widower Widow	Farmer	64 54	Wellington Wellington	3 days years	House of Mr Pierard Cuba Street	84/1253		9 May 1884	Rev. J. T. Hinton
115	9 May 1884	George Charles John Heenan Maud Baddeley Dyer	George Charles John Heenan Maude Baddely Dyer 💍 1884/2104	Bachelor Spinster	Schoolmaster	28 19	Wellington Karori	years years	St. Marks Church	84/1203	Henry Hardwricke Dyer, Father	9 May 1884	Rev. Richard Coffey
116	12 May 1884	Andrew Johnson Elizabeth Harvey	Andrew Johnson Elizabeth Harvey 💍 1884/2110	Bachelor Spinster	Shoemaker	21 18	Wellington Wellington	18 months years	Registrars office Wellington	84/1218	John Harvey, Father	12 May 1884	A. M. Smith, Deputy
117	14 May 1884	George Constantine Nikholas Annie Penfold	George Constantine Nikholas Annie Penfold 💍 1884/2112	Bachelor Widow	Mariner	31 20	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars office Wellington	84/1220		14 May 1884	A. M. Smith, Dy
118	19 May 1884	William Deane Lyon Edith Mary Alexander	William Deans Lyon Edith Mary Alexander 💍 1884/983	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	25 25	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Peters Church	84/1238		19 May 1884	Venble Archdeacon Stock
119	21 May 1884	Henry Longfield Tarpett Margaret Hilda Day	Henry Longfield Carpenter Margaret Hilda Day 💍 1884/2113	Bachelor Spinster	Ironmonger	28 22	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars office Wellington	84/1221		21 May 1884	A. M. Smith, Deputy
120	21 May 1884	Joseph Frederick Steel Emma Frances Cudby	Joseph Frederick Fleet Emma Frances Cudby 💍 1884/2114	Bachelor Spinster	Brickmaker	25 25	Lower Hutt Lower Hutt	years years	Registrars office Wellington	84/1222		21 May 1884	A. M. Smith, Deputy
121	22 May 1884	Alexander Hamillan Mary Ryan	Alexander Hamilton Mary Ryan 💍 1884/2180 Michael Lenehan Mary Ryan 💍 1884/3054	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	25 24	Wellington Wellington	8 months years	The Angels	84/1118		22 May 1884	Rev. P. Kerrigan
122	22 May 1884	George Gore Gillow Kathleen Syndall Nock	George Gore Gillon Kathleen Tyndall Nock 💍 1884/840	Bachelor Spinster	M. D.	26 19	Wellington Wellington	years 6 months	St. Pauls Church	84/1197	[illegible] in Colony	5 June 1884	Rev. R. J. Thorpe
123	23 May 1884	Samuel William Benge Flora Macdonald	Samuel William Benge Flora Macdonald 💍 1884/966	Widower Spinster	Labourer	29 17	Mungaroa Mungaroa	years years	House of Mr. Benge Mungaroa	84/1242	Robert Macdonald, Father	23 May 1884	Rev. J. Blackburne

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).