Intentions to Marry, 1885

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840397, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole at Archives NZ Wellington, April 30 2025

Page 859

District of Napier Quarter ending 30 September 1885

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
71	24 July 1885	James Hedley Potter Eliza Dennan	James Hedley Potter Eliza Dennan 💍 1885/2302	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	28 26	Napier Napier	4 days 10 years	St Johns Church	85/2344	Dennan Father	24 July 1885	Revd. Berdt Howell, English Church
72	28 July 1885	John Young Annie Andersen	John Young Annie Anderson 💍 1885/2665 John Young Louisa Abercrombie Easton 💍 1885/1677	Widower Spinster	Mariner	39 29	Port Ahuriri Napier	12 years 6 years	House of Mr Englehart	85/2848		28 July 1885	Revd. S. Paterson, Presbyterian Church
73	28 July 1885	John William Stoney Annie Smith	John William Honeyselt Annie Smith 💍 1885/2303 John William Velvin Annie Jane Smith 💍 1885/1616 John William Steed Clara Jane Smith 💍 1886/538 John William Proctor Sarah Smith 💍 1885/2841 Hugh McFarlane Annie Smith 💍 1885/3071	Bachelor Spinster	Cook	30 20	Napier Napier	8 months 5 years	St Johns Church	85/2345		28 July 1885	Revd. Berdt Howell, English Church
74	3 August 1885	Edwin Charles Pocklington Elizabeth Blewett	Edwin Charles Polkinghorne Elizabeth Blewitt 💍 1885/2307	Bachelor Spinster	Cook	34 24	Napier Napier	3 years 1 year	St Marys Chapel	85/2348		3 August 1885	Revd. F. Grogan, Roman Catholic
75	8 August 1885	Joseph Booth Maria Townley	Joseph Booth Maria Townley 💍 1885/2310	Bachelor Spinster	Foreman	26 26	Napier Napier	2 years 3 months	Residence of Revd Sidey	85/2352		8 August 1885	Revd. D. Sidey, Presbyterian
76	10 August 1885	Laurence Joseph Dobbyn Margaret Mantenright	Laurance Joseph Dobbyn Margaret Mary Enright 💍 1885/2308	Bachelor Spinster	Farrier	30 24	Napier Napier	3 days 3 days	St Marys Chapel	85/2349		10 August 1885	Revd. F. Grogan, Roman Catholic
77	13 August 1885	Simeon Chairman Norah Keleher	Simeon Stairmand Norah Kelleher 💍 1885/3828	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	21 22	Napier Napier	11 years 4 years	House of Mrs Beattie	85/2350		13 August 1885	Revd. F. Kickham, Roman Catholic
78	25 August 1885	George Alfred Youngman Annie Elizabeth Rickard	George Alfred Youngman Annie Elizabeth Richards 💍 1885/2300	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	25 23	Napier Napier	4 days 5 years	Residence of Revd W. M. Baumber	85/2342		25 August 1885	Revd. W. M. Baumber, Wesleyan
79	31 August 1885	Alfred Taylor Grace Ellen Skilton nee Rodda	Alfred Taylor Grace Ellen Skilton 💍 1885/2353	Bachelor Widow	Drover	36 44	Petane Petane	3 days 3 days	St Augustines Church	85/2353		31 August 1885	Revd. I. Parkinson, English Church

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).