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 945

District of Masterton Quarter ending 30 June 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
22	14 May 1885	David Reid Janet McKenzie	David Reid Janet McKenzie 💍 1885/1288	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	29 27	Masterton Masterton	20 years 8 years	House of Mr Carleton, Masterton	85/1331		14 May 1885	Rev. W. Battell
23	14 May 1885	John Mulligan Catherine Green	John Mulligan Catherine Green 💍 1885/1285	Widower Widow	Miner Housekeeper	40 48	Masterton Taurua	4 months 7 years	Roman Catholic Chapel, Masterton	85/1329		14 May 1885	Rev. J. J. Battell
24	14 May 1885	Thomas McLeod Drummond Marian Grace Brandon	Thomas McKay Drummond Marian Rosina Brandon 💍 1885/1296	Widower Spinster	Surveyor	38 20	Masterton Masterton	3 years 6 months	Church of England, Masterton	85/1310	Alexander Johnston, father of bride	14 May 1885	Rev. D. C. Page
25	20 May 1885	Henry Donkin Kathleen Hepburn	Henry Donkin Catherine Hepburn 💍 1885/1276	Bachelor Spinster	Draper Dressmaker	25 26	Masterton Masterton	11 days 8 months	House of Mr William Hepburn, Masterton	85/1320		20 May 1885	Rev. James Gillies Paterson
26	22 May 1885	Jacob Bamber Jane Fellingham	Jacob Bamber Jane Fellingham 💍 1885/1289	Widower Widow	Storeman Bath House Keeper	46 36	Masterton Masterton	7 years 7 years	House of Mrs Fellingham, Masterton	85/1332		22 May 1885	Rev. W. Battell
27	23 May 1885	George Gordon Emily Challes	George Gordon Emily Challis 💍 1885/1290	Bachelor Spinster	Saw Miller	33 21	Masterton Masterton	5 years 4 days	House of Mr James Gordon, Masterton	85/1333		25 May 1885	Rev. J. J. Battell
28	26 May 1885	Henry Offor Ellen Adams	Henry Offor Ellen Adams 💍 1885/1280	Bachelor Spinster	Bailiff	26 25	Masterton Masterton	2 years 25 years	Office of Registrar, Masterton	85/1324		26 May 1885	Registrar of Marriages, Masterton
29	26 May 1885	John Healey Amelia Reynolds	John Healey Amelia Reynolds 💍 1885/1281	Bachelor Spinster	Police Constable	34 28	Masterton Masterton	8 months 6 weeks	Office of Registrar, Masterton	85/1325		26 May 1885	Registrar of Marriages, Masterton

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).