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 985

District of Wellington 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
233	4 September 1885	Thomas Linken Maria Lyttleton	Thomas Lintern Maria Lyttleton 💍 1885/2230	Bachelor Widow	Labourer	26 37	Wellington Wellington	4 years 5 months	St Mary of the Angels	85/2283		4 September 1885	Rev. P. Kerrigan
234	7 September 1885	Charles Fletcher Harris Agnes Julia Fancett	Charles Fletcher Harrison Agnes Julia Fancourt 💍 1885/2216	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	28 19	Wellington Wellington	4 days 4 years	St Pauls Cathedral	85/2290	Thomas Fancett, Father	7 September 1885	Rev. J. Fancett
235	7 September 1885	James Peter Peterson Annie Nielsen	Jens Peter Petersen Annie Nielsen 💍 1885/2197	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	28 16	Wainuiomata Wainuiomata	3 days 4 years	Registrars Office, Wellington	85/2299	Niels Nielsen, Father	7 September 1885	W. Wyatt, Regr
236	7 September 1885	John Gaskin Emily Harris	John Gaskin Emily Harris 💍 1885/2166	Widower Spinster	Farmer	43 19	Makara Pahautanui	years years	Registrars Office, Wellington	85/2207	Henry Harris, Father	7 September 1885	W. Wyatt, Regr
237	7 September 1885	Charles Smith Adelaide Maryanne Porter	Charles Smith Adelaide Marianne Porter 💍 1885/2223	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	23 23	Wellington Karori	years years	St Mary of the Angels	85/2299		7 September 1885	Rev. A. Devant
238	8 September 1885	Thomas John Leighton Mary Ann Gregg	Thomas John Leighton Mary Anne Greig 💍 1885/2211	Bachelor Spinster	Bootmaker	25 24	Wellington Wellington	years years	St Andrews Church	85/2288		8 September 1885	Rev. G. S. Egg
239	8 September 1885	Earl Wilton Jane Elizabeth Height	Earl Wilton Jane Elizabeth Heighton 💍 1885/3012	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	21 20	Waikanae Waikanae	years years	Mr Wilton's House, Waikanae	85/3201	Nathaniel Height, Father	8 September 1885	Rev. J. Paterson
240	8 September 1885	John Wells Chapman Georgia Ann Beer	John Wells Chapman Georgia Ann Beer 💍 1885/2163	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	21 20	Wellington Wellington	1 year years	Mr Batchelor's House, Willis Street	W. 85/2206		8 September 1885	Rev. C. M. Such
241	9 September 1885	William Berry Amy Kinsella	William Berry Amy Kinsella 💍 1885/2217	Bachelor Spinster	Reporter	24 21	Wellington Wellington	3 months 1 year	St Pauls Cathedral	85/2294		9 September 1885	Rev. John Still
242	14 September 1885	Frederick Allen Phillips Marion Brotherton Kummer	Frederick Allen Phillips Marion Protheroe Burrows 💍 1885/2174	Bachelor Spinster	Traveller	24 24	Wellington Wellington	5 months years	Registrars Office, Wellington	85/2253		14 September 1885	W. Wyatt, Regr
243	15 September 1885	Joseph Edward Ward Catherine Theresa Philimena Culligan	Joseph Osmond Ward Catherine Theresia Philimena Mulligan 💍 1885/2210	Bachelor Spinster	Importer	26 18	Wellington Wellington	years years	St Mary of the Angels Cathedral	85/2280	Patrick Culligan, Father	15 September 1885	Rev. J. O'Sullivan
244	15 September 1885	Henry Lowe Mary Allen	Henry Lowe Mary Allen 💍 1885/2175 George Dayoh Mary Allen 💍 1886/542	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	23 24	Wellington Wellington	6 months 7 years	Registrars Office, Wellington	85/2297		15 September 1885	W. Wyatt, Regr

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).