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 987

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
209	10 August 1885	Robert Craig Margaret Hellena Conford	Robert Craig Margaret Helena Cornford 💍 1885/2214	Bachelor Spinster	Grocer	27 25	Wellington Do	years Do	St. Pauls Church	85/2291		11 August 1885	Rev. John Theobald
210	11 August 1885	Archibald Look Bridget Daly		Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	30 22	Stutt Wellington	years months	Registrars Office	85/2292	not married as per return	11 August 1885	W. S. Wyatt, Regr
211	11 August 1885	William Robson Clara Birdwood	William Robertson Clara Birdwood 💍 1885/2183	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	26 21	Wellington Wellington	6 months 15 months	Registrars Office	85/2293		11 August 1885	W. S. Wyatt, Regr
212	11 August 1885	James Jackson Mary Prowd	James Jackson Wood Mary Prouse 💍 1885/2226 James Johnston Mary Reid 💍 1885/1639	Widower Spinster	Farmer	27 23	Waimarama Waimarama	years years	House of Mr. Shannon	85/2264	George Vance Shannon, Father	11 August 1885	Rev. J. J. Garbett
213	12 August 1885	William Caldwell Elizabeth Rennie	William Caldwell Elizabeth Rennie 💍 1885/2184	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	35 34	Wellington Wellington	years 6 months	Registrars Office	85/2287		12 August 1885	W. S. Wyatt, Regr
214	15 August 1885	Stephen Williamson Georgina Shannon	Stephen Williamson Georgina Shannon 💍 1885/2161	Bachelor Spinster	Grazier	24 20	Wellington Clifton Terrace	Weeks years	House of Mr. Shannon	85/2264	George Vance Shannon, Father	15 August 1885	Rev. W. C. Oliver
215	15 August 1885	John August Holland Sarah Ann Brown	John August Holland Sarah Ann Brown 💍 1885/2185	Bachelor Spinster	Carter	25 18	Wellington Wellington	2 years 6 months	Registrars Office	85/2288	Jane Brown, mother	15 August 1885	W. S. Wyatt, Regr
216	17 August 1885	Walter John Spannan Emily Alice Webb	Mortimer John Spearman Emily Alice Webb 💍 1885/2208	Bachelor Spinster	Storekeeper	32 22	Wellington Countenay Place	2 months years	United Methodist Church	85/2285		17 August 1885	Rev. J. J. Pendray
217	17 August 1885	Thomas Welcome Beatrice Emma Saunders	Thomas Akehurst Beatrice Emma Maude Maunders 💍 1885/2186	Bachelor Spinster	Brickmaker	30 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars Office	85/2239		17 August 1885	W. S. Wyatt, Regr
218	17 August 1885	George Joseph Charles Parker Mary Ann Johns	George Joseph Charles Parker Mary Ann Johns 💍 1885/2187	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	27 22	Wellington Wellington	4 months years	Registrars Office	85/2240		17 August 1885	W. S. Wyatt, Regr
219	18 August 1885	John White Amelia Maria Harris	John White Amelia Maria Harris 💍 1885/2188	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	27 18	Wellington Wellington	years months	Registrars Office	85/2241	Mr. Jackson, Father	18 August 1885	W. S. Wyatt, Regr
220	19 August 1885	Edward George Child Mary Jane Henchelife Coul	Edward George Child Mary Jane Henchcliffe Couls 💍 1885/2189	Bachelor Spinster	Painter	28 30	Wellington Wellington	Week years	Registrars Office	85/2242		19 August 1885	W. S. Wyatt, Regr

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).