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 997

District of Wellington 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
101	7 April 1885	Thomas Cross Edith Maria Sanders	Thomas Cross Edith Marian Tandevin 💍 1885/1320	Bachelor Spinster	Joiner	27 22	Wellington Wellington	years years	St Peters Church	85/1464		7 April 1885	Ven Archdeacon Stock, C of E
102	7 April 1885	George James Miners Sarah Cecilia Page	George James Munro Hogg Sarah Cecilia Page 💍 1885/1314	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	28 26	Wellington Wellington	1 year years	Registrar office	85/1283		7 April 1885	W. S. Wyatt
103	7 April 1885	Michael Bremmin Mary Lodge	Michael Crimmin Mary Lodge 💍 1885/1192	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	27 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	St Mary of the Angels	85/1224		7 April 1885	Rev P. Kerrigan, R.C.
104	7 April 1885	Charles Henry Read Euphemia Barrie	Charles Henry Pierard Euphemia Bowie 💍 1885/1394	Bachelor Spinster	Draughtsman	28 24	Wellington Wellington	years years	Mr Bovvie's House, Ingestre Street	85/1249		7 April 1885	Rev C. S. Ogg, C of E
105	13 April 1885	George Vickarslaff Sarah Jewell	George Vickerstaff Sarah Sewell 💍 1885/1315 George Victor Bate Sarah Jane Hall 💍 1885/2929	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	21 21	Wellington Karori	3 days 6 weeks	Registrar office	85/1281		13 April 1885	W. S. Wyatt, Registrar
106	15 April 1885	George Henry Cattle Fanny Unstead	George Henry Cable Fanny Unsted 💍 1885/1319	Bachelor Spinster	Telegraphist	37 27	Wellington Wellington	1 month 6 weeks	St Peters Church	85/1265		15 April 1885	Ven Archdeacon Stock, C of E
107	16 April 1885	Charles Samuel Collett Ruth Eliza Ann Archer	Charles Samuel Collett Ruth Eliza Archer 💍 1885/1191	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith	28 18	Petone Lower Hutt	years years	St Francis Church	85/1223	Joseph Archer, father	16 April 1885	Rev B. Y. Brew, C of E
108	20 April 1885	Thomas Lugg Barker Alice Catherine Johnson	Thomas Lugg Mankey Barker Alice Katherine Johnson 💍 1885/1822	Bachelor Spinster	Surveyor	25 21	Wellington Wellington	2 years years	Mr Johnson's House	85/1928		20 April 1885	Rev W. C. Oliver, Wes.
109	20 April 1885	Thomas Sex Suragys Mary Dalgety	Thomas Jex Scraggs Mary Dalgety 💍 1885/1823	Bachelor Spinster	Painter	35 35	Wellington Wellington	years years	Mr Dalgety's Stores	85/1929		20 April 1885	Rev W. C. Oliver, Wes.
110	21 April 1885	Alexander Ramsay Elizabeth McAlpin	Alexander Ramsay Elizabeth McAlpine 💍 1885/1396	Bachelor Spinster	Marine Engineer	28 17	Wellington Wellington	6 weeks year	The Manse, Wellington Terrace	85/1251	James McAlpin, father	21 April 1885	Rev C. S. Ogg, C of E
111	21 April 1885	Edward Noel Barratt Louisa Annette McKellar	Edward Noel Barraud Louisa Annette McKellar 💍 1885/1195	Bachelor Spinster	Accountant	28 20	Wellington Wellington	years years	St Pauls Cathedral	85/1230	Henry Scott McKellar, father	21 April 1885	Rev John Still, C of E
112	21 April 1885	William Cecil Ferdinand Richardson Isabel Campbell Allan	William Cecil Ferdinand Richardson Isabel Campbell Allan 💍 1885/1395	Bachelor Spinster	Engineer	23 24	Wellington Wellington	years 3 weeks	Residence of Rev C. S. Ogg	85/1250		21 April 1885	Rev C. S. Ogg, C of E

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).