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 880

District of Quarter ending 31 March 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
8	3 January 1885	William Beilly Emma Louisa Kelly	William Beilby Emma Louisa Kelly 💍 1885/477	Bachelor Spinster	Accountant Domestic	44 32	Hastings Hastings	9 years 9 years	St. Matthew's	85/1414		3 January 1885	Rev. H. W. St. Hill
9	10 January 1885	Francis O'Connell Ellen O'Sullivan	Francis O'Connell Ellen O'Sullivan 💍 1885/518	Bachelor Spinster	Brewer Domestic	25 20	Hastings Havelock	12 months 18 months	Mission Station	85/432		10 January 1885	Rev. Bulge Reignier
20	19 January 1885	William John Harper Robina Williamson	William John Harper Robina Williamson 💍 1885/480	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Domestic	26 23	Havelock Havelock	2 weeks 4 weeks	Residence of Robert Williamson	85/417		19 January 1885	Rev. W. M. Nicol
21	19 January 1885	James Henry Nelson Frances Elizabeth Wood	James Henry Nelson Fannie Elizabeth Wood 💍 1885/3640	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk Domestic	41 21	Hastings Hastings	3 days 5 years	St. Luke's	85/333		19 January 1885	Rev. Hubert M. Lean
22	22 January 1885	Frederick Thomas Howard Rosina Eliza Saunders	Frederick Thomas Howard Rosina Eliza Saunders 💍 1885/3755	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk Domestic	21 19	Hastings Hastings	1 week 7 years	St. Matthew's	85/415	George Saunders (Father)	22 January 1885	H. W. St. Hill, Rev.
23	27 January 1885	Enoch Hallett Eliza Pearmain Bee	Enoch Hallett Eliza Pearman Bee 💍 1885/474	Bachelor Spinster	Surveyor Domestic	30 21	Havelock Havelock	2 years 20 years	St. Luke's	85/411		27 January 1885	H. W. St. Hill, Rev.
24	27 January 1885	John Patrick Elwood Edith Maria Wood	John Patrick Elwood Edith Maria Wood 💍 1885/479	Bachelor Spinster	Engineer Domestic	29 19	Hastings Hastings	4 years 5 years	Catholic Church Hastings	85/410	Richard Wood (father)	29 January 1885	Rev. W. J. Lewis
25	31 January 1885	Andrew Percy Isabella Boswell	Andrew Percy Isabella Boswell 💍 1885/481	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Domestic	22 24	Hastings Hastings	3 years 12 months	Presbyterian Church Havelock	85/418		31 January 1885	Rev. W. M. Nicol
26	7 February 1885	Michael Beggley Ellen Guarin	Michael Beggley Ellen Guearin 💍 1885/519	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Domestic	26 23	Havelock Haimarama	12 months 3 years	Mission Station	85/433		7 February 1885	Rev. Bulge Reignier
27	7 February 1885	John Brien Matilda Nash	John Brien Matilda Dash 💍 1885/482	Bachelor Spinster	Baker Domestic	28 25	Havelock Havelock	7 months 5 days	Presbyterian Church Havelock	85/419		7 February 1885	Rev. W. M. Nicol
28	25 February 1885	Thomas Henry Brinson Evalina Symons	Thomas Henry Brinson Evaline Symons 💍 1885/475	Bachelor Spinster	Groom Domestic	29 19	Hastings Hastings	6 years 9 years	St. Luke's	85/412	John S. Symons (Father)	25 February 1885	Rev. Hubert M. Lean
29	19 March 1885	Peter Christianen Fernande Reichen	Peter Christiansen Fernande Reigher 💍 1885/483	Bachelor Spinster	Sawyer Domestic	37 25	Hastings Hastings	3 days 3 days	Registrars Office	85/420		19 March 1885	William O'M. Leod, Registrar
30	31 March 1885	John Sanders Margaret Hoggett	John Flanders Margaret Wiggett 💍 1885/476 John Henderson Margaret Findlay 💍 1885/887 John Andrew Margaret Morrow 💍 1885/2849	Widower Spinster	Gardener Domestic	30 22	Havelock Havelock	2 months 6 months	St. Luke's	85/413		31 March 1885	H. W. St. Hill, Rev.

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).