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 982

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 December 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
259	1 October 1885	Carl Christian Wackers Annie Meaked	Carl Christian Wackrow Annie Mexted 💍 1885/3033	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	27 21	Charic [illegible] Iawa Flat	years years	Registrars Office Wellington	85/3113		1 October 1885	W. D. Wyatt Regr
260	1 October 1885	James Battersby Esther Ann Blake	James Battersby Esther Ann Blake 💍 1885/2950	Bachelor Spinster	Painter	24 20	Petrie [illegible] [illegible]	year years	St. Pauls Cathedral Wellington	85/3130	William Blake Father	1 October 1885	Revd John Still left
261	2 October 1885	Joseph Devonshire Elizabeth Mary Sheil	Joseph Devonshire Elizabeth Mary Sheil 💍 1885/2980	Bachelor Spinster	Contractor	26 20	Wellington Cambridge Road	4 days years	Mr Holmes Residence	85/3145	Sarah Ann Holmes mother	2 October 1885	Revd L. M. Isitt Now
262	2 October 1885	William Dawson Mary Webber	William Dawson Mary Webber 💍 1885/2975	Widower Widow	Mariner	48 44	Wellington Belfast Street	years years	House of Bride	85/3132		2 October 1885	J. J. Grindrod United [illegible]
263	2 October 1885	Frederick Walter Rickard Emma Selina Beard	Frederick Walter Rickard Elizabeth Selina Beard 💍 1885/2981	Bachelor Spinster	Tailor	24 21	Wellington Willis Street	8 months 18 weeks	Mr Isitt's House	85/3146		2 October 1885	Revd L. M. Isitt Now
264	3 October 1885	Robert Bailey Martha Ann Purdue	Robert Bailey Martha Ann Purdue 💍 1885/3034	Bachelor Spinster	Boiler Maker	23 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars Office Wellington	85/3114		3 October 1885	W. D. Wyatt Regr
265	5 October 1885	James Leburn Pattullo Mary Duncan	James Liburn Pattulls Mary Davidson 💍 1885/3136	Bachelor Spinster	Sheep Farmer	37 28	Wellington Wellington	5 days years	St Pauls Cathedral	85/3129		5 October 1885	Revd John Still C of E
266	5 October 1885	John Duggan Julia Begley	John Duggan Julia Begley 💍 1885/2998	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	33 30	Wellington Hill Street	3 days years	St Marys Cathedral	85/3139		5 October 1885	Revd John McNamara R. C.
267	9 October 1885	Henry Nicholson Adelaide Ball	Henry Nicholson Adelaide Ball 💍 1885/3866	Bachelor Spinster	Hotel Keeper	25 20	Wellington Wellington	5 months years	Registrars Office Wellington	85/3115	Frederick Ball father	9 October 1885	W. D. Wyatt Regr
268	16 October 1885	Alexander Glass Amelia Kerr	Alexander Glasgow Amelia Kerr 💍 1885/3869	Widower Spinster	Cook	42 30	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars Office Wellington	85/3116		16 October 1885	W. D. Wyatt Regr
269	17 October 1885	Thomas Cole Faith Hill Burnett	Thomas Cole Faith Hill Burnett 💍 1885/2993	Widower Spinster	Carpenter	39 23	Wellington Wellington	6 months 2 months	St Marks Church	85/3134		17 October 1885	Revd R. Coffey C of E
270	22 October 1885	George Paradise Agnes Reaside	George Paradise Agnes Reaside 💍 1885/3043	Bachelor Spinster	Bookseller	29 35	Wellington Holland Street	1 year 3 years	Mr Rungays House	85/3161		22 October 1885	Revd J. K. Elliott Pres

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).