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 984

District of Quarter ending

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
245	16 September 1885	Roland Butler Emily Mary Wilkie	Roland Butler Emily Mary Wilkie 💍 1885/2157	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	24 23	Upper Hutt Upper Hutt	years years	Mr Copeland's Home, Lower Hutt	85/2260		16 September 1885	Rev. D. Road
246	17 September 1885	Samuel Haines Bessie Davis	Samuel Haines Bessie Davies 💍 1885/2176	Bachelor Spinster	Labour	28 29	Wellington Wellington	14 months	Registrar's Office, Wellington	85/2255		17 September 1885	Mr. W. Wyatt, Registrar
247	17 September 1885	Thomas George Sergeant Shadbolt Ellen Rosetta Thacker	Thomas George Sergent Shadbolt Ellen Rosetta Thacker 💍 1885/3827	Bachelor Spinster	Candlemaker	21 18	Wellington Wellington	years	Mr Shacker's House, Wright Street	85/2295	William Thacker, Father	17 September 1885	Rev. P. W. [illegible]
248	21 September 1885	David Mathewson Nairn Margaret Hood Menzies	David Mathewson Nairn Margaret Hood Menzie 💍 1885/3013	Bachelor Spinster	Medical Practitioner	23 25	Wellington Wellington	3 days 2 days	St. John's Manse, Woolcombe Street	85/3202		21 September 1885	Rev. J. Paterson
249	21 September 1885	Alfred Labruyere Kemp Margaret Faith Bentley	Alfred Labruyere Kemp Margaret Edith Bentley 💍 1885/3014	Bachelor Spinster	Draper	31 20	Wellington Wellington	years	Mr Bentley's Store, Majoribanks Street	85/3203	James Bentley, Father	21 September 1885	Rev. J. Paterson
250	24 September 1885	William Blackley Emily Jane Cook	William Blackey Emily Jane Cook 💍 1885/2997	Widower Spinster	Hotel Keeper	77 23	Horokiwi Valley Horokiwi Valley	years	Rev. John Still's House, Woolcombe Street	85/3138		24 September 1885	Rev. John Still
251	22 September 1885	Charles Sydney Cattell Jane Elizabeth Clapham	Charles Sydney Cattell Jane Elizabeth Clapham 💍 1885/2219	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	23 21	Wellington Wellington	years	St. Paul's Cathedral	85/2295		22 September 1885	Rev. John Still
252	24 September 1885	James Aitken Annie Seager	James Aitken Annie Seager 💍 1885/3016	Bachelor Spinster	Telegraphist	28 26	Wellington Wellington	3 months years	Mrs Seager's Residence, Ghuznee Street	85/3205		24 September 1885	Rev. J. Paterson
253	26 September 1885	Henry Wilson Keziah Coles	Henry Wilson Keziah Cates 💍 1885/2177	Bachelor Widow	Labour	25 36	Upper Hutt Upper Hutt	years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	85/2296		26 September 1885	Mr. W. Wyatt, Registrar
254	26 September 1885	Francis Edward Green Margaret Ladley	Francis Edward Green Margaret Ladbury 💍 1885/2178	Bachelor Spinster	Bookmaker	22 21	Horokiwi Road Horokiwi Road	1 week 2 weeks	Registrar's Office, Wellington	85/2257		26 September 1885	Mr. W. Wyatt, Registrar
255	28 September 1885	Adam Sutherland Graham Janet Bruce Steel	Adam Sutherland Grant Janet Muir Steel 💍 1885/3015	Bachelor Spinster	Sheep Farmer	26 25	Wellington Wellington	14 days years	House of Mr John Steel, Tory Street	85/3204		28 September 1885	Rev. J. Paterson
256	29 September 1885	Robert Garriock Alice Stace	Robert Yarrow Alice Stace 💍 1885/2979	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	25 20	Wellington Wellington	years	Wesleyan Church, Taranaki Street	85/3144	Thomas Stace, Father	29 September 1885	Rev. W. B. Oliver

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).