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 990

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
173	2 July 1885	John Walter Davidson Annie Elizabeth Griggs	John Walter Davidson Annie Elizabeth Griggs 💍 1885/2120	Bachelor Spinster	Carter	22 20	Wellington Wellington	years	Registrars office Wellington	85/2221	Edward Griggs, Father	2 July 1885	W. T. Wyatt, Regr
174	3 July 1885	Thomas William Driver Ella Lingard	Thomas William Driver Ellen Lingard 💍 1885/2168	Bachelor Spinster	Printer	27 24	Wellington Pine Tree	1 year years	Mr. Lemders Store	85/2240		3 July 1885	J. F. Floyd, C of E
175	4 July 1885	William James Hagen Alice Ellen Ashton	William James Hagen Alice Ellen Ashton 💍 1885/2119	Laborer Spinster	Laborer	29 25	Petone Lower Hutt	years	Registrars office Wellington	85/2220		4 July 1885	W. T. Wyatt, Regr
176	4 July 1885	Charles Howat Sophia Harriet Harley	Charles Howat Sophia Harriet Harlen 💍 1885/2121	Bachelor Spinster	Plate Layer	28 17	Upper Karori Wellington	years	Registrars office Wellington	85/2222	Thomas Harley, Father	4 July 1885	W. T. Wyatt, Regr
177	4 July 1885	Grazio Gini Julia Ann Allen	Orazio Gini Julia Ann Allen 💍 1885/2198	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer	21 20	Wellington Wellington	years	Registrars office Wellington	85/2227	No parent in Colony	18 July 1885	W. T. Wyatt, Regr
178	6 July 1885	John Seasdale King Rachel Wilson	John Teasdale King Rachell Wilson 💍 1885/2167	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	28 22	Petone Wellington	1 year 14 months	Mr. Wilson's Store, Willis Street	85/2209		6 July 1885	Rev. H. H. Gowen, Baptist
179	6 July 1885	Harry Borror Kirk Annie Lamont	Harry Borrer Kirk Annie Lamont 💍 1885/2506	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	26 20	Wellington Dunedin	years 1 year	Mrs. Kincaid's House, London Street, Dunedin	85/2624	Jessie Kebbell, Mother	6 July 1885	Rev. A. North
180	6 July 1885	George William Woodhouse Janet Saville	George William Wolland Tamer Saville 💍 1885/2122	Bachelor Spinster	Miller	25 23	Petone Wellington	years 1 week	Registrars office Wellington	85/2223		6 July 1885	W. T. Wyatt, Regr
181	7 July 1885	Nicholas Hargreaves Mary George	Nichlas Mangares Fernandos Mary George 💍 1885/2123	Bachelor Widow		31 27	Wellington Wellington	years	Registrars office Wellington	85/2224		8 July 1885	W. T. Wyatt, Regr
182	11 July 1885	Charles Hepburn Robson Rosetta Amy Wells	Charles Hepburn Orlando Robson Rosetta Amy Wells 💍 1885/3009	Bachelor Spinster	Light House Keeper	28 23	Wellington Woolcombe Street	3 days	The Manse, Woolcombe Street	85/3199		11 July 1885	Rev. J. Paterson, Scots
183	11 July 1885	George Wood Mary Handling	George Wood Mary Harding 💍 1885/2180	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	29 23	Wellington Wellington	10 months 2 Weeks	Registrars office Wellington	85/2225		11 July 1885	W. T. Wyatt, Regr
184	15 July 1885	William Henley Maud Emily Cooper	William Henley Maude Emily Cooper 💍 1885/2158	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	23 19	Wellington Courtenay Place	8 months 13	Mr. W. H. Cooper's House	85/2261	W. H. Cooper, Father	15 July 1885	Rev. L. H. Isitt, Wes.

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).