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 994

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
137	29 May 1885	John James Jones Emma Ashley	John James Jones Emma Ashley 💍 1885/1228	Widower Widow	Carpenter	44 47	Wellington Wellington	6 weeks	Registrars office Wellington	85/1296		29 May 1885	W. T. Wyatt Regr
138	1 June 1885	Augustus Johnson Lucy Annie Brewer	Augustus Johnson Lucy Annie Brewer 💍 1885/1229	Bachelor Spinster	Painter	30 32	Wellington Wellington	3 days	Registrars office Wellington	85/1297		1 June 1885	W. T. Wyatt Regr
139	1 June 1885	Joseph Perry Phabe Edwards	Joseph Perry Phoebe Edwards 💍 1885/1232	Bachelor Spinster	Labour	40 21	Johnsonville Ohariu	years	Registrars office Wellington	85/1300		1 June 1885	Regr
140	1 June 1885	Harry Eames Ellen Harriet Cooper	Harry Eames Ellen Harriet Cooper 💍 1885/1306	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	22 20	Wellington Wellington	years	Church of Christ Dixon Street	85/1295	Frederick Cooper Father	1 June 1885	Rev F. S. Floyd
141	1 June 1885	John Woodman Emily Dorrell	John Woodmass Emily Dorrell 💍 1885/1230	Bachelor Spinster	Compositor	22 25	Wellington Wellington	1 Week	Registrars office Wellington	85/1298		1 June 1885	W. T. Wyatt Regr
142	1 June 1885	William Bryant Ellen Ready	William Bryant Ellen Ready 💍 1885/1301	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	22 22	Ngahauranga Wellington	6 months years	J. Peters Church	85/1290		1 June 1885	Ven the Archdeacon Stock C of E
143	2 June 1885	William Thomas Dunn Elizabeth Towersey	William Thomas Dunn Elizabeth Towersey 💍 1885/1630	Bachelor Widow	Baker	54 34	Wellington Wellington	1 month years	Stone of [illegible]	85/1692		2 June 1885	Rev W. H. West Congre
144	2 June 1885	Henry Thomas Bryan Margaret Harney	Henry Thomas Bryan Margaret Webster Harvey 💍 1885/1241	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	23 21	Wellington Wellington	years	House of [illegible] Willis Street	85/1308		2 June 1885	Rev J. J. Penarary United
145	3 June 1885	John William Chalk Julia Mahida Brady	John William Chalk Julia Matilda Bradford 💍 1885/1641	Bachelor Spinster	Salesman	24 22	Wellington Wellington	years	Mr Bradfords House	85/1693		3 June 1885	Rev W. H. West Temple
146	4 June 1885	George Thomas Broad Catherine Palmer	George Thomas Broad Hancock Caroline Palmer 💍 1885/1401	Widower Widow	Painter	55 35	Wellington Wellington	years	Mr Costalls House Majoribanks Street	85/1256		4 June 1885	Mr Samuel Costall Bapt
147	6 June 1885	John Henry Chapman Margaret Adams	John Henry Chapman Margaret Adams 💍 1885/1240	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	24 25	Wellington Wellington	years	Mr Rees House Ebor Street	85/1307		6 June 1885	Rev J. J. Penarary United
148	6 June 1885	Stephen Fisher Ann Elizabeth Newman	Stephen Fisher Ann Elizabeth Hunter 💍 1885/1300	Bachelor Spinster	Ironmonger	25 25	Wellington Wellington	years	Mr Peters Church	85/1269		6 June 1885	Ven the Archdeacon Stock 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).