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 1002

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
49	21 February 1885	Walter Edmund Henry Smyth Florence Mary Ann Kenjie	Walter Edmond Henry Smyth Florence Mary Ann McKenzie 💍 1885/1391	Bachelor Spinster	Schoolmaster	28 28	Wainerimento Wainerimento	9 months 9 months	Home of Rev. J. Paterson, Terrace	85/1246		21 February 1885	Rev. J. Paterson
50	21 February 1885	Joseph Herbert Jane Lamon Harewood	Joseph Herbert Jane Lemon Harewood Allen 💍 1885/340	Widower Widow	Setter	70 50	Wellington Wellington	3 days 3 days	Registrars office, Wellington	85/1338		21 February 1885	W. T. Wyatt
52	21 February 1885	Herbert Barton Louisa Pitt Templer	Herbert Barton Louisa Pitt 💍 1885/339	Bachelor Spinster	Wood Turner	22 22	Kilbirnie Wellington	years 6 months	Registrars office, Wellington	85/1334		21 February 1885	W. T. Wyatt
53	24 February 1885	Charles Thomas Florida Simpson Hannah Mary Willeston	Charles Thomas Flendell Simpson Hannah Mary Williston 💍 1885/376	Bachelor Spinster	Accountant	32 20	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Marks Church	85/1350	Charles Edward Waller Willeston, Father	24 February 1885	Rev. R. Coffey
54	24 February 1885	William James Walsh Sarah Elizabeth Gamble	William James Walsh Sarah Elizabeth Mary Gamble 💍 1885/596	Bachelor Spinster	Postal Clerk	25 19	Wellington Wellington	3 days years	House of Mr. Gamble, Ghuznee Street	85/1311	Charles Robert Gamble, Father	24 February 1885	Rev. W. Baumber
55	24 February 1885	Joseph Young Margaret Kean	Joseph Young Margaret Kean 💍 1885/342	Bachelor Spinster	Baker	33 24	Wellington Wellington	11 months 4 days	Registrars office, Wellington	85/1339		24 February 1885	W. T. Wyatt
56	4 March 1885	Robert Buckridge Zealandia Louisa Worth	Robert Buckeridge Zealandia Louisa Worth 💍 1885/344	Bachelor Spinster	Groom	30 26	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars office, Wellington	85/1341		4 March 1885	W. T. Wyatt
57	21 February 1885	James Thomas Lefrun Susan Ann Cross	James Thomas Le Brun Susan Ann Cross 💍 1885/595	Bachelor Widow	Carpenter	39 32	Wellington Wellington	years 3 months	House of Rev. W. Baumber	85/1310		21 February 1885	Rev. W. Baumber
57	4 March 1885	Ezekiel George Harlen Robina McCorkindale	Ezekiel George Harlen Robina McCorkindale 💍 1885/345	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith	22 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars office, Wellington	85/1342		4 March 1885	W. T. Wyatt
58	4 March 1885	Emil Pasche Caroline Olsen	Emil Pasche Caroline Olsen 💍 1885/371	Bachelor Spinster	Charmer	29 21	Wellington Wellington	years 1 year	House of Mr. Lamburg, Scarbas Terrace	85/368		4 March 1885	Rev. J. J. Pendray
59	5 March 1885	Patrick Nash Margaret Ann Smith	Patrick Nash Margaret Ann Smith 💍 1885/343	Bachelor Widow	Labourer	28 36	Pahautanui Pahautanui	years years	Registrars office, Wellington	85/1340		5 March 1885	W. T. Wyatt
60	5 March 1885	Abraham Levy Frances Levy		Bachelor Spinster	Clothing Manufacturer	24 18	Wellington Wellington	7 months years	Jewish Synagogue	85/336	Benjamin Levy, Father	5 March 1885	Rev. H. Van Staveren

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).