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 1074

District of Wanganui 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	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
22	7 April 1885	William Thomson Annie Dunn	William Thompson Ann Dunn 💍 1885/1833	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	24 21	Wanganui Wanganui	3 days 3 days	In the residence of Alex Thomson, Dublin Street, Wanganui	85/1193	7 April 1885	Rev. Jas. Treadwell, Presbyterian
23	8 April 1885	James Dunn Mary Ludlam	James Quin Mary Louisa Ludlam 💍 1885/1167	Bachelor Spinster	Seaman	23 20	Wanganui Wanganui	6 days 10 days	In the residence of Thomas Jones, Market Square, Wanganui	85/1187	8 April 1885	Rev. Wm. Eyre, Wesleyan
24	10 April 1885	William Edgar Smith Ada Churton	William Edgar Smith Ada Churton 💍 1885/1176	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	26 22	Papa iti Wanganui	26 yrs. 22 yrs.	In the Church of England, Wanganui	85/1189	10 April 1885	Rev. T.L. Tudor, Church of England
25	15 April 1885	Noah Parker Carnie Elizabeth Miriam Morgan	Noah Baker Garner Elizabeth Miriam Morgan 💍 1885/1165	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	25 26	No. 1 Line No. 1 Line	25 yrs. 18 yrs.	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Wanganui	85/1188	15 April 1885	J.H. Noon, Registrar
26	20 April 1885	Albert Alexander Brodie Emily Jane Fatherley	Albert Alexander Crozier Emily Jane Satherley 💍 1885/1834	Bachelor Spinster	Constable	40 21	Wanganui Wanganui	9 mos. 3 days	In the Presbyterian Church, Wanganui	85/1194	20 April 1885	Rev. Jas. Treadwell, Presbyterian
27	20 April 1885	Charles Huddell Chairman Mary Ann Rapley	Charles Huddell Chavannes Mary Ann Rapley 💍 1885/1819	Bachelor Spinster	Hotel Keeper	30 20	Wanganui Wanganui	16 yrs. 20 yrs.	In the Prince of Wales Hotel, Wanganui	85/1192	20 April 1885	Rev. Jas. Treadwell, Presbyterian
28	21 April 1885	Eric Settberg Jane Smith	Fred Eric Lethbridge Jane Smith 💍 1885/3776	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	28 18	Wanganui Wanganui	6 days 6 days	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Wanganui	85/1186	21 April 1885	J.H. Noon, Registrar
29	1 May 1885	John Gilbert Ursula Eliza Johnson	John Gilbert Ursula Eliza Johnson 💍 1885/1172	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	31 22	Wanganui Wanganui	3 days 3 days	In the residence of William Johnson, Victoria Avenue, Wanganui	85/1184	1 May 1885	Rev. M. Finlay, Wesleyan
30	2 May 1885	Alexander Reddie Wilson Mary Edith Laura Taylor	Alexander Peebles Webster Mary Edith Laura Taylor 💍 1885/1178	Bachelor Spinster	Bank Manager	26 20	Feilding Wanganui	18 mos. 20 yrs.	In the Church of England, Wanganui	85/1191	2 May 1885	Rev. T.L. Tudor, Church of England

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).