Intentions to Marry, 1886

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840398, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, May 14 2025

Page 048

District of Quarter ending 31 March 1886 Registrar John Owen Lord

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

11 January 1886

William Fullibardine Murray
May Elizabeth Margaret Bell

William Tullibardine Murray
May Elizabeth Margaret Bell
💍 1886/294

Bachelor
Spinster

Teacher

23
24

Auckland
Auckland

3 years
3 years

Dwelling of Mrs Henrietta Bell, Lincoln St.

86/81

12 January 1886

Rev. S. Spurgeon, Baptist

No	29
Date of Notice	11 January 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Fullibardine Murray	May Elizabeth Margaret Bell
BDM Match (98%)	William Tullibardine Murray	May Elizabeth Margaret Bell
	💍 1886/294
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Teacher
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mrs Henrietta Bell, Lincoln St.
Folio	86/81
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1886
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Spurgeon, Baptist

12 January 1886

George Reid
Minnie Coleman

George Reed
Minnie Coleman
💍 1886/321

Bachelor
Spinster

Striker

24
18

Arch Hill
Arch Hill

3 years
4 years

St Benedict Church

86/162

Mother

12 January 1886

Rev. G. Downey, Roman Catholic

No	30
Date of Notice	12 January 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Reid	Minnie Coleman
BDM Match (95%)	George Reed	Minnie Coleman
	💍 1886/321
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Striker
Age	24	18
Dwelling Place	Arch Hill	Arch Hill
Length of Residence	3 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St Benedict Church
Folio	86/162
Consent	Mother
Date of Certificate	12 January 1886
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Downey, Roman Catholic

12 January 1886

Charles Best Baverstock
Mary Cross

Charles Best Baverstock
Mary Cross
💍 1886/317

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

27
24

East Tamaki
East Tamaki

18 years
18 years

Registrars Office

86/111

12 January 1886

J. Owen Lord, Regr.

No	31
Date of Notice	12 January 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Best Baverstock	Mary Cross
	💍 1886/317
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	East Tamaki	East Tamaki
Length of Residence	18 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office
Folio	86/111
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1886
Officiating Minister	J. Owen Lord, Regr.

12 January 1886

Ngahini Paora
Mataiti Rangaadhi

Ngahiwi Paora
Mataiti Kangaahi
💍 1886/318

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

25
30

Point Russell
Point Russell

25 years
30 years

Registrars Office

86/112

Native

12 January 1886

J. Owen Lord, Regr.

No	32
Date of Notice	12 January 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ngahini Paora	Mataiti Rangaadhi
BDM Match (90%)	Ngahiwi Paora	Mataiti Kangaahi
	💍 1886/318
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	25	30
Dwelling Place	Point Russell	Point Russell
Length of Residence	25 years	30 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office
Folio	86/112
Consent	Native
Date of Certificate	12 January 1886
Officiating Minister	J. Owen Lord, Regr.

12 January 1886

John La Pielle
Ellen Smith

John La Prelle
Ellen Smith
💍 1886/322

Bachelor
Spinster

Schoolmaster

35
34

Shiminuri
Papakura

1 year
1 month

St Benedict Church

86/163

12 January 1886

Rev. G. Downey, Roman Catholic

No	33
Date of Notice	12 January 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John La Pielle	Ellen Smith
BDM Match (96%)	John La Prelle	Ellen Smith
	💍 1886/322
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Schoolmaster
Age	35	34
Dwelling Place	Shiminuri	Papakura
Length of Residence	1 year	1 month
Marriage Place	St Benedict Church
Folio	86/163
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1886
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Downey, Roman Catholic

13 January 1886

Alexander Cufford
Kate Wilkinson

Alexander Duff Lowe
Kate Wilkinson
💍 1886/299

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

27
27

Auckland
Parnell

2 years
2 years

Registrars Office

86/113

13 January 1886

J. Owen Lord, Regr.

No	34
Date of Notice	13 January 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Cufford	Kate Wilkinson
BDM Match (87%)	Alexander Duff Lowe	Kate Wilkinson
	💍 1886/299
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Parnell
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office
Folio	86/113
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1886
Officiating Minister	J. Owen Lord, Regr.

14 January 1886

Maurice Carmody
Johanna Lynch

Maurice Carmody
Johanna Lynch
💍 1886/287

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

26
17

Auckland
Auckland

7 months
6 years

St Patricks Cathedral

86/97

David Lynch, father

14 January 1886

Rev. W. Macdonald, Roman Catholic

No	35
Date of Notice	14 January 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Maurice Carmody	Johanna Lynch
	💍 1886/287
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	26	17
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	7 months	6 years
Marriage Place	St Patricks Cathedral
Folio	86/97
Consent	David Lynch, father
Date of Certificate	14 January 1886
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Macdonald, Roman Catholic

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 1908. More registers are being added almost every week.

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).