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 117

District of Rangitikei Quarter ending 31 March 1886 Registrar F. M. Deighton

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

13 January 1886

William Benson
Elina Ann Brown

William Benson
Eliza Ann Brown
💍 1886/433

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

26
23

Upper Utatami
Upper Utatami

6 years
3 years

The Wesleyan Church, Marton

86/280

13 January 1886

Rev. W. Worker

No	1
Date of Notice	13 January 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Benson	Elina Ann Brown
BDM Match (97%)	William Benson	Eliza Ann Brown
	💍 1886/433
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Upper Utatami	Upper Utatami
Length of Residence	6 years	3 years
Marriage Place	The Wesleyan Church, Marton
Folio	86/280
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1886
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Worker

21 January 1886

Arthur Catterick
Margaret Jane Robertson

Arthur Catherick
Margaret Jane Robertson
💍 1886/415

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

21
16

Rangiatu
Rangiatu

1 week
2 years

The house of Mr. James Robertson, Rangiatu

86/285

James Robertson, father

21 January 1886

Rev. C. Gordon

No	2
Date of Notice	21 January 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Catterick	Margaret Jane Robertson
BDM Match (97%)	Arthur Catherick	Margaret Jane Robertson
	💍 1886/415
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	21	16
Dwelling Place	Rangiatu	Rangiatu
Length of Residence	1 week	2 years
Marriage Place	The house of Mr. James Robertson, Rangiatu
Folio	86/285
Consent	James Robertson, father
Date of Certificate	21 January 1886
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Gordon

10 March 1886

George Watson
Amelia Bertha Ritschke

George Watson
Emeley Bertha Nitschke
💍 1886/437

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

30
20

Marton
Porewa

6 days

St. Stephens Church, Marton

86/284

Gottfried Ritschke, father

10 March 1886

Rev. A. Lowgood

No	3
Date of Notice	10 March 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Watson	Amelia Bertha Ritschke
BDM Match (91%)	George Watson	Emeley Bertha Nitschke
	💍 1886/437
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	30	20
Dwelling Place	Marton	Porewa
Length of Residence	6 days
Marriage Place	St. Stephens Church, Marton
Folio	86/284
Consent	Gottfried Ritschke, father
Date of Certificate	10 March 1886
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Lowgood

15 March 1886

Frederick William Holden
Fanny Davy

Frederick William Holden
Fanny Davy
💍 1886/1292

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

22
19

Turakina
Turakina

3 days
6 months

The Presbyterian Church, Turakina

86/160

Charles Davy, father

15 March 1886

Rev. J. Ross

No	4
Date of Notice	15 March 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick William Holden	Fanny Davy
	💍 1886/1292
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Turakina	Turakina
Length of Residence	3 days	6 months
Marriage Place	The Presbyterian Church, Turakina
Folio	86/160
Consent	Charles Davy, father
Date of Certificate	15 March 1886
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Ross

20 March 1886

Thomas Thurlow
Ellen Freeman

Thomas Thurlow
Ellen Freeman
💍 1886/435

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

24
18

Marton
Marton

4 months
1 month

The house of Mr. John William Freeman, Marton

86/282

John William Freeman, father

20 March 1886

Rev. W. Worker

No	5
Date of Notice	20 March 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Thurlow	Ellen Freeman
	💍 1886/435
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	24	18
Dwelling Place	Marton	Marton
Length of Residence	4 months	1 month
Marriage Place	The house of Mr. John William Freeman, Marton
Folio	86/282
Consent	John William Freeman, father
Date of Certificate	20 March 1886
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Worker

29 March 1886

George William Hillier
Emily Henderson

George William Wilton
Emily Henderson
💍 1886/436

Bachelor
Spinster

Chemist

25
20

Marton
Marton

3 days
2 years

The Wesleyan Church, Marton

86/283

William Henderson, father

29 March 1886

Rev. W. Worker

No	6
Date of Notice	29 March 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George William Hillier	Emily Henderson
BDM Match (89%)	George William Wilton	Emily Henderson
	💍 1886/436
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chemist
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Marton	Marton
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	The Wesleyan Church, Marton
Folio	86/283
Consent	William Henderson, father
Date of Certificate	29 March 1886
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Worker

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).