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 515

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30 June 1886

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
70	2 April 1886	Matthew Brennan Susannah Annie Edwards	Matthew Browman Susannah Annie Edwards 💍 1886/1296	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Spinster	30 18	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Rev. J. J. Penarey	86/1238	Richard Henry Edwards, Father	2 April 1886	Rev. J. J. Penarey
71	3 April 1886	Robert Simpson Hardie Emily Marriner	Robert Simpson Hardie Emily Marriner 💍 1886/113	Bachelor Spinster	Engineer Spinster	29 25	Wellington Wellington	2 years 6 days	Registrars Office, Wellington	86/1210		3 April 1886	W. T. Wyatt, Regr.
72	3 April 1886	Alfred Watson Curry Elizabeth Frances Armstrong	Alfred Walton Curry Elizabeth Frances Armstrong 💍 1886/3522	Bachelor Spinster	Accountant Spinster	23 25	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. S. Prowse, Abel Smith Street	86/1180		3 April 1886	Revd. J. Paterson
73	3 April 1886	James Brooks Martha Brannock	James Brooks Martha Bradnock 💍 1886/114	Bachelor Spinster	Bushfeller Spinster	20 16	Karori Karori	years years	Registrars Office, Wellington	86/1211	Samuel Brooks, Father; Henry Brannock, Father	3 April 1886	W. T. Wyatt, Regr.
74	5 April 1886	Edwin Dee Lucy Draper	Edwin Dee Lucy Dwyer 💍 1886/91	Widower Widow	Carpenter Widow	59 33	Wellington Wellington	5 days 5 days	Registrars Office	86/1212		5 April 1886	W. T. Wyatt, Regr.
75	9 April 1886	Robert Samuel Cunham Janet Gilchrist	Robert Samuel Curham Janet Gilchrist 💍 1886/93	Bachelor Widow	Gas Manager Widow	41 32	Wellington Wellington	3 days 3 Weeks	Registrars Office, Wellington	86/1214		9 April 1886	W. T. Wyatt, Regr.
76	10 April 1886	George Ingram Sonks Julia Wishington	George Ingram Tonks Julia Withington 💍 1886/92	Widower Widow	Brickmaker Widow	55 43	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars Office	86/1213		10 April 1886	W. T. Wyatt, Regr.
77	13 April 1886	Alfred Ross Duggan Mary Jane McNally	Alfred Ross Duggan Mary Jane McNally 💍 1886/1284	Bachelor Spinster	Messenger Spinster	35 24	Wellington Wellington	years 2 years	St. Marys Cathedral	86/1175		13 April 1886	Revd. J. McNamara
78	14 April 1886	James Ferguson Annie Madon Master	James Ferguson Annie Madora Mallen 💍 1886/1297 James Ferguson Alice Woodward 💍 1886/2749	Bachelor Spinster	Pipe Maker Spinster	21 17	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. Master, Taranaki Street	86/1239	George Master, Father	14 April 1886	Revd. J. J. Penarey
79	15 April 1886	John Bullock Amelia Letitia Eberlet	John Bullock Amelia Letitia Eberlet 💍 1886/3516	Widower Spinster	Bookseller Spinster	37 20	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Pauls Cathedral	86/1197	Alicia Eberlet, Mother	15 April 1886	Revd. John Still
80	15 April 1886	William Giles Maskell Alice McClean	William Miles Maskell Alice McClean 💍 1886/1285	Widower Spinster	Registrar of N.Z. University Spinster	46 39	Wellington Wellington	2 years years	St. Marys Cathedral	86/1174		15 April 1886	Revd. J. McNamara
81	16 April 1886	Robert Orr Ellen Burt	Robert Orr Ellen Burt 💍 1886/3510	Bachelor Spinster	Law Clerk Spinster	33 28	Hutt Hutt	years years	House of Mr. J. Burt, Lower Hutt	86/1192		16 April 1886	Revd. D. J. Murray

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).