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 553

District of [illegible] 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
50	6 April 1886	Frank Bee Mary Sutherland	Frank Bee Mary Sutherland 💍 1886/1409	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk Domestic	34 28	Havelock Havelock	3 days 2 years	Presbyterian Church	86/1293		6 April 1886	Revd. Alexr. Shepherd, Presbyterian Minister
51	10 April 1886	William Henry Smith Rose Mary Tanner	William Henry Smith Rosa Mary Tanner 💍 1886/1415	Bachelor Spinster	Gentleman Domestic	29 19	Hastings Havelock	8 years 5 years	Church of St. Luke	86/1298	Thomas Tanner, Father	12 April 1886	Revd. G. W. G. Hill, Episcopalean Minister
52	12 April 1886	David Greaves Isabella Simpson	David Greves Isabella Simpson 💍 1886/3372	Bachelor Spinster	Sailor Domestic	27 26	Hastings Hastings	3 years 2 years	Registrar Office	86/8434		12 April 1886	William McLeod, Registrar
53	17 April 1886	William Stafford Elizabeth Thomas	William Stafford Elizabeth Thomas 💍 1886/1410 William Craggie Silvester Elizabeth Thomas 💍 1886/3391	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd Domestic	22 21	Hastings Havelock	16 years 10 years	Residence of Mr. Irwin, Havelock	86/1294		17 April 1886	Revd. Mr. Nicol, Presbyterian Minister
54	27 April 1886	Patrick Windle Maggie Hogan	Patrick Windle Maggie Hogan 💍 1886/1859	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Domestic	23 22	Hastings Hastings	5 years 2 weeks	Catholic Church	86/1199		27 April 1886	Revd. Father Smith, Roman Catholic Minister
55	27 April 1886	Alexander Shepherd Mary Jane Elliott	Alexander Shepherd Mary Jane Elliot 💍 1886/1412	Widower Spinster	Clergyman Domestic	57 30	Havelock Havelock	17 years 6 months	Mr. Shepherd's residence, Havelock	86/1295		27 April 1886	Revd. Mr. Nicol, Presbyterian Minister
56	4 May 1886	James Emmett Rose Matilda Brennan		Bachelor Spinster	Butcher Milliner	30 21	Hastings Hastings	12 years 5 years	Mr. Mr. Ivois' residence, Hastings	86/1800		4 May 1886	Revd. Father Smith, Roman Catholic Minister
57	1 June 1886	William Henry Gerbes Mary Jane Dawe	William Henry Gerber Mary Jane Dawe 💍 1886/1413	Bachelor Spinster	Cabinet-maker Dressmaker	23 19	Hastings Hastings	12 months 3 years	Presbyterian Church, Hastings	86/1296	Jane Stubley, formerly Dawe, Mother	1 June 1886	Revd. William Nicol, Presbyterian Minister
58	1 June 1886	Robert-Sealand Bowman Sarah Phillipa Rouse	Robert Seeland Bowman Sarah Philippa Prowse 💍 1886/1414	Bachelor Spinster	Sheepman Housemaid	23 19	Hastings Hastings	6 months 3 months	Presbyterian Church, Hastings	86/1297	Sophia Rouse, Mother	1 June 1886	Revd. Mr. Nicol, Presbyterian Minister
59	10 June 1886	Strait Macdonald Esther Susan Webber	Stuart Macdonald Esther Susan Webber 💍 1886/1408	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd Domestic	32 18	Hastings Hastings	2 years 12 months	Presbyterian Church, Hastings	86/1292	Elizabeth Mary Webber, Mother	10 June 1886	Revd. Mr. Nicol, Presbyterian Minister
60	10 June 1886	James Charles Cheer Emily Clark	James Charles Cheer Emily Clark 💍 1886/1416	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith Domestic	22 20	Hastings Hastings	15 years 7 years	Church of St. Luke, Havelock	86/1299	William Clark, Brother	10 June 1886	Revd. H. Maclean, Episcopalean Minister
61	22 June 1886	George William Morrison Elizabeth Mary Kennedy	George Wilson Morrison Elizabeth Mary Kennedy 💍 1886/2145	Bachelor Spinster	Jeweller Domestic	22 19	Hastings Napier	1 month 3 years	Mrs. Chicken's residence, Napier	Napier 86/216	Mr. Kennedy, Father	7 July 1886	Revd. James Patterson, Presbyterian Minister

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).