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 896

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30 September 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
179	20 July 1886	Charles William McLaughlin Ann Davidson	Charles William McLaughlin Ann Davidson 💍 1886/2051	Bachelor Spinster	Salesman	21 20	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	St Andrews Manse, Wellington	86/2019	Agnes Davidson, mother	20 July 1886	Revd. C. S. Ogg
180	21 July 1886	James Henry Sharon Sarah Wilkins	James Henry Sherwin Sarah Wilkins 💍 1886/3370	Widower Spinster	Wood Turner	29 26	Wellington Lower Hutt	1 Week 4 years	St James's Church	86/3432		21 July 1886	Revd. E. J. Cross
181	2 August 1886	Herbert Godfrey Caroline Jane Adams	Herbert Godfrey Caroline Jane Adams 💍 1886/3371	Bachelor Spinster	Sheep Farmer	26 27	Petone Petone	3 days 4 years	St James's Church, Lower Hutt	86/3433		2 August 1886	Revd. E. J. Cross
182	3 August 1886	Frederick Ausdell Maggie Robb Miller	Frederick Ansdell Maggie Robb Miller 💍 1886/2071	Bachelor Spinster	Telegraph Lineman	31 25	Wellington Wellington	3 days 3 days	Registrars Office, Wellington	86/2039		3 August 1886	W. T. Wyatt, Regr.
183	4 August 1886	Alfred Garrett Catherine Sarah Grace Broderick	Alfred Garrett Catherine Sarah Grace Borderick 💍 1886/3356	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	27 20	Johnsonville Johnsonville	12 months 4 years	House of Mr Broderick, Johnsonville	86/3404	Thomas Broderick, Father	4 August 1886	Revd. L. M. Isitt
184	5 August 1886	Robert Dixon Marie Christina Peterson	Robert Dixon Maria Christina Petersen 💍 1886/2580 Robert Dixon Isabella Rutter 💍 1887/2579	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	24 24	Wellington Oriental Bay	4 years 4 years	House of Mr Dixon, Oriental Bay	86/2562		5 August 1886	J. Paterson, Regr.
185	6 August 1886	Thomas Baston Martha Alice Smith	Thomas Bastin Martha Alice Smith 💍 1886/2074	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	26 19	Ohariu Ohariu	14 days 4 years	Registrars Office, Wellington	86/2042	Thomas Smith, Father	6 August 1886	W. T. Wyatt, Regr.
186	6 August 1886	Thomas Geary Clara Starmes	Thomas Geary Clara Harmes 💍 1886/2094	Bachelor Spinster	Printer	44 21	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	St Peters Church	86/2063		6 August 1886	Venble Archdeacon Stock
187	6 August 1886	William Garner Catherine Arnold	William Garner Catherine Arnold 💍 1886/2072	Bachelor Spinster	Waiter	27 19	Wellington Wellington	10 months 4 months	Registrars Office, Wellington	86/2040	William Arnold, Father	6 August 1886	W. T. Wyatt, Regr.
188	7 August 1886	Charles Reeves Harriet Wright	Charles Reeves Harriet Wright 💍 1886/2073	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	29 21	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	Registrars Office, Wellington	86/2041		7 August 1886	W. T. Wyatt, Regr.
189	9 August 1886	George Law Ellen Williams	George Law Ellen Williams 💍 1886/2057 George Lister Ellen Caroline Williams 💍 1886/2816	Bachelor Spinster	Constable A. C.	28 33	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	St Pauls Cathedral	86/2024		9 August 1886	Revd. John Still
190	10 August 1886	George Jones Mary Ann Catherine Reardon	George Jones Mary Ann Catherine Riardon 💍 1886/3357	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	24 22	Wellington Murphy Street	4 years 1 year	House of Mr Daly, Murphy Street	86/3408		10 August 1886	Revd. L. M. Isitt

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).