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 910

District of Masterton 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
25	9 July 1886	William Walker Green Elizabeth Phillips	William Walker Green Elizabeth Phillips 💍 1886/2117	Bachelor Spinster	Dealer	21 21	Masterton Masterton	4 days 4 days	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Masterton	86/2084		9 July 1886	John Bagge, Registrar of Marriages
26	14 July 1886	Dugald Campbell Macquarie Helen Nora Strachan	Dugald Campbell Macquarie Helen Nora Strachan 💍 1886/2120	Bachelor Spinster	Sheep farmer	34 22	Alfredton Alfredton	5 years 5 years	House of Revd David Fulton, Masterton	86/2090		14 July 1886	Revd David Fulton, Presbyterian
27	19 July 1886	George John Jackson Ane Christina Hallberg	George John Jackson Christina Halberg 💍 1886/2137	Bachelor Spinster	Joiner	26 25	Masterton Mauriceville	12 Months 14 years	Lutheran Church, Mauriceville	86/2083		19 July 1886	Revd George Busch Bass, Lutheran
28	4 August 1886	William Frederick Keeble Annie Hallberg	William Frederick Keeble Annie Halberg 💍 1886/2118	Bachelor Spinster	Groom	23 22	Masterton Masterton	6 years 2 years	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Masterton	86/2088		4 August 1886	John Bagge, Registrar of Marriages
29	5 August 1886	Thomas Cox Harriet Jane Sug	Thomas Cox Harriet June Ing 💍 1886/2121	Bachelor Servant	Laborer	36 35	Masterton Masterton	12 years 3 1/2 years	Dwelling House of Mr Henry Cole, Masterton	86/2091		5 August 1886	Revd David Fulton, Presbyterian
30	14 August 1886	Peter Christian Madsen Elizabeth Wallbridge	Peter Christian Madsen Elizabeth Wallbridge 💍 1886/2119	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	31 16	Mauriceville Masterton	6 years 3 weeks	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Masterton	86/2089	Henry Wallbridge, father	14 August 1886	John Bagge, Registrar of Marriages
31	18 August 1886	Thomas Joseph James Susannah Harriet Barnes	Thomas Joseph James Susannah Harriet Barnes 💍 1886/3466	Bachelor Spinster	Builder Milliner	25 21	Masterton Masterton	4 days 2 years	Wesleyan Church, Masterton	86/2085		18 August 1886	Revd J. N. Buttle, Wesleyan
32	1 September 1886	Thomas Henry Weston Louisa Tourelle	Thomas Avery Weston Louisa Tourell 💍 1886/2136	Widower Spinster	Butcher	30 23	Masterton Taueru	3 days 1 Month	House of Mr Septs Smith, Taueru	86/2082		1 September 1886	Revd Josiah Ward, Wesleyan
33	1 September 1886	Alexander Murray Christina Hawley	Alexander Murray Christina Harvey 💍 1886/2122	Bachelor Spinster	Station Manager	30 24	Masterton Kuripuni	4 days 2 weeks	House of Mr James Hankey, Kuripuni	86/2092		1 September 1886	Revd David Fulton, Presbyterian
34	20 September 1886	Charles Henry Willett Dixon Anne Elizabeth Hewitt	Charles Henry Willett Dixon Anne Elizabeth Hewitt 💍 1886/2116	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	23 17	Masterton Masterton	12 Months 2 years	House of Mr Hewitt, Masterton	86/2086	Mr Hewitt, father	20 September 1886	Revd J. N. Buttle, Wesleyan

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).