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 1281

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 December 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
284	4 December 1886	Alexander Brown Catherine Maud Costall	Alexander Brookie Catherine Maud Cortall 💍 1886/2905 Alexander Proctor Catherine Donovan 💍 1886/413 Alexander Michie Catherine Mary Le Cren 💍 1886/750	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Farmer	31 22	Wellington Wellington	3 days 1 month	St Pauls, Cathedral	86/12888		4 December 1886	Rev. John Still, Copp
285	4 December 1886	Duncan Campbell Sale Janet Jackson	Duncan Campbell Forbes Dawson Janet Jackson 💍 1886/3336	Bachelor Spinster	Light House Keeper Light House Keeper	21 20	Wellington Wellington	4 days years	House of Mr. Martin, Martin Square	86/13397	No relative in Colony	4 December 1886	Rev. J. Paterson, Pres
286	6 December 1886	William Goldsmith Marcella McCaul	William Goldsmith Marcella McCaull 💍 1886/2910	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner Mariner	25 19	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars Office, Wellington	86/12870	Henry Michael McCaul, father	6 December 1886	W. T. Wyatt, Reg
287	7 December 1886	John Carrengo Italia Frandi	John Carrenge Italia Frandi 💍 1886/2939	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Labourer	30 17	Wellington Wellington	years years	St Marys, Cathedral	86/12899	Australian Frandi, father	7 December 1886	Rev. J. McNamara, RC
288	8 December 1886	James William Emmay Clara Prince	James William Emmett Clara Prince 💍 1886/2858	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Labourer	26 28	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. Prince, Hopper Street	86/12841		8 December 1886	Rev. L. M. Isitt, Wes
289	9 December 1886	John William Ashman Jane Jackman	John William Ashman Jane Jackman 💍 1886/2911	Bachelor Spinster	Wood Carver Wood Carver	33 25	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars Office, Wellington	86/12871		9 December 1886	W. T. Wyatt, Reg
290	10 December 1886	Arthur Norton Emma Smerdon	Arthur Norton Emma Smerdon 💍 1886/2869	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Farmer	26 29	Wellington Wellington	1 week anywhere	House of Mr. Webb, Grange, Hankey Street	86/12853		10 December 1886	Rev. W. S. Potter, Prim
291	11 December 1886	Thomas William McGuire Catherine Keefe	Thomas William McGuire Catherine Keefe 💍 1886/2938	Bachelor Spinster	Telegraphist Telegraphist	28 24	Wellington Wellington	3 days years	St Marys, Cathedral	86/12898		11 December 1886	Rev. J. McNamara, RC
292	13 December 1886	Frederick Richards Fanny Mary Hart	Frederick Richardson Fanny Mary Hart 💍 1886/2894	Bachelor Spinster	Settler Settler	28 31	Wellington Wellington	3 days 1 month	St Pauls, Church	86/12878		13 December 1886	Rev. R. Coffey, Copp
293	13 December 1886	Alfred Glass Maria Ann Mason	Alfred Glass Mary Ann Mason 💍 1886/2859	Bachelor Spinster	Law Clerk Law Clerk	40 27	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. Matherson, Taranaki Street	86/12842		13 December 1886	Rev. L. M. Isitt, Wes
294	15 December 1886	William Sortain Smith Louisa Elizabeth Scott	William Sortain Smith Louisa Elizabeth Scott 💍 1886/2906	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk Clerk	25 21	Wellington Wellington	years 8 days	St Pauls, Cathedral	86/12889		15 December 1886	Rev. John Still, Copp
295	15 December 1886	Thomas McMillan Margaret Scott	Thomas McMillan Margaret Scott 💍 1886/2848	Bachelor Spinster	Tailor Cutter Tailor Cutter	28 21	Wellington Wellington	1 month years	House of Rev. C. S. Ogg, Terrace	86/12832		15 December 1886	Rev. C. S. Ogg, Pres

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).