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 1278

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
248	20 October 1886	Alexander Gule Laura Caroline Medley	Alexander Yule Laura Caroline Medley 💍 1886/2885	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	26 25	Wellington Wellington	4 days 14 days	Home of Mr. b. Ryland	86/2845		20 October 1886	Rev. Alexander Thomson
249	22 October 1886	Henry William Pameto Elizabeth Sparks	Henry William Parnell Elizabeth Sparkes 💍 1886/2908 Henry William Head Elizabeth Chalmers Robert 💍 1887/2944	Bachelor Spinster	Iron Moulder	21 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars office Wellington	86/2891		22 October 1886	W. T. L. Travers, Regr
250	26 October 1886	William Ellis Alice Maud Green	William Ellis Alice Maud Green 💍 1886/2881	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	25 22	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars office Wellington	86/2864		26 October 1886	W. T. L. Travers, Regr
251	27 October 1886	John Joseph Picton Averina Louisa O'Shannery	John Joseph Picton Averina Louisa O'Shannessy 💍 1886/2935	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	34 28	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars office Wellington	86/2895		27 October 1886	W. T. L. Travers, Regr
252	28 October 1886	William Henry Morcom Lilian Treloar Courtenay	William Henry Morcom Lilian Treloar Courtenay 💍 1886/2909	Bachelor Spinster	Miner	30 21	Wellington Wellington	4 days 10 days	S. Ship 'Doric'	86/2892		28 October 1886	W. T. L. Travers, Regr
253	29 October 1886	John Williams Mary Keaney	John McWilliams Mary Keaney 💍 1886/2936	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	33 26	Wellington Wellington	14 days 5 days	St. Mary's Cathedral	86/2896		29 October 1886	Revd. Mc Namara, R. C.
254	29 October 1886	Alfred Alexander Wright Frances Ellen Evelyn Wright	Alfred Alexander Frances Ellen Evelyn Wright 💍 1886/3334	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	26 19	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. J. C. Wright, Hopper Street	86/3395	J. C. Wright, Father (Sydney)	29 October 1886	Revd. James Paterson, Pres.
255	29 October 1886	Frederick William Garard Mary Ann Paul	Frederick William Garard Mary Ann Paul 💍 1886/2873	Bachelor Spinster	Expressman	24 21	Wellington Wellington	years 18 months	House of Mr. Cleeson, Garrett Street	86/2857		29 October 1886	Mr. Samuel Corall, Bapt.
256	1 November 1886	George Kendall Elizabeth Kendall	George Kendall Elizabeth Kendall 💍 1886/2852	Bachelor Spinster	Ship Farmer	38 35	Wellington Wellington	3 days 4 days	St. Mark's Church	86/2836		1 November 1886	Rev. R. Coffey, C. of E.
257	1 November 1886	John King Sarah Green Blake	John King Sarah Green Blake 💍 1886/2855	Widower Spinster	Carrier	40 35	Wellington Wellington	years 14 days	House of Bridegroom, Tinekai Road	86/2838		1 November 1886	Rev. L. C. Smith, Pres.
258	1 November 1886	George James Parker Amelia Cooper	George James Parker Amelia Cooper 💍 1886/2917 George Elderkin Sophia Cooper 💍 1886/1504	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	38 31	Wellington Wellington	4 months years	Registrars office Wellington	86/2893		1 November 1886	W. T. L. Travers, Regr
259	4 November 1886	George Samuel Gyton Grace Freeman	George Samuel Gyton Grace Freeman 💍 1886/2900	Bachelor Spinster	Printer	35 24	Wellington Wellington	2 years 1 year	St. Paul's Cathedral	86/2884		4 November 1886	Rev. John Hill, C. of E.

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).