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 935

District of Napier 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
58	9 August 1886	John Morris Norah O'Sullivan	John Morris Norah OSullivan 💍 1886/2184	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Labourer	24 23	Taradale Taradale	4 Years 3 Years	Roman Catholic Chapel, Napier	86/2131		9 August 1886	Father Grogan, R.C. Priest
59	10 August 1886	Simon Guptill Annie McKinzie	Simon Guptill Annie McKenzie 💍 1886/2160	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner Tailoress	31 over 21	Port Ahuriri Havelock	3 Years 11 Years	Residence of Mr Duncan McKinzie, Havelock	86/2104		10 August 1886	Rev. Wm. Nichol, Presbyterian
60	10 August 1886	Oliver Williams Francis Stairmand	Oliver Williams Francis Stairmand 💍 1886/2183	Bachelor Spinster	Painter Painter	28 20	Napier Napier	25 years 11 years	Residence of Mr John C. Theakstone, Napier	86/2130	John Edward Theakstone the father in law	10 August 1886	Rev. Wm. Bamber, Wesleyan
61	14 August 1886	Lewis Labroom Ellen Goggin	Lewis Labroom Ellen Goggin 💍 1886/2185 Lewis Labroam Ellen Goggin 💍 1886/3414	Bachelor Spinster	Storeman Storeman	23 over 21	Port Ahuriri Napier	2 Years 2 Years	St Mary's Catholic Chapel, Napier	86/2109	See entry 63 below	14 August 1886	Father Grogan, R.C. Priest
62	16 August 1886	Francis Moreland Hannah Bodley	Francis Morelance Hannah Bodley 💍 1886/2181	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Labourer	24 over 21	Petane Petane	1 Year 13 Years	Residence of Mr H. Bodley, Petane	86/2128		16 August 1886	Revd. F. H. Welsh, Church of England
63	17 August 1886	Lewis Labroom Ellen Goggin	Lewis Labroom Ellen Goggin 💍 1886/2185 Lewis Labroam Ellen Goggin 💍 1886/3414	Bachelor Spinster	Storeman Storeman	23 over 21	Port Ahuriri Napier	2 Years 2 Years	St Mary's Catholic Chapel, Napier	86/2132		17 August 1886	Father Grogan, R.C. Priest
64	18 August 1886	Howard Russell Barker Mary Bella Bennett	Howard Russell Barter Mary Bella Bennett 💍 1886/2154	Bachelor Spinster	None None	24 24	Napier Napier	4 days 3 months	St John's Church, Napier	86/2124		18 August 1886	Revd. W. Beresford Horrell, Church of England
65	21 August 1886	Duncan Meares Jane Rutherford Browne	Duncan Meanis Yeats Jane Rutherford Browne 💍 1886/2155	Bachelor Spinster	Teacher Teacher	36 26	Pahiatua Gisborne	18 months 5 years	St John's Church, Napier	86/2125		21 August 1886	Revd. W. Beresford Horrell, Church of England

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).