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 851

District of Turanga Quarter ending 30 September 1886 Registrar J. Graham Ford

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

440

19 August 1886

August Duncan Mearn Yates
Jane Rutherford Broome

Bachelor
Spinster

Schoolmaster
Schoolmistress

35
26

Pahiatua, Wellington Provincial District
Gisborne, Poverty Bay

3 years
6 years

St. John's Church at Napier

86/2125

19 August 1886

Rev. W. E. Bert Howell

No	440
Date of Notice	19 August 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	August Duncan Mearn Yates	Jane Rutherford Broome
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Schoolmaster	Schoolmistress
Age	35	26
Dwelling Place	Pahiatua, Wellington Provincial District	Gisborne, Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	3 years	6 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church at Napier
Folio	86/2125
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 August 1886
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. E. Bert Howell

441

20 August 1886

Edwin Samuel Goldsmith
Mary Sarah Allen Reynolds

Edwin Samuel Goldsmith
Mary Sarah Allen Reynolds
💍 1886/1990

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper

29
21

Gisborne, Poverty Bay
Gisborne, Poverty Bay

2 1/2 years
10 years

The Wesleyan Church at Albert Gisborne

86/1959

20 August 1886

Rev. Thomas T. Wills

No	441
Date of Notice	20 August 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin Samuel Goldsmith	Mary Sarah Allen Reynolds
	💍 1886/1990
BDM Match (86%)	Edwin Samuel Goldsmith	Mary Sarah Allen Reynolds
	💍 1886/1990
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Gisborne, Poverty Bay	Gisborne, Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	10 years
Marriage Place	The Wesleyan Church at Albert Gisborne
Folio	86/1959
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 August 1886
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas T. Wills

442

11 September 1886

Philip William Donner
Ellen Dunlop

Philip William Donner
Ellen Dunlop
💍 1886/2021

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer

23
24

Gisborne, Poverty Bay
Gisborne, Poverty Bay

8 months
24 years

The residence of Mr. C. R. Bennett at Gisborne

86/1965

11 September 1886

The Rev. John McRae

No	442
Date of Notice	11 September 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Philip William Donner	Ellen Dunlop
	💍 1886/2021
BDM Match (83%)	Philip William Donner	Ellen Dunlop
	💍 1886/2021
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Gisborne, Poverty Bay	Gisborne, Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	8 months	24 years
Marriage Place	The residence of Mr. C. R. Bennett at Gisborne
Folio	86/1965
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 September 1886
Officiating Minister	The Rev. John McRae

443

14 September 1886

John Fraser Imes
Emily Dunlop

John Fraser Innes
Emily Dunlop
💍 1886/2022

Bachelor
Spinster

Surgeon

33
20

Gisborne, Poverty Bay
Matakatea, Poverty Bay

3 years
20 years

The residence of Mr. C. R. Bennett at Gisborne

86/1966

James Dunlop, Father of Bride

14 September 1886

The Rev. John McRae

No	443
Date of Notice	14 September 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Fraser Imes	Emily Dunlop
BDM Match (94%)	John Fraser Innes	Emily Dunlop
	💍 1886/2022
BDM Match (78%)	John Fraser Innes	Emily Dunlop
	💍 1886/2022
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Surgeon
Age	33	20
Dwelling Place	Gisborne, Poverty Bay	Matakatea, Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	3 years	20 years
Marriage Place	The residence of Mr. C. R. Bennett at Gisborne
Folio	86/1966
Consent	James Dunlop, Father of Bride
Date of Certificate	14 September 1886
Officiating Minister	The Rev. John McRae

444

14 September 1886

William Parker
Ereti Waititi

William Parker
Ereti Waititi
💍 1886/2795

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Domestic Servant

39
26

Waiomatatini, Waiapu
Te Horo, Waiapu

4 years
20 years

The Waiomatatini Hotel at Waiapu

86/2754

14 September 1886

Rev. Mohi Turei

No	444
Date of Notice	14 September 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Parker	Ereti Waititi
	💍 1886/2795
BDM Match (71%)	William Parker	Ereti Waititi
	💍 1886/2795
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Domestic Servant
Age	39	26
Dwelling Place	Waiomatatini, Waiapu	Te Horo, Waiapu
Length of Residence	4 years	20 years
Marriage Place	The Waiomatatini Hotel at Waiapu
Folio	86/2754
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 September 1886
Officiating Minister	Rev. Mohi Turei

445

18 September 1886

Walter Sidney Gardner
Elizabeth Jane Jeffs

Walter Sidney Gardner
Elizabeth Jane Jeffs
💍 1886/2017

Bachelor
Spinster

Ironmoulder
Dressmaker

21
21

Gisborne, Poverty Bay
Gisborne, Poverty Bay

10 weeks
2 weeks

The Congregational Church at Gisborne

86/1961

18 September 1886

Rev. Andrew H. Wallace

No	445
Date of Notice	18 September 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Sidney Gardner	Elizabeth Jane Jeffs
	💍 1886/2017
BDM Match (85%)	Walter Sidney Gardner	Elizabeth Jane Jeffs
	💍 1886/2017
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ironmoulder	Dressmaker
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Gisborne, Poverty Bay	Gisborne, Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	10 weeks	2 weeks
Marriage Place	The Congregational Church at Gisborne
Folio	86/1961
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 September 1886
Officiating Minister	Rev. Andrew H. Wallace

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 1908. More registers are being added almost every week.

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).