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 556

District of Napier Quarter ending 30 June 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
35	1 May 1886	Wm. Oscar Goldfinch Margaret Elizth Murrow	William Oscar Goldfinch Margaret Elizabeth Murrow 💍 1886/2182	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith Dressmaker	20 over 21	Napier Napier	20 years 11 years	R.C. Chapel, Napier	86/1029	Richd. Leonard Goldfinch the Father	1 May 1886	Father Kirkham, R.C. Priest
36	8 May 1886	Thos. Hugh Hogg Fanny Glanville Ward	Thomas Alexander Hogg Jenny Ganville Ward 💍 1886/1444	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher School Teacher	25 24	Clive Tarndon	11 years 7 1/2 years	Church of England, Clive	86/1304		8 May 1886	Revd. J. H. McLean, Church of England
37	15 May 1886	Thos. Jas. Davison Jane Elizth Lincoln	Thomas James Davidson Jane Elizabeth Lincoln 💍 1886/1417	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	24 22	Meanee Napier	7 years 7 Months	Residence of Revd. D. Sidey, Napier	86/1300		15 May 1886	Revd. D. Sidey, Presbyterian
38	14 May 1886	William Bishop Agnes Reid	William Bishop Agnes Reid 💍 1886/1443 William McIndoe Agnes Jane Reid 💍 1887/2963	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	24 18	Napier Napier	23 years 3 years	R.C. Chapel, Napier	86/1303	John Carpsudale McKenzie the Step Father	14 May 1886	Father Grogan, R.C. Priest
39	18 May 1886	George William Kilvington Catherine Stuart	George William Kilvington Catherine Stewart 💍 1886/1436	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	29 23	Napier Napier	6 years 23 Years	Residence of Mr. Charles Stuart, Napier	86/1302		18 May 1886	Revd. D. Sidey, Presbyterian
40	25 May 1886	Edward Brenton Bawden Bessie Evie Foreman	Edward Brenton Bessie Evie Foreman 💍 1886/1449	Bachelor Spinster	Sawmiller	23 23	Napier Napier	23 years 3 years	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Napier	86/1309		25 May 1886	S. J. Lage, Registrar
41	28 May 1886	David Palmer Annie Cameron McMurtrie	David Palmer Annie Cameron McMurtrie 💍 1886/1424	Bachelor Spinster	Clothier Milliner	26 25	Napier Naipukurau	2 years 1 day	Dwelling House of John Palmer, Naipukurau	86/1284		28 May 1886	Resd. A. Grant, Presbyterian
42	2 June 1886	Tom Charles Martyn Mary Annell	Tom Charles Martyn Mary Annett 💍 1886/3467	Bachelor Spinster	Seamster	25 20	Napier Napier	7 years 13 1/2 years	Residence of Revd. J. G. Paterson, Napier	86/1214	Thomas Annitt the Father	2 June 1886	Revd. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

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).