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 520

District of Wellington 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
130	2 June 1886	Michael Coleman Elizabeth Guinan	Michael Coleman Elizabeth Ginman 💍 1886/1316	Bachelor Spinster	Gardener	25 23	Wellington Lower Hutt	years years	Roman Catholic Church, Lower Hutt	86/1236		2 June 1886	Rev. John Lune, RC
131	2 June 1886	James Knight Emily Harris	James Knight Emily Harris 💍 1886/2084	Bachelor Spinster	Asylum attendant	29 25	Wellington Herbert Street	years years	The Bethel, Herbert Street	86/2028		2 June 1886	Mr. Samuel Govett, Baptist
132	3 June 1886	Daniel Mahony Martha Sutcliffe	Daniel Mahoney Martha Mitchell 💍 1886/3504	Bachelor Spinster	Architect	38 22	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Mary's Cathedral	86/1188		3 June 1886	Rev. J. McNamara, RC
133	3 June 1886	Charles Ralph Dodds Christiana Gosling	Charles Ralph Dodds Ann Christina Gosling 💍 1886/3512	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	28 25	Wellington Lower Hutt	years years	House of Mrs. Gosling, Lower Hutt	86/1194		3 June 1886	Rev. Ch. Murray, Pres.
134	5 June 1886	John James O'Neill Jane Falsey	John James ONeill Jane Falsey 💍 1886/1301	Bachelor Spinster	Sign Writer	34 22	Wellington Wellington	19 months years	St. Mary's of the Angels	86/1243		5 June 1886	Rev. P. Kerrigan, RC
135	5 June 1886	Edwin James Campbell Emily Eliza Brown	Edwin James Campion Emily Eliza Crowe 💍 1886/107	Bachelor Spinster	Surveyor and Architect	45 23	Wellington Wellington	years 1 month	Registrars office, Wellington	86/1227		5 June 1886	Mr. E. W. Wyatt, Reg.
136	8 June 1886	Alfred Elias Barrow Hitchborough Ellen Oakley	Alfred Elias Barrow Hitchmough Ellen Oakley 💍 1886/3509	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	29 26	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Peter's Church	86/1191		8 June 1886	Ven. Archdeacon Stock, C of E
137	8 June 1886	Charles Brian Alice Mary Burton	Charles Brian Alice Mary Cutten 💍 1886/1294	Bachelor Spinster	Engineer	26 17	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars office, Wellington	86/1228	Elizabeth Ann Lewis, mother	8 June 1886	Mr. E. W. Wyatt, Reg.
138	9 June 1886	Robert Ballin Mary Ann Moran	Robert Collin Mary Ann Moran 💍 1886/1295 Robert Brown Mary Hogan 💍 1886/241	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	32 23	Wellington Wellington	15 months years	House of Mr. Moran, Marjoribanks Street	86/1237		9 June 1886	Rev. John Muir, Pres.
139	10 June 1886	Charles Robertson George Mary Anne Satchel	Charles Robertson Mary Anne Satchell Geange 💍 1886/1305	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	24 20	Wellington Wellington	18 months 12 months	Registrars office, Wellington	86/1229	Richard George, father	10 June 1886	Mr. E. W. Wyatt, Reg.
140	12 June 1886	Thomas Mark Woodcock Ann Tait	Thomas Mark Woodcock Ann Tait 💍 1886/2099	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	26 28	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. Tait, Tasman Street	86/2068		12 June 1886	Rev. J. K. Elliott, C of E
141	14 June 1886	Thomas Fairhurst Zilleah Huggins	Thomas Fairhurst Zillah Higgins 💍 1886/1299	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	34 32	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Rev. J. J. Pendray, College Street	86/1241		14 June 1886	Rev. J. J. Pendray, United

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).