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 134

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 March 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
37	22 February 1886	Robert Thomas Holmes Emma West	Robert Thomas Holmes Emma West 💍 1886/1303	Widower Spinster	Artist	53 31	Wellington Wellington	years 5 Weeks	House of Mr W. J. Knowles, Glenbervie Terrace	86/1245		22 February 1886	Rev. W. H. West
38	22 February 1886	Richard Edward Newport Flora Muir	Richard Edward Newport Flora Muir 💍 1886/495	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	32 22	Wellington Wellington	15 months 6 months	Registrar's office, Wellington	86/1343		22 February 1886	W. T. Wyatt, Reg.
39	22 February 1886	Edwin Thomas Daniel Mary Ann Clara Bright	Edwin Thomas Daniel Mary Ann Clara Bright 💍 1886/473	Bachelor Spinster	Storeman	20 20	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrar's office, Wellington	86/1344	Edwin Daniel, Father; Frederick Bright, Father	22 February 1886	W. T. Wyatt, Reg.
40	23 February 1886	Walter Cleeve Edwards Jeanie Brown	Walter Cleeve Edwards Jeanie Brown 💍 1886/474	Bachelor Spinster	Civil Engineer	24 22	Horokiwi Valley Porirua	days years	Registrar's office, Wellington	86/1345		23 February 1886	W. T. Wyatt, Reg.
41	24 February 1886	Charles William Chilman Amy Maria Davy	Charles William Chilman Amy Maria Davy 💍 1886/461	Bachelor Spinster	Bank Clerk	33 24	Wellington Wellington	years years	S. Paul's Cathedral	86/308		24 February 1886	Rev. J. Fancourt
42	24 February 1886	Frederick James Reid Kate Elizabeth Lowater	Fredrick James Reid Kate Elizabeth Lowater 💍 1886/448	Bachelor Spinster	Warehouseman	36 20	Wellington Woolcombe Street	14 days years	House of Mr Lowater	86/319	Susannah Lowater, Mother	24 February 1886	Rev. W. C. Oliver
43	26 February 1886	George Bosher Ellen Susannah Hall	George Bosher Ellen Susannah Hall 💍 1886/454	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	26 20	Pawa Flat Buckle Street	years years	House of Mr Bosher	86/324	George Hall, Father	26 February 1886	Rev. P. W. Jones
44	26 February 1886	Jeremiah Dundon Catherine Gleeson	Jeremiah Dundon Catherine Gleeson 💍 1886/442	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd	33 31	Wellington Wellington	1 Week years	S. Mary of the Angels	86/313		26 February 1886	Rev. P. Kerrigan
45	2 March 1886	Hugh Harold Cairns Emily Mason	Hugh Harold Cousins Emily Mason 💍 1886/455	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	25 22	Wellington Wellington	years years	Premises, Methodist Church, Webb Street	86/325		2 March 1886	Rev. P. W. Jones
46	2 March 1886	Henry Morris Emma Jane Oakley	Henry Morris Emma Jane Oakley 💍 1886/475	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	21 24	Wellington Wellington	5 days years	Registrar's office, Wellington	86/1346		2 March 1886	W. T. Wyatt, Reg.
47	2 March 1886	Harry Thomas Richards Agnes Tannabill	Harry Thomas Richards Agnes Tannahill 💍 1886/1029	Bachelor Spinster	Photographer	44 27	Wellington Wellington Terrace	years years	House of Rev. G. I. Goff	86/901		2 March 1886	Rev. G. I. Goff, Pres.
48	4 March 1886	Thomas Burks Woodford Emily Jones	Thomas Curtis Woodford Emily Jones 💍 1886/462	Bachelor Spinster	Watchmaker	38 40	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Paul's Cathedral	86/309		4 March 1886	Rev. John Still

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).