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 132

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
13	18 January 1886	James Whitaker Charlotte Caroline Burton	James Whittaker Charlotte Caroline Burton 💍 1886/472	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	25 18	Paikakariki Wellington	years years	Registrars office Wellington	86/335	Jonathan Burton Father	18 January 1886	W. H. Wyatt Regr
14	21 January 1886	Alexander Bullick Louisa Funnell	Alexander Bullick Louisa Funnell 💍 1886/483	Bachelor Spinster	Carter	27 22	Wellington Wellington	years 5 months	Registrars office Wellington	86/334		21 January 1886	W. H. Wyatt Regr
15	25 January 1886	James Neilson Barbara Davidson	James Neilson Barbara Davidson 💍 1886/519 James Banks Margaret Davidson 💍 1886/661	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	45 24	Wellington Wellington	years 5 months	House of Bridegroom Hugh Street	86/364		25 January 1886	Rev. J. Paterson Pres
16	25 January 1886	John Arthur Daniel Chisholm Edith Susan Tonks	John Arthur Daniel Chisholm Edith Susan Tonks 💍 1886/445	Bachelor Spinster	Watchmaker	25 23	Wellington Wellington	3 days years	Wesleyan Church Taranaki Street	86/316		25 January 1886	Rev. Henry Bull Wes
17	25 January 1886	Alexander Milligan Edith Elizabeth Walker	Alexander Milligan Edith Elizabeth Walker 💍 1886/507	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith	23 19	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr Walker Majoribanks Street	86/361	Harry Walker Father	25 January 1886	Mr. J. F. Floyd Clergyman
18	25 January 1886	John Joseph Robinson Alice Trotter	John Joseph Robinson Alice Shotter 💍 1886/440	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	19 22	Makara Makara	years years	S. Mary of the Angels	86/311	Thomas Henry Robinson Father	25 January 1886	Rev. P. Kerrigan RC
19	27 January 1886	Frederick George Miles Maria Angela Kelly	Fredrick George Miles Maria Angela Kelly 💍 1886/457	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	30 23	Wellington Wellington	3 days years	S. Mary Cathedral	86/304		27 January 1886	Rev. J. McNamara RC
20	30 January 1886	William Robert Paterson Isabel Zenobia Elizabeth Maddison	William Robert Paterson Lenobia Elizabeth Isabel Maddison 💍 1886/518	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	21 21	Wellington Wellington	15 days 6 days	House of Mrs Thorpe Wellington Terrace	86/366		30 January 1886	Rev. J. Paterson Pres
21	4 February 1886	David Thomson Mary Bruce	David Thomson Mary Bruce 💍 1886/1018	Bachelor Spinster	Miner	42 34	Wellington Te Aro	3 days years	House of Mr P. Bruce Te Aro	86/900		4 February 1886	Rev. G. S. Ogg Pres
22	6 February 1886	Stephen Keeble Maggie Grey	Stephen Keeble Maggie Grey 💍 1886/481	Widower Widow	Brewer	35 33	Wellington Wellington	years 6 months	House of Rev. J. Paterson College Street	86/352		6 February 1886	Rev. J. Paterson Pres
23	8 February 1886	Arthur Edward Russell Ethel Alice Williams	Arthur Edward Russell Ethel Alice Williams 💍 1886/460	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	40 22	Palmerston North Wellington	years years	S. Pauls Church Palmerston North	86/301		8 February 1886	Rev. John Still Clergyman
24	9 February 1886	Harry Stratford Letitia Elizabeth Peared	Harry Stratford Letitia Elizabeth Pearce 💍 1886/439	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	26 21	Belmont Pahautanui	years years	House of Mr J. Pearce Pahautanui	86/310		9 February 1886	Rev. J. E. Blackmore Clergyman

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).