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 064

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 March 1886

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

134

15 March 1886

Charles David Wright
Lilian McKinder

Charles David Wight
Lillian McKinder
💍 1886/40

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

22
21

Puriri Plains
Kihikihi

16 years
15

St Matthews Church, Hobson St

86/1824

15 March 1886

Rev. W. Tebbs, Church of England

No	134
Date of Notice	15 March 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles David Wright	Lilian McKinder
BDM Match (94%)	Charles David Wight	Lillian McKinder
	💍 1886/40
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Puriri Plains	Kihikihi
Length of Residence	16 years	15
Marriage Place	St Matthews Church, Hobson St
Folio	86/1824
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1886
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Tebbs, Church of England

135

15 March 1886

John Byrne
Margaret Neill

John Byrne
Margaret Neill
💍 1886/2700

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter

19
19

North Road
Ponsonby

3
14

Registrars Office, Auckland

Not issued, see contrary

15 March 1886

J. Owen Lord, Reg.

No	135
Date of Notice	15 March 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Byrne	Margaret Neill
	💍 1886/2700
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter
Age	19	19
Dwelling Place	North Road	Ponsonby
Length of Residence	3	14
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Auckland
Folio	Not issued, see contrary
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1886
Officiating Minister	J. Owen Lord, Reg.

136

15 March 1886

Frederick Dryland
Clara Louisa McGregory

Frederick Dryland
Clara Louisa McGrevy
💍 1886/283

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker

19
22

Auckland
Howe Street

11
5

Dwelling of Mrs Susan Lilford, Howe Street

86/144

Mother

15 March 1886

Rev. A. J. Smith, Primitive Methodist

No	136
Date of Notice	15 March 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Dryland	Clara Louisa McGregory
BDM Match (93%)	Frederick Dryland	Clara Louisa McGrevy
	💍 1886/283
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	19	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Howe Street
Length of Residence	11	5
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mrs Susan Lilford, Howe Street
Folio	86/144
Consent	Mother
Date of Certificate	15 March 1886
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. J. Smith, Primitive Methodist

137

16 March 1886

John Dreds
Mary O'Laughlin

John Neals
Mary OLaughlan
💍 1886/59

John Olds
Mary Ann Burling
💍 1886/3209

Bachelor
Widow

Storekeeper

57
48

Onehunga
Onehunga

2
2

St Mary's Church, Onehunga

86/180

16 March 1886

Rev. J. Paul, Roman Catholic

No	137
Date of Notice	16 March 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Dreds	Mary O'Laughlin
BDM Match (73%)	John Neals	Mary OLaughlan
	💍 1886/59
BDM Match (60%)	John Olds	Mary Ann Burling
	💍 1886/3209
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	57	48
Dwelling Place	Onehunga	Onehunga
Length of Residence	2	2
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church, Onehunga
Folio	86/180
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 March 1886
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paul, Roman Catholic

138

16 March 1886

William Lynan
Ellen Drummond

William Tynan
Ellen Drummond
💍 1886/30

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

23
19

Newton
Auckland

8
19

Registrars Office, Auckland

86/149

Robert Drummond father

16 March 1886

J. Owen Lord, Reg.

No	138
Date of Notice	16 March 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Lynan	Ellen Drummond
BDM Match (96%)	William Tynan	Ellen Drummond
	💍 1886/30
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Newton	Auckland
Length of Residence	8	19
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Auckland
Folio	86/149
Consent	Robert Drummond father
Date of Certificate	16 March 1886
Officiating Minister	J. Owen Lord, Reg.

139

16 March 1886

W. John Masewelle
Annie Catherine Newbold

William John Maxwell
Anne Catherine Newbold
💍 1886/234

Bachelor
Spinster

Sailor

22
29

Otahuhu
Ponsonby

2
20

Dwelling of Mr Newbold, College Road

86/142

16 March 1886

Rev. J. G. Barr, Wesleyan

No	139
Date of Notice	16 March 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	W. John Masewelle	Annie Catherine Newbold
BDM Match (75%)	William John Maxwell	Anne Catherine Newbold
	💍 1886/234
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sailor
Age	22	29
Dwelling Place	Otahuhu	Ponsonby
Length of Residence	2	20
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mr Newbold, College Road
Folio	86/142
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 March 1886
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. Barr, Wesleyan

140

18 March 1886

Harry Faulkner
Isabella Foss

Harry Faulkner
Isabella Fos
💍 1886/41

Widower
Spinster

Carpenter

36
32

Napier
Hobson St

1
1

St Matthews Church, Hobson St

86/185

18 March 1886

Rev. W. Tebbs, Church of England

No	140
Date of Notice	18 March 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Faulkner	Isabella Foss
BDM Match (96%)	Harry Faulkner	Isabella Fos
	💍 1886/41
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	36	32
Dwelling Place	Napier	Hobson St
Length of Residence	1	1
Marriage Place	St Matthews Church, Hobson St
Folio	86/185
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 March 1886
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Tebbs, Church of England

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).