Intentions to Marry, 1887

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840399, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole at Archives NZ Wellington, May 14 2025

Page 051

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 March 1887 Registrar John Dunn Ford

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

7 February 1887

Walter Pennett
Jane Eunice

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer

30
28

Punui Bay
Auckland

5 years
8 years

St Patricks Cathedral

87/135

7 February 1887

Rev. P. Costello R.C.

No	60
Date of Notice	7 February 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Pennett	Jane Eunice
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer
Age	30	28
Dwelling Place	Punui Bay	Auckland
Length of Residence	5 years	8 years
Marriage Place	St Patricks Cathedral
Folio	87/135
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Costello R.C.

7 February 1887

Edward Dixon
Mary Roach

Edward Robinson
Mary Ward
💍 1888/552

Bachelor
Spinster

Expressman

37
24

Mt Eden
Albert Street

10 years
7 years

James Roach's dwelling

87/124

8 February 1887

Mr. J. Aldridge Ch. of Christ

No	61
Date of Notice	7 February 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Dixon	Mary Roach
BDM Match (63%)	Edward Robinson	Mary Ward
	💍 1888/552
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Expressman
Age	37	24
Dwelling Place	Mt Eden	Albert Street
Length of Residence	10 years	7 years
Marriage Place	James Roach's dwelling
Folio	87/124
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1887
Officiating Minister	Mr. J. Aldridge Ch. of Christ

7 February 1887

George Turnbull
Alice Tice

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor

22
22

Devonport
Devonport

20 years
20 years

St Matthews Church

87/143

8 February 1887

Rev. J. Bates Ch. of Eng.

No	62
Date of Notice	7 February 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Turnbull	Alice Tice
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Devonport	Devonport
Length of Residence	20 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St Matthews Church
Folio	87/143
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Bates Ch. of Eng.

7 February 1887

Clement Crisp
Betsy Crisp

Clement Crisp
Betsy Crisp
💍 1887/2408

Widower
Widow

Fellmonger

50
43

Raglan
Epsom

20 years
3 years

Dwelling of Mr. Heathcote

87/91

8 February 1887

Rev. J. A. Taylor Wesleyan

No	63
Date of Notice	7 February 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Clement Crisp	Betsy Crisp
	💍 1887/2408
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Fellmonger
Age	50	43
Dwelling Place	Raglan	Epsom
Length of Residence	20 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mr. Heathcote
Folio	87/91
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Taylor Wesleyan

8 February 1887

Walter Pell
Ellen McAllister

Walter Pell
Ellen McNeish
💍 1887/2440

Bachelor
Spinster

Driver

34
20

Avondale
Mt Albert

10 years
1 year

Dwelling of Mr. Wm. Patterson

87/122

23 February 1887

Rev. J. Davis Church England

No	64
Date of Notice	8 February 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Pell	Ellen McAllister
BDM Match (81%)	Walter Pell	Ellen McNeish
	💍 1887/2440
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Driver
Age	34	20
Dwelling Place	Avondale	Mt Albert
Length of Residence	10 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mr. Wm. Patterson
Folio	87/122
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Davis Church England

8 February 1887

Alfred Edward Allen
Matilda Jane Daisley

Alfred Edward Hill
Matilda Jane Daisley
💍 1887/2425

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer

22
21

Newton
Arch Hill

15 years
12 years

St Stephens Church Ponsonby

87/84

8 February 1887

Rev. D. W. Runciman Presbyterian

No	65
Date of Notice	8 February 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Edward Allen	Matilda Jane Daisley
BDM Match (89%)	Alfred Edward Hill	Matilda Jane Daisley
	💍 1887/2425
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Newton	Arch Hill
Length of Residence	15 years	12 years
Marriage Place	St Stephens Church Ponsonby
Folio	87/84
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. W. Runciman 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 1903. 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).