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 480

District of WANGANUI Quarter ending 30 June 1887

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
19	5 April 1887	Harry Yate Isthman Minia Montgomarie		Bachelor Spinster	farmer	27 23	Wanganui Earlisham	3 days 40 years	In the Church of England, Wanganui	87/1067		5 April 1887	T. L. Tudor, Church of England
20	6 April 1887	Harry Porter Mills Alice Taylor	Harry Porter Mills Alice Taylor 💍 1887/3090	Widower Widow	Storekeeper	39 40	Maxwelltown Nelson	3 days 40 years	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Wanganui	87/1065		6 April 1887	J. H. Wood, Registrar
21	11 April 1887	Charles Herbert Treadwell Ada Mary Lawrence	Charles Herbert Treadwell Ada Mary Lawrance 💍 1887/3087	Bachelor Spinster	Solicitor	24 27	Wanganui Wanganui	3 days 3 days	St. Paul's Church, Wanganui	87/1062		11 April 1887	James Treadwell, Presbyterian
22	11 April 1887	Michael O'Sullivan Elizabeth Dickson	Michael O'Sullivan Elizabeth Dickson 💍 1887/2270 Michael McCormick Elizabeth Dickson 💍 1887/2960	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	35 24	Wanganui Wanganui	4 days 3 days	In the Roman Catholic Church, Wanganui	87/1072		11 April 1887	C. H. Kirk, Roman Catholic
23	12 April 1887	Michael Foley Emma Stone	Michael Foley Emma Stone 💍 1887/2281	Bachelor Spinster	Hotelkeeper	32 21	Wanganui Goat Valley	5 months 10 years	In the residence of Mr. John Stone, Goat Valley	87/1073		12 April 1887	C. H. Kirk, Roman Catholic
24	13 April 1887	James Graham Jessie Purnell	James Graham Jessie E Purnell 💍 1887/3085	Widower Spinster	Plumber	44 32	Wanganui Wanganui	8 years 8 years	In the residence of James Purnell, Wanganui	87/1060		13 April 1887	W. J. Watkin, Wesleyan
25	18 April 1887	William Henry Clapham Carolina Louisa Emily Gesse	William Henry Clapham Carolina Louisa Emily Gerse 💍 1887/2287	Bachelor Spinster	Ironmonger	32 22	Durietown Durietown	6 years 6 years	In the residence of J. J. Gesse, Durietown	87/1074		18 April 1887	C. H. Kirk, Roman Catholic
26	23 April 1887	William Henry Mills Frederika Stankes	William Henry Mills Frederika Hanker 💍 1887/3096	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer	24 21	Maxwelltown Nukumaru	13 years 12 months	In the residence of W. H. Mills, Senr., Maxwelltown	87/1070		23 April 1887	P. Cameron, Church of England
27	26 April 1887	John Gillan Sarah Ann Roberts	John Tollan Sarah Ann Roberts 💍 1887/2288	Mariner Spinster		24 19	Wanganui Wanganui	3 days 18 years	In the residence of Mr. Gillan, Orton, St. George's Gate	87/1071	Mother	26 April 1887	C. H. Kirk, Roman Catholic
28	3 May 1887	John Bartholomew Haydon Rose Maria Full	John Bartholomew Leydon Rose Maria Pull 💍 1887/3089	Bachelor Spinster	Coach builder	28 25	Wanganui Wanganui	13 years 3 years	In the residence of Mr. Full, Guyton Street, Wanganui	87/1064		3 May 1887	T. L. Tudor, Church of England
29	4 May 1887	Samuel Henderson Elizabeth Pullinger	Samuel Henderson Elizabeth Pullinger 💍 1887/3088	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer	33 32	Maxwelltown Maxwelltown	2 months 10 years	In the Presbyterian Church, Wanganui	87/1063		4 May 1887	James Treadwell, Presbyterian
30	6 May 1887	Albert Edward Thadbroke Jessie Macintosh	Albert Edward Shadolt Jessie Macintosh 💍 1887/3092	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	21 21	Aramoho Wanganui	8 months 2 months	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Wanganui	87/1066		6 May 1887	J. H. Wood, Registrar
31	9 May 1887	Henry Charles Gower Katherine Alice Smith	Henry Gower Katherine Alice Smith 💍 1887/3097	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	27 22	Upokongaro Upokongaro	4 years 3 years	In the Church of England, Upokongaro	87/1071		9 May 1887	T. L. Tudor, 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 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).