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 500

District of Wellington 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
157	7 June 1887	George Ramway Agnes Kyle	George Ramsay Agnes Kyle 💍 1887/2349	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	33 32	Wellington Wellington	1 Week 8 months	Registrars office Wellington	87/1134		7 June 1887	Mr. T. Wyatt
158	7 June 1887	Maurice Feely Bridget Crale	Maurice Feely Bridget ONeil 💍 1887/3139	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	29 22	Wellington Wellington	14 months 14 months	St. Mary of the Angels	87/1166		8 June 1887	Revd. P. Kerrigan
159	8 June 1887	William Blanche Phoebe Barnes	William Blanche Phoebe Barnes 💍 1887/50	Bachelor Spinster	Driver	20 23	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	Registrars office Wellington	87/1135	James Blanche, Father	8 June 1887	Mr. T. Wyatt
160	8 June 1887	James Stott Elizabeth Linklater	James Stott Elizabeth Linklater 💍 1887/1734	Bachelor Spinster	Basketmaker	31 28	Wellington Wellington	4 years 3 days	House of Mrs. McNall, [illegible] Street	87/13448		8 June 1887	Revd. J. Paterson
161	9 June 1887	George Lewis Layfield Charlotte Jenks	George Lewis Layfield Charlotte Jinks 💍 1887/51	Widower Widow	Storekeeper	55 47	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	Registrars office Wellington	87/1136		9 June 1887	Mr. T. Wyatt
162	9 June 1887	Alexander Morrison Frances Mary Shaw Hughes	Alexander Morrison Frances Mary Shaw Hughes 💍 1887/3155	Widower Spinster	Engineer	34 28	Wellington Wellington	4 years 1 Week	St. Pauls Cathedral	87/1184		9 June 1887	Revd. John Still
163	9 June 1887	Alfred Abraham Mitchell Mary Annie Brown	Alfer Maurice Lewis Mary Annie Brown 💍 1887/1764	Bachelor Spinster	Cordial Manufacturer	25 22	Wellington Wellington	4 months 18 months	House of Mr. Brown, Adelaide Road	87/13456		9 June 1887	Revd. W. H. West
164	11 June 1887	David Fisher Jane Barnes	David Fisher Jane Barnes 💍 1887/52	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	26 20	Ohariu Ohariu	4 months 4 years	Registrars office Wellington	87/1137		11 June 1887	Mr. T. Wyatt
165	13 June 1887	Charles Cornelius Smith Mary Ann Smith	Charles Cornelius Smith Mary Ann Smith 💍 1887/3174 George Bensley Mary Ann Smith 💍 1887/1435 Thomas John Rodgers Mary Ann Smith 💍 1887/2042	Bachelor Spinster	Milkman	23 18	Karori Happy Valley	4 years 4 years	House of Revd. J. K. Elliott, [illegible] Street	87/1179	William Smith, Father	13 June 1887	Revd. J. K. Elliott
166	13 June 1887	Edward Bolton Pilcher Christina Catherine Philips	Edward Belton Pilcher Christina Catherine Philips 💍 1887/3171	Bachelor Widow	Clerk	26 28	Wellington Wellington	4 years 1 Week	House of Mr. J. Pilcher, Petone	87/1176		13 June 1887	Revd. Wm. Kirk
167	13 June 1887	Richard Leary Florence Lucy Giesen	Richard Leary Florence Lucy Giesen 💍 1887/1999	Bachelor Spinster	Chemist	40 18	Palmerston North Wellington	4 years 4 years	Wesleyan Church, Taranaki Street	87/13451	Edward Giesen, Father	13 June 1887	Revd. L. M. Isitt
168	13 June 1887	William White Mansfield Alice Boris	William White Mansfield Alice Bovis 💍 1887/3172	Bachelor Spinster	Draper	24 21	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	House of Mr. Boris, Buckle Street	87/1177		13 June 1887	Revd. W. H. Driver

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).