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 891

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30 September 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
264	9 September 1887	Charles Bruce Morison Caroline Annie Haultain	Charles Bruce Morrison Caroline Annie Haultain 💍 1887/3238	Bachelor Spinster	Solicitor	25 22	Wellington Auckland	1 year years	Bishops Chapel Auckland	87/1850		9 September 1887	Right Rev. W. G. Cowie, Bishop of Auckland
265	10 September 1887	James Lamont Mary Jane Quaintance	James Lamont Mary Jane Quaintance 💍 1887/461	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	23 19	Waimumata Wellington	years years	Registrars office Wellington	87/2039	Joseph Quaintance, Father	10 September 1887	W. T. Wyatt
266	12 September 1887	David Lyster Mary Smith	David Lyster Mary Smith 💍 1887/462 James Palmer Mary Smith 💍 1888/700 William Gardiner Mary Smith 💍 1887/600 James Ross Mary Smith 💍 1887/971	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	21 19	Upper Hutt Wellington	years years	Registrars office Wellington	87/2040	Henry Smith, Father	12 September 1887	W. T. Wyatt
267	12 September 1887	Ambrose Wellwood Mary Kate Reid	Ambrose Wellwood Mary Kate Reid 💍 1887/447	Bachelor Spinster	Overseer	26 27	Wellington Wellington	3 days years	St Peters Church	87/2049		12 September 1887	Rev. R. Coffey
268	15 September 1887	John East Ann Turner	John East Ann Turner 💍 1887/439	Bachelor Widow	Labourer	32 35	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars office Wellington	87/2041		15 September 1887	W. T. Wyatt
269	19 September 1887	William John Sergeant Mary Hackle	William John Sergeant Mary Mackle 💍 1887/435	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	28 27	Wellington Wellington	years 3 months	St Marks Church	87/2013		19 September 1887	Rev. R. Coffey
270	20 September 1887	Joseph Thomas Twomey Emma Demant	Joseph Thomas Twomey Emma Durrant 💍 1887/443	Bachelor Spinster	Tinsmith	20 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	Baptist Church Vivian Street	87/2045	Michael Twomey, Father	20 September 1887	Rev. H. H. Driver
271	20 September 1887	William Henry Lawrence Rose Young Leith	William Henry Lawrence Rose Young Lett 💍 1887/440	Bachelor Spinster	Engineer	21 16	Pakuratahi Pakuratahi	years years	Registrars office Wellington	87/2042	Charles Leith, Father	20 September 1887	W. T. Wyatt
272	21 September 1887	William George Adkin Annie Jane Denton	William George Adkin Annie Jane Denton 💍 1887/1965	Bachelor Spinster	Draper	30 22	Wellington Wellington	years years	Wesley Church Taranaki Street	87/2002		21 September 1887	Rev. C. W. Isitt
273	22 September 1887	Alfred Charles Church Kate Elizabeth Stow	Alfred Charles Church Kate Elizabeth Hoar 💍 1887/3272	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith	20 19	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. Stow, Domett Street	87/2061	William Church, Father; Matthew Stow, Father	22 September 1887	Rev. W. J. Potter
274	22 September 1887	John Compton Weaver Lucy Mary Glew	John Compton Lucy Mary Glew 💍 1887/3253	Widower Widow	Timber Merchant	62 31	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Bridegroom, Rolleston Street	87/2057		22 September 1887	Rev. C. Penney
275	23 September 1887	George Michael Vincent Downey Sarah De Renzi	George Michael Vincent Dorney Sarah De Borde 💍 1887/441	Bachelor Widow	Traveller	40 45	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars office Wellington	87/2043		23 September 1887	W. T. Wyatt

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).