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 1051

District of Port Chalmers Quarter ending 30 September 1887 Registrar Thos. H. Hinchcliff

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

6 July 1887

David Spence
Joan Kennedy Fullerton

David Spence
Joan Kennedy Fullerton
💍 1887/790

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner
[illegible]

26
20

Port Chalmers
Fullerton

5 years
20 years

House of Archibald Fullerton, Port Chalmers

87/2451

6 July 1887

Rev. J. Ryley, Presbyterian

No	9
Date of Notice	6 July 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Spence	Joan Kennedy Fullerton
	💍 1887/790
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner	[illegible]
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Fullerton
Length of Residence	5 years	20 years
Marriage Place	House of Archibald Fullerton, Port Chalmers
Folio	87/2451
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 July 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Ryley, Presbyterian

13 July 1887

Andrew Watson
Catherine Johnson

Andrew Watson
Catherine Johnston
💍 1887/819

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner
Domestic Servant

22
16

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

6 years
4 days

House of Rev. W. M. Grant, Port Chalmers

87/2457

Edward Johnson, Father

13 July 1887

Rev. W. M. Grant, Congregational

No	10
Date of Notice	13 July 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Watson	Catherine Johnson
BDM Match (97%)	Andrew Watson	Catherine Johnston
	💍 1887/819
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner	Domestic Servant
Age	22	16
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	6 years	4 days
Marriage Place	House of Rev. W. M. Grant, Port Chalmers
Folio	87/2457
Consent	Edward Johnson, Father
Date of Certificate	13 July 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. M. Grant, Congregational

15 July 1887

Caleb Anderson
Margaret Ann Guiness

Caleb Anderson
Margaret McGuiness
💍 1887/788

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic Servant

21
22

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

3 days
3 days

Registrars Office, Port Chalmers

87/2449

15 July 1887

Thos. Hinchcliff, Registrar

No	11
Date of Notice	15 July 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Caleb Anderson	Margaret Ann Guiness
BDM Match (90%)	Caleb Anderson	Margaret McGuiness
	💍 1887/788
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic Servant
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Port Chalmers
Folio	87/2449
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 July 1887
Officiating Minister	Thos. Hinchcliff, Registrar

26 July 1887

Charles Menzies
Jessie Banbury

Charles Menzies
Jessie Bambery
💍 1887/811

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
[illegible]

27
20

Sawyer's Bay
Arden May, Arden Way

14 years
20 years

House of A. Banbury, Arden Way

87/2455

Andrew Banbury, Father

26 July 1887

Rev. Thos. Fee, Wesleyan

No	12
Date of Notice	26 July 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Menzies	Jessie Banbury
BDM Match (93%)	Charles Menzies	Jessie Bambery
	💍 1887/811
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	[illegible]
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Sawyer's Bay	Arden May, Arden Way
Length of Residence	14 years	20 years
Marriage Place	House of A. Banbury, Arden Way
Folio	87/2455
Consent	Andrew Banbury, Father
Date of Certificate	26 July 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thos. Fee, Wesleyan

6 August 1887

Richard Anthony Palamountain
Margaret Jackson

Richard Anthony Palamountain
Margaret Jackson
💍 1887/791

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
[illegible]

24
21

Lower Harbour
Lower Harbour

4 years
10 years

House of John Jackson, Port Chalmers

87/2452

6 August 1887

Rev. J. Ryley, Presbyterian

No	13
Date of Notice	6 August 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Anthony Palamountain	Margaret Jackson
	💍 1887/791
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	[illegible]
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Lower Harbour	Lower Harbour
Length of Residence	4 years	10 years
Marriage Place	House of John Jackson, Port Chalmers
Folio	87/2452
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 August 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Ryley, Presbyterian

27 August 1887

John McCullough
Catherine Margaret Smith

John McCullough
Catherine Margaret Smith
💍 1887/800

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
[illegible]

25
19

North Heads
Lower Harbour

2 years
9 years

House of Chas. Smith, Lower Harbour

87/2454

Charles Smith, Father

27 August 1887

Rev. J. Ryley, Presbyterian

No	14
Date of Notice	27 August 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McCullough	Catherine Margaret Smith
	💍 1887/800
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	[illegible]
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	North Heads	Lower Harbour
Length of Residence	2 years	9 years
Marriage Place	House of Chas. Smith, Lower Harbour
Folio	87/2454
Consent	Charles Smith, Father
Date of Certificate	27 August 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Ryley, 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).