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 1251

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 December 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
352	20 December 1887	John Brooks Emma Jane Coward	John Brooks Emma Jane Coward 💍 1887/1146	Bachelor Spinster	Joiner	25 21	Wellington Wellington	8 months 8 months	S. Pauls	87/2816		20 December 1887	W. T. Wyatt
353	21 December 1887	Henry Frederick Arthur Mary Elizabeth Watson	Henry Frederick Arthur Mary Elizabeth Watson 💍 1887/1160	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	32 22	Wellington Wellington	1 week 1 week	Cathedral	87/2831		21 December 1887	Rev. John Stile
354	22 December 1887	Raphael Lazarus Marion Harper Armstrong	Raphael Lazarus Mirion Harper Armstrong 💍 1887/1154	Bachelor Spinster	Waiter	23 30	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	Registrars office Wellington	87/2817		22 December 1887	W. T. Wyatt
355	23 December 1887	Harry Halin Caroline Brooks	Harry Malin Caroline Brooks 💍 1887/1161	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	21 19	Karori Karori	4 years 4 years	St. Johns Church Karori	87/2832	Samuel Brooks, Father	23 December 1887	Revd. A. C. Dasent
356	23 December 1887	James Shawley Ellen Jane Saywell	James Thawley Ellen Jane Saywell 💍 1887/1197	Bachelor Spinster	Storeman	22 23	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	United Methodist Free Church Courtenay Place	87/2846		23 December 1887	Revd. C. Penney
357	23 December 1887	Albert George Howard Jane Louisa Evelyn Moffitt	Albert George Howard Moore Jane Susanna Evelyn Moffitt 💍 1887/1200	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	23 20	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	St. Marks Church	87/2849	John Lindsay Moffitt, Father	23 December 1887	Revd. R. Coffey
358	28 December 1887	Joseph Russo Sarah Hagan	Joseph Russo Sarah Hagan 💍 1887/1165	Bachelor Spinster	Fisherman	38 18	Wellington Wellington	6 months 6 months	Registrars office Wellington	87/2818	James Hagan, Father	28 December 1887	W. T. Wyatt
359	28 December 1887	Richard Edward Manktelow Sarah Ellen Newell	Richard Edward Mantell Sarah Ellen Newell 💍 1887/1172	Widower Spinster	Labour	35 38	Upper Hutt Wellington	3 days 3 days	Registrars office Wellington	87/2819		28 December 1887	W. T. Wyatt
360	28 December 1887	Samuel Goode Annie Elizabeth Roberts	Samuel Goode Annie Elizabeth Roberts 💍 1887/1173	Bachelor Spinster	Driver	25 23	Wellington Wellington	4 days 4 days	Registrars office Wellington	87/2820		28 December 1887	W. T. Wyatt
361	28 December 1887	Robert Mackenzie Galenby Catherine Jane Bronte	Robert MacKenzie Gatenby Catherine Jane Bronte 💍 1888/747	Bachelor Spinster	Pharmaceutical Chemist	28 22	Wellington Wellington	4 years 11 months	House of Mr. Bronte Ewy street	87/260		28 December 1887	Revd. J. K. Strickly
362	29 December 1887	Charles Duncan Mary Sheppard	Charles Duncan Mary Sheppard 💍 1887/1175	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	33 27	Ngahauranga Wellington	15 months 1 year	Registrars office Wellington	87/2822		29 December 1887	W. T. Wyatt
363	29 December 1887	James Thompson Susan Pattison	James Thompson Susan Pattison 💍 1887/1174	Bachelor Widow	Labour	40 40	Wellington Wellington	4 years 8 months	Registrars office Wellington	87/2821		29 December 1887	W. T. Wyatt
364	30 December 1887	Cornelius Stilbard Lucy Sarah Gaine	Cornelius Hibberd Lucinda Sarah Gaine 💍 1887/1147	Bachelor Spinster	Ferryman	32 22	Wellington Wellington	3 days 3 days	St. Peters Church	87/2794		30 December 1887	Revd. H. E. Tuckey

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).