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 1273

District of Waipawa Quarter ending 31 December 1887 Registrar Samuel Johnson

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

360

17 October 1887

William Croug
Annie M. Smith

William Craig
Annie Milne Smith
💍 1887/1237

William Coombs
Alice Smith
💍 1887/231

William Stokes
Jane Smith
💍 1887/1431

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Cook

26
24

Kaikoura
Kaikoura

8 months
6 weeks

Kaikoura

87/2886

17 October 1887

Rev. R. Mc Clean, Presbyterian Minister

No	360
Date of Notice	17 October 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Croug	Annie M. Smith
BDM Match (81%)	William Craig	Annie Milne Smith
	💍 1887/1237
BDM Match (64%)	William Coombs	Alice Smith
	💍 1887/231
BDM Match (61%)	William Stokes	Jane Smith
	💍 1887/1431
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Cook
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Kaikoura	Kaikoura
Length of Residence	8 months	6 weeks
Marriage Place	Kaikoura
Folio	87/2886
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 October 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Mc Clean, Presbyterian Minister

361

20 October 1887

Charles Henry Shepherd
Katherine Isabella Campbell

Charles Henry Shepherd
Katherine Isabella Campbell
💍 1887/1236

Bachelor
Spinster

Letter Carrier

22
19

Kaikoura
Kaikoura

3 days
Since birth

Mrs. Cunningham's residence, Kaikoura

87/2885

Flora Cunningham, Mother

20 October 1887

Rev. R. Mc Clean, Presbyterian Minister

No	361
Date of Notice	20 October 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Shepherd	Katherine Isabella Campbell
	💍 1887/1236
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Letter Carrier
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Kaikoura	Kaikoura
Length of Residence	3 days	Since birth
Marriage Place	Mrs. Cunningham's residence, Kaikoura
Folio	87/2885
Consent	Flora Cunningham, Mother
Date of Certificate	20 October 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Mc Clean, Presbyterian Minister

362

27 October 1887

Michael Barrett
Mary Martin

Michael Barrett
Mary Raraka Matene
💍 1887/1235

Bachelor
Widow

Shoemaker

50
50

Te Ante
Te Ante

3 weeks
3 weeks

Church, Te Ante

87/2884

27 October 1887

Rev. S. Williams, Church of England

No	362
Date of Notice	27 October 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Barrett	Mary Martin
BDM Match (75%)	Michael Barrett	Mary Raraka Matene
	💍 1887/1235
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Shoemaker
Age	50	50
Dwelling Place	Te Ante	Te Ante
Length of Residence	3 weeks	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Church, Te Ante
Folio	87/2884
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 October 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Williams, Church of England

363

19 December 1887

John Moorby
Esther Ellen Henry

John Moorby
Esther Ellen Henry
💍 1887/1214

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
General Servant

22
19

Waipawa
Waipawa

3 days
2 years

St. Peter's Church, Waipawa

87/2887

Emily Henry, Mother

19 December 1887

Rev. J.L. Ahere, Catholic Minister

No	363
Date of Notice	19 December 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Moorby	Esther Ellen Henry
	💍 1887/1214
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	General Servant
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Waipawa	Waipawa
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church, Waipawa
Folio	87/2887
Consent	Emily Henry, Mother
Date of Certificate	19 December 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. J.L. Ahere, Catholic Minister

364

22 December 1887

Henry Beachen
Annie Tamion

Henry Brachen
Annie Tanion
💍 1887/1233

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer

41
39

Waipawa
Waipawa

5 days
3 weeks

Office of Registrar, Waipawa

87/2882

22 December 1887

Saml. Johnson, Registrar

No	364
Date of Notice	22 December 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Beachen	Annie Tamion
BDM Match (92%)	Henry Brachen	Annie Tanion
	💍 1887/1233
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer
Age	41	39
Dwelling Place	Waipawa	Waipawa
Length of Residence	5 days	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar, Waipawa
Folio	87/2882
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 December 1887
Officiating Minister	Saml. Johnson, Registrar

365

27 December 1887

Frederick Hinton Roberts
Mary Ann Fletcher Davis

Frederick Minton Roberts
Mary Ann Fletcher Peers
💍 1887/1234

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

31
26

North Ruataniwha
North Ruataniwha

3 years
20 years

Office of Registrar, Waipawa

87/2883

27 December 1887

Saml. Johnson, Registrar

No	365
Date of Notice	27 December 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Hinton Roberts	Mary Ann Fletcher Davis
BDM Match (89%)	Frederick Minton Roberts	Mary Ann Fletcher Peers
	💍 1887/1234
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	31	26
Dwelling Place	North Ruataniwha	North Ruataniwha
Length of Residence	3 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar, Waipawa
Folio	87/2883
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 December 1887
Officiating Minister	Saml. Johnson, Registrar

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).