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 048

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 March 1887

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

25 January 1887

Thomas Paul Dale
Elinor Burley

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman

35
33

Ponsonby
Ponsonby

12 years

St Sepulchre's Church Auckland

87/164

14 Days notice

28 January 1887

Rev. J. Warren Lord Reg.

No	25
Date of Notice	25 January 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Paul Dale	Elinor Burley
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman
Age	35	33
Dwelling Place	Ponsonby	Ponsonby
Length of Residence	12 years
Marriage Place	St Sepulchre's Church Auckland
Folio	87/164
Consent	14 Days notice
Date of Certificate	28 January 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Warren Lord Reg.

26 January 1887

John Fabian Jason
Florence Pool

Bachelor
Spinster

Blockmaker

27
20

Devonport
Auckland

27 years
20 years

The Tabernacle Napier Street Auckland

87/100

26 January 1887

Rev. B. Sepulchre Baptist

No	26
Date of Notice	26 January 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Fabian Jason	Florence Pool
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blockmaker
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Devonport	Auckland
Length of Residence	27 years	20 years
Marriage Place	The Tabernacle Napier Street Auckland
Folio	87/100
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 January 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. Sepulchre Baptist

26 January 1887

William William Fletcher
Laura Chilham

William John Blakey
Laura Chitham
💍 1887/2421

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

21
21

Parnell
Auckland

21 years
21 years

Dwelling House of Arthur Fletcher Parnell

87/109

Arthur Fletcher Father

26 January 1887

Rev. T. Laishley Congregational

No	26
Date of Notice	26 January 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William William Fletcher	Laura Chilham
BDM Match (69%)	William John Blakey	Laura Chitham
	💍 1887/2421
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Parnell	Auckland
Length of Residence	21 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling House of Arthur Fletcher Parnell
Folio	87/109
Consent	Arthur Fletcher Father
Date of Certificate	26 January 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Laishley Congregational

26 January 1887

Walter Benjamin Miller
Sarah Ann Daniell

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper

20
25

Great North Road
King Street Parnell

15 years
5 years

Dwelling House of Mr Daniell King Street Parnell

87/110

Mr Daniell Father

26 January 1887

Rev. J. P. Smith P.M.

No	26
Date of Notice	26 January 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Benjamin Miller	Sarah Ann Daniell
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	20	25
Dwelling Place	Great North Road	King Street Parnell
Length of Residence	15 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling House of Mr Daniell King Street Parnell
Folio	87/110
Consent	Mr Daniell Father
Date of Certificate	26 January 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. P. Smith P.M.

26 January 1887

Charles Cooper Force
Annie Drayton Davey

Bachelor
Spinster

C.E. Force

55
25

Auckland
Auckland

23 years
22 years

Dwelling House

87/139

26 January 1887

John Mitchell

No	27
Date of Notice	26 January 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Cooper Force	Annie Drayton Davey
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	C.E. Force
Age	55	25
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	23 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling House
Folio	87/139
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 January 1887
Officiating Minister	John Mitchell

28 January 1887

William Lamb
Bridget O'Reilly

William Lamb
Bridget McBrierty
💍 1887/2014

Widower
Spinster

Registered

54
30

Auckland
Auckland

28 years
8 years

Office

87/144

28 January 1887

Rev. J. Warren Lord Reg.

No	28
Date of Notice	28 January 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Lamb	Bridget O'Reilly
BDM Match (79%)	William Lamb	Bridget McBrierty
	💍 1887/2014
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Registered
Age	54	30
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	28 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Office
Folio	87/144
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 January 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Warren Lord Reg.

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).