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 128

District of Quarter ending 31 March 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
61	5 March 1887	Edward Solley Sarah Ann Elizabeth Wilsome	Edward Tolley Sarah Ann Elizabeth Williams 💍 1887/2635	Bachelor Spinster	Fireman	40 22	Wellington Wellington	years 1 year	Registrars office Wellington	87/321		5 March 1887	W. T. Wyatt
62	7 March 1887	John McGloomay Sarah Ann Keckey	John McEldowney Sarah Ann Kestley 💍 1887/2575 John Riordan Sarah Ann Keown 💍 1887/1608	Bachelor Spinster	Draper	29 29	Wellington Wellington	years 1 year	S. Peters Church	87/282		7 March 1887	Rev. Van the Archdeacon Stock
63	8 March 1887	Robert Reddick Hannah Evanson	Robert Riddick Hannah Evanson 💍 1887/3120	Bachelor Widow	Farmer Tailor	28 28	Lower Hutt Lower Hutt	years years	Episcopalian Church	87/1120 note attached		8 March 1887	Rev. Joshua Jones
64	11 March 1887	George Ewart Jane Louisa Freeman	George Matheson Ewart Jane Louisa Foreman 💍 1887/2659	Bachelor Spinster	Checkman	26 19	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Rev. J. Paterson Wellingtn	87/343	Thomas Freeman, Father	11 March 1887	Rev. J. Paterson
65	12 March 1887	Henry Archer Mary Armstrong	Henry Archer Mary Armstrong 💍 1887/2591	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	30 22	Wellington Wellington	years 1 year	House of Mr. Williams Mitchell Town	87/299		12 March 1887	Rev. L. M. Isitt
66	14 March 1887	John Henry Berry Margaret Boyce	John Henry Berry Margaret Boyce 💍 1887/2592	Bachelor Spinster	Upholsterer	23 19	Wellington Taranaki Street	years years	Wesleyan Church	87/300	John Boyce, Father	14 March 1887	Rev. W. C. Oliver
67	14 March 1887	Walter Lange Harriet Sophia Andrews	Walter Lange Harriet Sophia Andrews 💍 1887/2588	Bachelor Spinster	Wheelwright	21 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. Andrews Long Look	87/288		14 March 1887	Rev. Charles Penney
68	16 March 1887	George Nected Jessie Eastwood	George Mexted Jessie Eastwood 💍 1887/2593	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	28 21	Pirinoa Pirinoa	3 weeks years	House of Rev. W. C. Oliver Taranaki Street	87/301		16 March 1887	Rev. W. C. Oliver
69	16 March 1887	Joseph Holgate Charlotte Annie Whitehouse	Joseph Holgate Charlotte Annie Whitehouse 💍 1887/2660	Bachelor Spinster	Civil Servant	29 24	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Johns Church	87/3144		16 March 1887	Rev. J. Paterson
70	18 March 1887	Andrew Horopapa Bennie Matilda Annie Roberts	Andrew Honeyman Bennie Matilda Annie Roberts 💍 1887/2636	Widower Spinster	Good Wander	28 38	Wellington Wellington	2 months 1 week	Registrars office Wellington	87/322		18 March 1887	W. T. Wyatt
71	18 March 1887	Charles Antonio Thomas Ellen O'Rourke	Charles Antonio Thomas Ellen O'Rourke 💍 1887/2616	Widower Widow	Cook	56 37	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars office Wellington	87/325		18 March 1887	W. T. Wyatt
72	21 March 1887	Francis Benjamin Chapman Elizabeth Jessie Paton	Francis Benjamin Chapman Elizabeth Jessie Paton 💍 1887/2599	Bachelor Spinster	Sawmaker	23 24	Wellington Wellington	6 months 1 year	House of Mr. Chapman Willis Street	87/289	G. S. S. Hamoh from Sydney	21 March 1887	Rev. Charles Penney

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).