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 413

District of Quarter ending

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

151

12 April 1887

Joseph Albert Inchelor
Mary Ann Massey

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawyer

23
20

Auckland
Auckland

4 years
20 years

Registrar's Office

87/877

Jane Credit, mother

12 April 1887

J. Owen Lord, Ref.

No	151
Date of Notice	12 April 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Albert Inchelor	Mary Ann Massey
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawyer
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	87/877
Consent	Jane Credit, mother
Date of Certificate	12 April 1887
Officiating Minister	J. Owen Lord, Ref.

152

12 April 1887

William Ireland
Eliza Pepper

William Pratt
Eliza Healy
💍 1887/2268

William Hudson
Eliza Pudmore
💍 1887/2580

Widower
Spinster

Dairyman

30
29

Cambridge
Hobson Street

18 months
29 years

St Matthew's Church

87/923

12 April 1887

Rev. J. B. Monson, Ch. of Engld

No	152
Date of Notice	12 April 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Ireland	Eliza Pepper
BDM Match (63%)	William Pratt	Eliza Healy
	💍 1887/2268
BDM Match (61%)	William Hudson	Eliza Pudmore
	💍 1887/2580
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Dairyman
Age	30	29
Dwelling Place	Cambridge	Hobson Street
Length of Residence	18 months	29 years
Marriage Place	St Matthew's Church
Folio	87/923
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 April 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Monson, Ch. of Engld

153

12 April 1887

William Maddison
Janet Toynbee

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter

25
20

Remuera
Ellerslie

6 years
20 years

Dwelling of Mr. Toynbee

87/978

Janet Toynbee, mother

12 April 1887

Rev. S. B. Monson, Presbyterian

No	153
Date of Notice	12 April 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Maddison	Janet Toynbee
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Remuera	Ellerslie
Length of Residence	6 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mr. Toynbee
Folio	87/978
Consent	Janet Toynbee, mother
Date of Certificate	12 April 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. B. Monson, Presbyterian

154

12 April 1887

Thomas Mildenhall
Eliza Murray

John Mildenhall
Eliza McMurray
💍 1887/2164

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener

35
32

Ponsonby
College Road

10 years
2 years

Dwelling of Jesse McMurray

87/859

12 April 1887

Rev. D. Runciman, Presbyterian

No	154
Date of Notice	12 April 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Mildenhall	Eliza Murray
BDM Match (78%)	John Mildenhall	Eliza McMurray
	💍 1887/2164
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener
Age	35	32
Dwelling Place	Ponsonby	College Road
Length of Residence	10 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Jesse McMurray
Folio	87/859
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 April 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Runciman, Presbyterian

155

13 April 1887

George Lindon
Charlotte Fuller

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Clerk

24
21

Parnell
Devonport

8 months
5 years

Dwelling of Frederick Fuller

87/945

13 April 1887

Rev. R. F. Macnicol, Presbyterian

No	155
Date of Notice	13 April 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Lindon	Charlotte Fuller
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Clerk
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Parnell	Devonport
Length of Residence	8 months	5 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Frederick Fuller
Folio	87/945
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 April 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. F. Macnicol, Presbyterian

156

13 April 1887

William Reyland
Elizabeth Colden

William Reyland
Elizabeth Golden
💍 1887/32

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

26
20

Hobson Street
Hobson Street

7 years
20 years

Registrar's Office

87/878

Eliza Colden, mother

13 April 1887

J. Owen Lord, Ref.

No	156
Date of Notice	13 April 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Reyland	Elizabeth Colden
BDM Match (97%)	William Reyland	Elizabeth Golden
	💍 1887/32
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Hobson Street	Hobson Street
Length of Residence	7 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	87/878
Consent	Eliza Colden, mother
Date of Certificate	13 April 1887
Officiating Minister	J. Owen Lord, Ref.

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).