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 421

District of Auckland Quarter ending 30 June 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

191

10 May 1887

Thomas ??
Emilie Sage

Thomas Andrew
Emilie Sap
💍 1887/2233

Widower
Spinster

Photographer

31
34

Great North Road
Hobson Street

31 years
8 years

St Matthew's Church, Hobson Street

87/930

10 May 1887

Rev. W. Tebbs, Ch. of Engl.

No	191
Date of Notice	10 May 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas ??	Emilie Sage
BDM Match (68%)	Thomas Andrew	Emilie Sap
	💍 1887/2233
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Photographer
Age	31	34
Dwelling Place	Great North Road	Hobson Street
Length of Residence	31 years	8 years
Marriage Place	St Matthew's Church, Hobson Street
Folio	87/930
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 May 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Tebbs, Ch. of Engl.

192

10 May 1887

Alfred Richard Watkins
Eliza Hockley

Alfred Richard Watkins
Eliza Hockley
💍 1887/2161

Bachelor
Spinster

Plasterer

32
27

Victoria Street
Victoria Street

3 years
3 years

Dwelling of Mrs J Watkins, Victoria Street

87/856

10 May 1887

Rev. E Best, Wesleyan

No	192
Date of Notice	10 May 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Richard Watkins	Eliza Hockley
	💍 1887/2161
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plasterer
Age	32	27
Dwelling Place	Victoria Street	Victoria Street
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mrs J Watkins, Victoria Street
Folio	87/856
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 May 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. E Best, Wesleyan

193

10 May 1887

Robert Percy
Emily Gilllard

Robert Percy
Emily Gillard
💍 1887/2163

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

32
26

East Tamaki
Otara

8 years
18 years

Dwelling of John Clark

87/858

10 May 1887

Rev. J. Macky, Presbyterian

No	193
Date of Notice	10 May 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Percy	Emily Gilllard
BDM Match (96%)	Robert Percy	Emily Gillard
	💍 1887/2163
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	32	26
Dwelling Place	East Tamaki	Otara
Length of Residence	8 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of John Clark
Folio	87/858
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 May 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Macky, Presbyterian

194

11 May 1887

William Hugh Baird
Maggie Leland

William Hugh Baird
Maggie Leland
💍 1887/2222

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

33
34

Grey Street
Wellesley Street

5 years
5 years

Church of John the Baptist

87/919

11 May 1887

Rev. J. Rolloe, R. Catholic

No	194
Date of Notice	11 May 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Hugh Baird	Maggie Leland
	💍 1887/2222
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	33	34
Dwelling Place	Grey Street	Wellesley Street
Length of Residence	5 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Church of John the Baptist
Folio	87/919
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 May 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Rolloe, R. Catholic

195

12 May 1887

Joseph William Amesbury Manning
Barbara Sargent

Joseph William Amesbury Manning
Barbara Sargent
💍 1887/2237

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter

21
22

Wood Street
Stanley Street

2 years
21 years

Dwelling of Rev. J. Chew, Beresford St

87/935

12 May 1887

Rev. J. Chew, Congl.

No	195
Date of Notice	12 May 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph William Amesbury Manning	Barbara Sargent
	💍 1887/2237
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Wood Street	Stanley Street
Length of Residence	2 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Rev. J. Chew, Beresford St
Folio	87/935
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 May 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Chew, Congl.

196

13 May 1887

Lewis Charles Morris
Susan McAuley

Lewis Charles Morris
Susan McAuley
💍 1887/2992

Bachelor
Spinster

Lithographer

23
21

Kaipara
Auckland

3 months
12 months

Registrar's Office, Auckland

87/892

13 May 1887

J. Owen Ford, Reg.

No	196
Date of Notice	13 May 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lewis Charles Morris	Susan McAuley
	💍 1887/2992
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Lithographer
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Kaipara	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 months	12 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Auckland
Folio	87/892
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 May 1887
Officiating Minister	J. Owen Ford, 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 1908. 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).