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 489

District of Palmerston North Quarter ending 30 June 1887 Registrar Robert North Keeling

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

17 May 1887

Maurice Cohen
Jeanie Nathan

Maurice Cohan
Jennie Nathan
💍 1887/3128

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper

25 years
22

Palmerston North
Wellington

2 years

At the house of Mr. Nathan, Wellington

87/1105

17 May 1887

Rev. Van Staveren, Hebrew Congregation, Wellington

No	17
Date of Notice	17 May 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Maurice Cohen	Jeanie Nathan
BDM Match (92%)	Maurice Cohan	Jennie Nathan
	💍 1887/3128
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	25 years	22
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Wellington
Length of Residence	2 years
Marriage Place	At the house of Mr. Nathan, Wellington
Folio	87/1105
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 May 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. Van Staveren, Hebrew Congregation, Wellington

23 May 1887

William Arthur Borrowing
Mary Jackson Johnston

William Arthur Browning
Mary Jackson Johnston
💍 1887/1725

Bachelor
Spinster

Coachbuilder

23 years
23 years

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

19 months
3 years

At the house of W. Johnston, The Square, Palmerston North

87/3440

23 May 1887

Rev. T. McWright, Presbyterian Minister, Palmerston North

No	18
Date of Notice	23 May 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Arthur Borrowing	Mary Jackson Johnston
BDM Match (94%)	William Arthur Browning	Mary Jackson Johnston
	💍 1887/1725
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coachbuilder
Age	23 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	19 months	3 years
Marriage Place	At the house of W. Johnston, The Square, Palmerston North
Folio	87/3440
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 May 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. McWright, Presbyterian Minister, Palmerston North

1 June 1887

John Morris
Amy Annie Agnes Bushnell
formerly Appleyard

John Morris
Amy Annie Agnes Burton
💍 1887/1901

Widower
Widow

Bootmaker

46 years
36 years

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

15 years
10 days

At the house of John Morris, Palmerston North

87/3605

1 June 1887

Rev. W. Singley, Wesleyan Minister, Palmerston North

No	19
Date of Notice	1 June 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Morris	Amy Annie Agnes Bushnell formerly Appleyard
BDM Match (88%)	John Morris	Amy Annie Agnes Burton
	💍 1887/1901
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	46 years	36 years
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	15 years	10 days
Marriage Place	At the house of John Morris, Palmerston North
Folio	87/3605
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 June 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Singley, Wesleyan Minister, Palmerston North

6 June 1887

Richard Leary
Florence Ruby Griesin

Richard Leary
Florence Lucy Giesen
💍 1887/1999

Bachelor
Spinster

Chemist

40 years
18 years

Palmerston North
Wellington

12 years
18 years

Wesleyan Church, Taranaki Street, Wellington

87/3451

Edward Griesin, Father

9 June 1887

Rev. L. Isitt, Wesleyan Minister, Wellington

No	20
Date of Notice	6 June 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Leary	Florence Ruby Griesin
BDM Match (91%)	Richard Leary	Florence Lucy Giesen
	💍 1887/1999
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chemist
Age	40 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Wellington
Length of Residence	12 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Taranaki Street, Wellington
Folio	87/3451
Consent	Edward Griesin, Father
Date of Certificate	9 June 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. Isitt, Wesleyan Minister, Wellington

13 June 1887

Richard James Russell
Mary Ellen Rath
formerly Russell

Richard James
Mary Ellen Ruth Funnell
💍 1887/3105

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman

29 years
23 years

Ashhurst
Ashhurst

3 days
7 months

Registrar's Office, Palmerston North

87/1098

13 June 1887

Robert North Keeling, Registrar, Palmerston North

No	21
Date of Notice	13 June 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard James Russell	Mary Ellen Rath formerly Russell
BDM Match (61%)	Richard James	Mary Ellen Ruth Funnell
	💍 1887/3105
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	29 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Ashhurst	Ashhurst
Length of Residence	3 days	7 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Palmerston North
Folio	87/1098
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 June 1887
Officiating Minister	Robert North Keeling, Registrar, Palmerston North

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).