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 803

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

296

13 July 1887

William Robert Palmer
Agnes Jones Quinn

William Robert Herbert
Agnes Jones
💍 1887/3236

Bachelor
Spinster

Restaurant Keeper

35
22

Wellesley Street
Wellesley Street

8 months
2 years

St. Mary's Bishops Chapel

87/1848

13 July 1887

Rev. W. J. [illegible] Auckland Bishop

No	296
Date of Notice	13 July 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Robert Palmer	Agnes Jones Quinn
BDM Match (71%)	William Robert Herbert	Agnes Jones
	💍 1887/3236
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Restaurant Keeper
Age	35	22
Dwelling Place	Wellesley Street	Wellesley Street
Length of Residence	8 months	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Bishops Chapel
Folio	87/1848
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 July 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. [illegible] Auckland Bishop

297

13 July 1887

Thomas Fisher Cole
Mayfold Cave

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker

21
22

Newton Street
Franklin Road

7 years
22 years

St. Patrick's Cathedral

87/1760

13 July 1887

Rev. J. Hackett R. Catholic

No	297
Date of Notice	13 July 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Fisher Cole	Mayfold Cave
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Newton Street	Franklin Road
Length of Residence	7 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Cathedral
Folio	87/1760
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 July 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Hackett R. Catholic

298

14 July 1887

James Joseph Ball
Ellen Hillow

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawyer

29
20

Te Kopuru
Freeman's Bay

9 years
11 months

St. Patrick's Cathedral

87/1761

[illegible] Father

14 July 1887

Rev. J. Hackett R. Catholic

No	298
Date of Notice	14 July 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Joseph Ball	Ellen Hillow
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawyer
Age	29	20
Dwelling Place	Te Kopuru	Freeman's Bay
Length of Residence	9 years	11 months
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Cathedral
Folio	87/1761
Consent	[illegible] Father
Date of Certificate	14 July 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Hackett R. Catholic

299

14 July 1887

Jabez Thomas Taylor
Edith Annie Wright

Bachelor
Spinster

Compositor

19
18

Grafton Road
Auckland

19 years
18 years

Registrar's Office

87/1784

J. Anderson Father, Raye Wright Father

14 July 1887

Owen Lord Reg.

No	299
Date of Notice	14 July 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jabez Thomas Taylor	Edith Annie Wright
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Compositor
Age	19	18
Dwelling Place	Grafton Road	Auckland
Length of Residence	19 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	87/1784
Consent	J. Anderson Father, Raye Wright Father
Date of Certificate	14 July 1887
Officiating Minister	Owen Lord Reg.

300

14 July 1887

Edwin Edmonds
Eleanor Flanagan

Edwin Edmonds
Eleanor Flanagan
💍 1887/293

Bachelor
Widow

Setter

35
33

Birkenhead
Auckland

3 years
10 years

Dwelling of Mrs. Pringle

87/1865

14 July 1887

Rev. J. Spurgeon Baptist

No	300
Date of Notice	14 July 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin Edmonds	Eleanor Flanagan
	💍 1887/293
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Setter
Age	35	33
Dwelling Place	Birkenhead	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mrs. Pringle
Folio	87/1865
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Spurgeon Baptist

301

14 July 1887

Neilson Ford Gilmore
Elizabeth McDonald

Widower
Spinster

Mariner

36
29

Auckland
Auckland

3 days
1 year

St. Benedict's Church Newton

87/1831

14 July 1887

Rev. P. C. Downer R. Catholic

No	301
Date of Notice	14 July 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Neilson Ford Gilmore	Elizabeth McDonald
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	36	29
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 days	1 year
Marriage Place	St. Benedict's Church Newton
Folio	87/1831
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. C. Downer R. Catholic

302

15 July 1887

Joseph Rivers Robinson
Annie Elizabeth Martin

Joseph Silveira da Brum
Maria Elizabeth Martin
💍 1887/254

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

20
17

Cook Street
Cook Street

14 years
4 years

Dwelling of Richard Robinson

87/1819

Richard Robinson Father, [illegible] Martin Father

15 July 1887

Rev. R. J. Macnicol Presbyterian

No	302
Date of Notice	15 July 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Rivers Robinson	Annie Elizabeth Martin
BDM Match (65%)	Joseph Silveira da Brum	Maria Elizabeth Martin
	💍 1887/254
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	20	17
Dwelling Place	Cook Street	Cook Street
Length of Residence	14 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Richard Robinson
Folio	87/1819
Consent	Richard Robinson Father, [illegible] Martin Father
Date of Certificate	15 July 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Macnicol Presbyterian

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).