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 1189

District of Thames Quarter ending 31 December 1887 Registrar A. de L. Potterton

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

11 November 1887

William Dunn
Emma Watson Poulgrain

William Dunn
Emma Watson Poulgrain
💍 1887/1012

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
None

24 years
21 years

Waiotahi Creek
Tararu

19 years
12 years

St. George's Church, Thames

87/2680

11 November 1887

Rev. F. G. Evans, Church of England

No	36
Date of Notice	11 November 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Dunn	Emma Watson Poulgrain
	💍 1887/1012
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	None
Age	24 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Waiotahi Creek	Tararu
Length of Residence	19 years	12 years
Marriage Place	St. George's Church, Thames
Folio	87/2680
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 November 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. G. Evans, Church of England

15 November 1887

Henry Clinton Savage
Mary Anne Hewitt

Henry Clinton Savage
Mary Ann Hewitt
💍 1887/1013

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
None

35 years
33 years

Waihi
Karaka Road

5 years
3 days

Dwelling house of W. B. Robinson, Karaka Road

87/2681

15 November 1887

Rev. F. G. Evans, Church of England

No	37
Date of Notice	15 November 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Clinton Savage	Mary Anne Hewitt
BDM Match (97%)	Henry Clinton Savage	Mary Ann Hewitt
	💍 1887/1013
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	35 years	33 years
Dwelling Place	Waihi	Karaka Road
Length of Residence	5 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Dwelling house of W. B. Robinson, Karaka Road
Folio	87/2681
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 November 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. G. Evans, Church of England

17 November 1887

George Walters
Sarah Jane Patterson

George Walters
Sarah Jane Patterson
💍 1887/1030

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
None

25 years
20 years

Franklin St.
Karaka Creek

18 years
20 years

Dwelling house of James Patterson, Karaka Creek

87/2674

James Patterson, father

19 November 1887

Rev. T. H. Lyon, Primitive Methodist

No	38
Date of Notice	17 November 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Walters	Sarah Jane Patterson
	💍 1887/1030
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	None
Age	25 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Franklin St.	Karaka Creek
Length of Residence	18 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling house of James Patterson, Karaka Creek
Folio	87/2674
Consent	James Patterson, father
Date of Certificate	19 November 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. H. Lyon, Primitive Methodist

23 November 1887

Thomas Godkin
Margaret Williams
formerly Thomson

Thomas Godkin
Margaret Williams
💍 1887/1025

Widower
Widow

Publican
None

50 years
35 years

Albert St.
Mackay St.

18 years
3 weeks

Registrar's Office, Thames

87/2669

23 November 1887

A. de C. Potterton, Registrar

No	39
Date of Notice	23 November 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Godkin	Margaret Williams formerly Thomson
	💍 1887/1025
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Publican	None
Age	50 years	35 years
Dwelling Place	Albert St.	Mackay St.
Length of Residence	18 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Thames
Folio	87/2669
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 November 1887
Officiating Minister	A. de C. Potterton, Registrar

2 December 1887

Walter Herman Wright
Alice Ada Downward

Walter Herman Wright
Alice Ada Downward
💍 1887/1026

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
None

22 years
25 years

Puriri
Puriri

14 years
2 years

Registrar's Office, Thames

87/2670

2 December 1887

A. de C. Potterton, Registrar

No	40
Date of Notice	2 December 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Herman Wright	Alice Ada Downward
	💍 1887/1026
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	None
Age	22 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Puriri	Puriri
Length of Residence	14 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Thames
Folio	87/2670
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 December 1887
Officiating Minister	A. de C. Potterton, Registrar

5 December 1887

Francis Jacob Vedder
Mary Ann Woodhams

Francis Jacob Vedder
Mary Ann Woodhams
💍 1887/1014

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
None

20 years
19 years

Puriri Flat
Puriri Flat

19 years
18 years

St. George's Church, Thames

87/2682

Francis Jacob Vedder, Henry Woodhams, Fathers of respective minors

5 December 1887

Rev. F. G. Evans, Church of England

No	41
Date of Notice	5 December 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Jacob Vedder	Mary Ann Woodhams
	💍 1887/1014
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	20 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Puriri Flat	Puriri Flat
Length of Residence	19 years	18 years
Marriage Place	St. George's Church, Thames
Folio	87/2682
Consent	Francis Jacob Vedder, Henry Woodhams, Fathers of respective minors
Date of Certificate	5 December 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. G. Evans, Church of England

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).