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 1230

District of Wanganui Quarter ending 31 December 1887

No	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
57	14 November 1887	Daniel Brown Mary Annellen	Daniel Brown Mary Kennerley 💍 1887/1103	Bachelor Spinster	Storekeeper	24 19	Maxwelltown Ledgebrook	16 years 2 months	In the Church of England, Matarawa	87/2748	Mother	14 November 1887	P. L. Cameron, Church of England
58	15 November 1887	Michael Timmins Ann Bevan	Michael Timmins Ann Bevan 💍 1887/1082	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer	47 40	Wanganui Wanganui	22 years 5 years	In the Roman Catholic Church, Wanganui	87/2752		15 November 1887	C. H. Kirk, Roman Catholic
59	16 November 1887	John Peter Bowie Alice Cranstone	John Peters Cowie Alice Cranston 💍 1887/1080	Bachelor Spinster	Miller	27 21	Fordell Fordell	4 years 9 years	In the Church of England, Matarawa	87/2750		16 November 1887	P. L. Cameron, Church of England
60	18 November 1887	Thomas Hogan Catherine Kyle	Thomas Hogan Catherine Ryle 💍 1887/1083	Widower Spinster	Carter	42 35	Wanganui Wanganui	17 years 1 year	In the Roman Catholic Church, Wanganui	87/2753		18 November 1887	C. H. Kirk, Roman Catholic
61	21 November 1887	John Hamilton Mary Frances Boylan	John Lundon Marie Frances Boylan 💍 1887/1084	Bachelor Spinster	Bank Clerk	28 25	Wanganui Wanganui	7 days 5 weeks	In the Roman Catholic Church, Wanganui	87/2754		21 November 1887	C. H. Kirk, Roman Catholic
62	24 November 1887	David Purvisdoke Buchanan Marianne Alice Mein	David Penruddoke Buchanan Marianne Alice Mein 💍 1887/1101	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	31 35	Wanganui Wanganui	3 days 3 days	In the Church of England, Wanganui	87/2747		24 November 1887	T. L. Tudor, Church of England
63	14 December 1887	Hans Christian Hodgson Agnes Diffey	Jens Christian Holgersen Agnes Diffey 💍 1887/1069	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer	34 21	Wanganui Wanganui	3 days 8 months	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Wanganui	87/2738		14 December 1887	J. W. Nowell, Registrar
64	22 December 1887	Richard Arthur Hayson Eleanor Grace Salome Ellis	Richard Arthur Haydon Eleanor G S Ellis 💍 1887/1068	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	24 21	Wanganui Aramoho	3 years 5 days	In the residence of Mr. John Ellis, Aramoho	87/2737		22 December 1887	W. I. Watkin, Wesleyan
65	24 December 1887	Arthur Robert Wood Alice Frances Tiernan	Arthur Robert Woon Alice Frances Kierman 💍 1887/1081	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	32 22	Patoka Wanganui	5 years 5 years	In the Church of England, Matarawa	87/2751		24 December 1887	P. L. Cameron, Church of England
66	28 December 1887	James Atkinson Bowker Sarah Rachel Hoog Wright	James Atkinson Couper Sarah Baxter Hogg Wright 💍 1887/1097	Bachelor Spinster	Plumber	23 25	Wanganui Wanganui	4 days 25 years	In the residence of Mr. John Wright, Nell Street, Wanganui	87/2743		28 December 1887	James Freedwell, Presbyterian
67	28 December 1887	George Davenport Florence Isabella Campbell	George Devenport Florence Isabella Campbell 💍 1888/459	Bachelor Spinster	Tinsmith	26 22	Wanganui Wanganui	6 years 22 years	In the Church of England, at Matarawa	88/6		28 December 1887	P. L. Cameron, Church of England

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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 1894. More registers will be added as the project continues.

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).