Intentions to Marry, 1888

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840400, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Alexandra at Archives NZ Wellington, May 14 2025

Page 467

District of Thames Quarter ending 30 June 1888 Registrar Alexander de Courcy Postlethwaite

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

5 April 1888

Richard Thomas Smith
Catherine Fyfe

Richard Thomas Smith
Catherine Fyfe
💍 1888/1079

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

23 years
21 years

Sealey St.
Baillie St.

8 years
9 months

Dwelling house of Joseph [illegible]

88/1058

5 April 1888

Rev. F. G. Evans, Church of England

No	5
Date of Notice	5 April 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Thomas Smith	Catherine Fyfe
	💍 1888/1079
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	23 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Sealey St.	Baillie St.
Length of Residence	8 years	9 months
Marriage Place	Dwelling house of Joseph [illegible]
Folio	88/1058
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 April 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. G. Evans, Church of England

4 May 1888

George Peter Martin
Caroline Morton

George Peter Martin
Caroline Morton
💍 1888/1136

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Dressmaker

23 years
18 years

Willoughby St.
Sandes St.

20 years
15 years

Dwelling house of Charles Morton

88/1066

Charles Morton, father of minor

5 May 1888

Rev. W. Teall, Wesleyan

No	6
Date of Notice	4 May 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Peter Martin	Caroline Morton
	💍 1888/1136
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Dressmaker
Age	23 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Willoughby St.	Sandes St.
Length of Residence	20 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling house of Charles Morton
Folio	88/1066
Consent	Charles Morton, father of minor
Date of Certificate	5 May 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Teall, Wesleyan

7 May 1888

John Hoey Moore
Mary Ann Hicks
formerly Nicholl

John Hoey Moore
Mary Ann Nicks
💍 1888/1128

John Moore
Mary Ann Nixon
💍 1888/995

Widower
Widow

Mine Manager
Hotel Keeper

43 years
32 years

Nikitai
Paeroa

20 years
7 years

Dwelling house of Dr. Childers [illegible]

88/1064

7 May 1888

Rev. J. J. Reill, Presbyterian

No	7
Date of Notice	7 May 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Hoey Moore	Mary Ann Hicks formerly Nicholl
BDM Match (96%)	John Hoey Moore	Mary Ann Nicks
	💍 1888/1128
BDM Match (69%)	John Moore	Mary Ann Nixon
	💍 1888/995
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Mine Manager	Hotel Keeper
Age	43 years	32 years
Dwelling Place	Nikitai	Paeroa
Length of Residence	20 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling house of Dr. Childers [illegible]
Folio	88/1064
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 May 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Reill, Presbyterian

10 May 1888

Alexander Eklund
Harriet Crick

Alexander Ekland
Harriet Crick
💍 1888/1081

Bachelor
Spinster

Bushman

32 years
24 years

Baillie St.
Baillie St.

5 years
20 years

Dwelling house of Mr. Gallaghy

88/1059

10 May 1888

Rev. F. G. Evans, Church of England

No	8
Date of Notice	10 May 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Eklund	Harriet Crick
BDM Match (97%)	Alexander Ekland	Harriet Crick
	💍 1888/1081
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bushman
Age	32 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Baillie St.	Baillie St.
Length of Residence	5 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling house of Mr. Gallaghy
Folio	88/1059
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 May 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. G. Evans, Church of England

26 May 1888

Emanuel Whifford
Lydia Foster

Emanuel Whitford
Lydia Foster
💍 1888/1082

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

29 years
21 years

Bird in hand
Pumps Flat

6 years
18 years

Dwelling house of Mr. Foster

88/1060

26 May 1888

Rev. F. G. Evans, Church of England

No	9
Date of Notice	26 May 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Emanuel Whifford	Lydia Foster
BDM Match (97%)	Emanuel Whitford	Lydia Foster
	💍 1888/1082
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	29 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Bird in hand	Pumps Flat
Length of Residence	6 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling house of Mr. Foster
Folio	88/1060
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 May 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. G. Evans, Church of England

4 June 1888

George Graham
Kate Hastings

George Graham
Kate Hastings
💍 1888/1083

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Dressmaker

24 years
22 years

Franklin St.
Pahan St.

20 years
20 years

Dwelling house of William Charles Hastings

88/1061

4 June 1888

Rev. F. G. Evans, Church of England

No	10
Date of Notice	4 June 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Graham	Kate Hastings
	💍 1888/1083
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Dressmaker
Age	24 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Franklin St.	Pahan St.
Length of Residence	20 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling house of William Charles Hastings
Folio	88/1061
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 June 1888
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).