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 529

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30 June 1888

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
113	19 April 1888	Matthew Winter Mary Matheson	Matthew Winter Mary Mathieson 💍 1888/1326	Widower Spinster	Lead Miner	52 36	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of the Revd W. S. Potter, Webb Street	88/1181		19 April 1888	Revd W. S. Potter
114	20 April 1888	William Inkpen Charlotte Thaddick	William Inkpen Charlotte Shaddick 💍 1888/1267	Bachelor Spinster	Bootmaker	26 18	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Bridegroom, Crawford Lane	88/1217	mother	20 April 1888	Revd J. K. Elliott
115	21 April 1888	John Henry Davies Annie Elizabeth Williams	John Henry Davies Annie Eliza McWilliams 💍 1888/1249	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	37 26	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Peters Church	88/1205		21 April 1888	Venble Archdeacon Stock
116	23 April 1888	Edwin Oscar Lewer Louisa Mary O'Donoghue	Edwin Oscar Lewer Louisa Mary O'Donoghue 💍 1888/1330	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	25 19	Karori Karori	years years	House of Mr Reed, Karori	88/1184	mother	23 April 1888	Revd C. Penney
117	23 April 1888	Henry Clement Schlaadt Agnes Anna Anderson	Henry Clement Schlaadt Agnes Anna Anderson 💍 1888/1318	Bachelor Spinster	Draper	39 27	Wellington Wellington	8 months 1 year	House of Mr McNeill, Queen Street	88/1165		23 April 1888	Revd W. Grant
118	24 April 1888	John Milne Wakefield Catherine Baxter	John Milne Wakefield Catherine Baxter 💍 1888/1233	Widower Widow	Carpenter	29 34	Wellington Wellington	8 months years	The Church, Woolcombe Street	88/1164		24 April 1888	Revd W. Grant
119	25 April 1888	John Reston Margaret Maud Flynn	John Reston Margaret Maud Flynn 💍 1888/1250	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	32 25	Wellington Wellington	5 days 3 weeks	St. Peters Church	88/1206		25 April 1888	Venble Archdeacon Stock
120	25 April 1888	Harry Toomer Amelia Maria Bird	Harry Toomer Amelia Maria Bird 💍 1888/1467	Bachelor Spinster	Bootmaker	20 19	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars Office, Wellington	88/1231	John Toomer, father; Adolphus Henry Bird, father	25 April 1888	W. T. Wyatt
121	26 April 1888	Francis William Pitt Caroline Marion Willcocks	Francis William Pitt Caroline Marion Millett 💍 1888/1468	Bachelor Widow	Banker	28 26	Wellington Wellington	years 6 months	Registrars Office, Wellington	88/1232		26 April 1888	W. T. Wyatt
122	27 April 1888	Joseph William Powell Barbara Annie McQueen	Joseph William Powell Barbara Annie McEwen 💍 1888/1242	Bachelor Spinster	Grocer	25 23	Wellington Wellington	years years	The Rechabite Hall, Manners Street	88/1198		27 April 1888	Revd P. N. Stunner
123	30 April 1888	John Eli Chapman Alice Benlace-Pote	John Eli Chapman Alice Burlace Pote 💍 1888/1327	Bachelor Spinster	Bookbinder	23 25	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Revd W. S. Potter, Webb Street	88/1182		30 April 1888	Revd W. S. Potter
124	30 April 1888	David Wilson Mary Ann Alice Price	David Wilson Mary Ann Alice Price 💍 1888/1251	Bachelor Spinster	Foreman	29 24	Wellington Wellington	6 months	St. Peters Church	88/1207		30 April 1888	Venble Archdeacon Stock

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).