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 579

District of Wairau Quarter ending 30 June 1888 Registrar John James Armstrong White

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

6 April 1888

Thomas Fivey
Clara Ann Squire

Thomas Fivey
Clara Ann Squire
💍 1888/1368

Bachelor
Spinster

Stationhand
Miliner

31 years
28

Birch Hill
Blenheim

3 years
about 2 years

The office of the Registrar of marriages, Blenheim

88/1344

6 April 1888

The Registrar of marriages, Blenheim

No	10
Date of Notice	6 April 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Fivey	Clara Ann Squire
	💍 1888/1368
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stationhand	Miliner
Age	31 years	28
Dwelling Place	Birch Hill	Blenheim
Length of Residence	3 years	about 2 years
Marriage Place	The office of the Registrar of marriages, Blenheim
Folio	88/1344
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 April 1888
Officiating Minister	The Registrar of marriages, Blenheim

10 April 1888

Joseph Henry Thompson
Maria East

Joseph Henry Thompson
Maria East
💍 1888/1386

Bachelor
Spinster

Fellmonger
Laundress

32
34

Blenheim
Blenheim

7 years
2 years

The House of Mrs. Dunstall, Herbert Street, Blenheim

88/1338

10 April 1888

Revd. T. S. Grace

No	11
Date of Notice	10 April 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Henry Thompson	Maria East
	💍 1888/1386
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fellmonger	Laundress
Age	32	34
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	7 years	2 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mrs. Dunstall, Herbert Street, Blenheim
Folio	88/1338
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 April 1888
Officiating Minister	Revd. T. S. Grace

21 April 1888

Henry Stephen Burns
Emily Mary Dawes

Henry Stephen Burns
Emily Mary Dawes
💍 1888/1387

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman

21
18

Blenheim
Blenheim

14 years
18 years

The House of Mr. G. H. Burns, Sinclair Street, Blenheim

88/1339

James Dawes, father.

21 April 1888

Revd. W. O. Robb

No	12
Date of Notice	21 April 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Stephen Burns	Emily Mary Dawes
	💍 1888/1387
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	21	18
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	14 years	18 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mr. G. H. Burns, Sinclair Street, Blenheim
Folio	88/1339
Consent	James Dawes, father.
Date of Certificate	21 April 1888
Officiating Minister	Revd. W. O. Robb

17 May 1888

John Dow Busby
Isabella Selina Monro

John Dow Busby
Isabella Selina Monro
💍 1888/1384

Bachelor
Widow

Sheep farmer
Gentlewoman

54
39

Blairich Awatere
Valleyfield

9 years
15 years

The Church of the Nativity, Blenheim

88/1336

17 May 1888

Revd. T. S. Grace

No	13
Date of Notice	17 May 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Dow Busby	Isabella Selina Monro
	💍 1888/1384
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Sheep farmer	Gentlewoman
Age	54	39
Dwelling Place	Blairich Awatere	Valleyfield
Length of Residence	9 years	15 years
Marriage Place	The Church of the Nativity, Blenheim
Folio	88/1336
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 May 1888
Officiating Minister	Revd. T. S. Grace

21 May 1888

George Cates
Elizabeth Harriet Smith

George Cates
Elizabeth Harriet Smith
💍 1888/1388

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

26
19

Wairau West
Blenheim

26 years
2 years

The House of Mr. Thomas Franklin, Birch Street, Blenheim

88/1340

Elizabeth Smith, mother.

21 May 1888

Revd. W. O. Robb

No	14
Date of Notice	21 May 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Cates	Elizabeth Harriet Smith
	💍 1888/1388
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Wairau West	Blenheim
Length of Residence	26 years	2 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mr. Thomas Franklin, Birch Street, Blenheim
Folio	88/1340
Consent	Elizabeth Smith, mother.
Date of Certificate	21 May 1888
Officiating Minister	Revd. W. O. Robb

2 June 1888

George Cleghorn
Helen Browning

George Cleghorn
Helen Browning
💍 1888/2245

Widower
Spinster

Medical Practitioner

37
20

Blenheim
Blenheim

12 years
2 years

The Church of the Nativity, Blenheim

See Sept Quarter

no person in the colony authorised to give consent.

4 July 1888

Revd. T. S. Grace

No	15
Date of Notice	2 June 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Cleghorn	Helen Browning
	💍 1888/2245
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Medical Practitioner
Age	37	20
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	12 years	2 years
Marriage Place	The Church of the Nativity, Blenheim
Folio	See Sept Quarter
Consent	no person in the colony authorised to give consent.
Date of Certificate	4 July 1888
Officiating Minister	Revd. T. S. Grace

9 June 1888

William Jeffries
Mary Ellen Francis

William Jeffries
Mary Ellen Francis
💍 1888/1385

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman

25
19

Blenheim
Blenheim

25 years
18 years

The House of Mr. Daniel Byford, Main Street, Blenheim

88/1337

Thomas Francis, father.

9 June 1888

Revd. T. S. Grace

No	16
Date of Notice	9 June 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Jeffries	Mary Ellen Francis
	💍 1888/1385
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	25 years	18 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mr. Daniel Byford, Main Street, Blenheim
Folio	88/1337
Consent	Thomas Francis, father.
Date of Certificate	9 June 1888
Officiating Minister	Revd. T. S. Grace

11 June 1888

Frederick Henry Mills
Mary Helen Daken

Frederick Henry Mills
Mary Helen Daken
💍 1888/1389

Bachelor
Spinster

Shearer

23
22

Blenheim
Blenheim

2 years
2 years

The House of Mr. Thomas Mills, Herbert Street, Blenheim

88/1341

11 June 1888

Revd. W. O. Robb

No	17
Date of Notice	11 June 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Henry Mills	Mary Helen Daken
	💍 1888/1389
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shearer
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mr. Thomas Mills, Herbert Street, Blenheim
Folio	88/1341
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 June 1888
Officiating Minister	Revd. W. O. Robb

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 1908. 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).