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 635

District of Kaiapoi Quarter ending 30 June 1888 Registrar Samuel Johnston

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

669

5 June 1888

Harry Thomas Peat
June Kelso

Harry Thomas Peat
Jane Kelso
💍 1888/1507

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

26
22

Kaiapoi
Kaiapoi

3 days
12 years

The residence of J. G. N. Black, Charles Street, Kaiapoi

88/1447

5 June 1888

Rev. P. W. Fairclough, Wesleyan

No	669
Date of Notice	5 June 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Thomas Peat	June Kelso
BDM Match (95%)	Harry Thomas Peat	Jane Kelso
	💍 1888/1507
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Kaiapoi	Kaiapoi
Length of Residence	3 days	12 years
Marriage Place	The residence of J. G. N. Black, Charles Street, Kaiapoi
Folio	88/1447
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 June 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. W. Fairclough, Wesleyan

670

9 June 1888

Edward Cloud Pateman
Eliza Judson

Edward Claude Pateman
Eliza Judson
💍 1888/1505

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

27
23

Woodend
Woodend

20 years
23 years

The residence of Mrs. William Judson, Woodend

88/1445

9 June 1888

Rev. J. T. Penfold, Wesleyan

No	670
Date of Notice	9 June 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Cloud Pateman	Eliza Judson
BDM Match (95%)	Edward Claude Pateman	Eliza Judson
	💍 1888/1505
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Woodend	Woodend
Length of Residence	20 years	23 years
Marriage Place	The residence of Mrs. William Judson, Woodend
Folio	88/1445
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 June 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. T. Penfold, Wesleyan

671

11 June 1888

John Thompson Hoskin
Emily Styles

John Thompson Hoskin
Emily Styles
💍 1888/1534

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic duties

29
20

Kaiapoi
Kaiapoi

14 years
14 years

The residence of John Hoskin, Allaroa Street, Kaiapoi

88/1500

Henry Styles, Father

11 June 1888

Rev. William Laycock, Primitive Methodist

No	671
Date of Notice	11 June 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thompson Hoskin	Emily Styles
	💍 1888/1534
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic duties
Age	29	20
Dwelling Place	Kaiapoi	Kaiapoi
Length of Residence	14 years	14 years
Marriage Place	The residence of John Hoskin, Allaroa Street, Kaiapoi
Folio	88/1500
Consent	Henry Styles, Father
Date of Certificate	11 June 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Laycock, Primitive Methodist

672

18 June 1888

Owen Stace
Isabella Kirk

Owen Stace
Isabella Kirk
💍 1888/1511

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm laborer
Domestic servant

24
24

Kaiapoi
Kaiapoi

3 days
3 days

The Church of England, Ohoka

88/1451

18 June 1888

Rev. T. H. Horwood, Church of England

No	672
Date of Notice	18 June 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Owen Stace	Isabella Kirk
	💍 1888/1511
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm laborer	Domestic servant
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Kaiapoi	Kaiapoi
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	The Church of England, Ohoka
Folio	88/1451
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 June 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. H. Horwood, Church of England

673

30 June 1888

John Harry Harrison Keetley
Matilda Elliott

John Harry Harrison Keetley
Matilda Elliott
💍 1888/2412

Widower
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic duties

38
21

Kaiapoi
Kaiapoi

30 years
21 years

Wesleyan Church

88/2359

30 June 1888

Rev. P. W. Fairclough, Wesleyan

No	673
Date of Notice	30 June 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Harry Harrison Keetley	Matilda Elliott
	💍 1888/2412
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic duties
Age	38	21
Dwelling Place	Kaiapoi	Kaiapoi
Length of Residence	30 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church
Folio	88/2359
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 June 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. W. Fairclough, Wesleyan

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).