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 721

District of Port Chalmers Quarter ending 30 June 1888 Registrar Thomas Knickliff

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

9 April 1888

Thomas Robertson
Sarah Ann Eaton

Thomas Robertson Cunningham
Sarah Ann Eaton
💍 1888/1846

Bachelor
Spinster

Hatelayer
Dressmaker

24
24

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

3 days
14 days

House of E. Props

88/1807

9 April 1888

Rev. W. M. Grant, Congregational

No	5
Date of Notice	9 April 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Robertson	Sarah Ann Eaton
BDM Match (80%)	Thomas Robertson Cunningham	Sarah Ann Eaton
	💍 1888/1846
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hatelayer	Dressmaker
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	3 days	14 days
Marriage Place	House of E. Props
Folio	88/1807
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. M. Grant, Congregational

14 April 1888

Thomas Lord
Jessie Hainsworth

Thomas Tod
Jessie Naismith
💍 1888/1845

Thomas Yarr
Jessie Kennard
💍 1888/1597

Widower
Spinster

Engineer

33
42

Port Chalmers
Dunedin

3 days
6 weeks

Registrar's Office

88/1806

14 April 1888

Thos. Knickliff, Registrar at Port Chalmers

No	6
Date of Notice	14 April 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Lord	Jessie Hainsworth
BDM Match (76%)	Thomas Tod	Jessie Naismith
	💍 1888/1845
BDM Match (63%)	Thomas Yarr	Jessie Kennard
	💍 1888/1597
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	33	42
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	6 weeks
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	88/1806
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 April 1888
Officiating Minister	Thos. Knickliff, Registrar at Port Chalmers

23 May 1888

James Johnston
Elizabeth Allan

James Johnston
Elizabeth Allan
💍 1888/1830

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor
Tailoress

29
19

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

5 years
11 years

House of W. Allan, Port Chalmers

88/1802

William Allan, Father

23 May 1888

Rev. J. Ryley, Presbyterian

No	7
Date of Notice	23 May 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Johnston	Elizabeth Allan
	💍 1888/1830
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor	Tailoress
Age	29	19
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	5 years	11 years
Marriage Place	House of W. Allan, Port Chalmers
Folio	88/1802
Consent	William Allan, Father
Date of Certificate	23 May 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Ryley, Presbyterian

6 June 1888

Donald Munro
Ann Matheson

Donald Munro
Ann Matheson
💍 1888/1841

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

24
19

Mihiwakamea, Port Chalmers
Mihiwakamea, Port Chalmers

10 months
1 year

House of Margaret Matheson, Mihiwakamea

88/1803

Margaret Matheson, Mother

6 June 1888

Rev. J. Ryley, Presbyterian

No	8
Date of Notice	6 June 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald Munro	Ann Matheson
	💍 1888/1841
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Mihiwakamea, Port Chalmers	Mihiwakamea, Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	10 months	1 year
Marriage Place	House of Margaret Matheson, Mihiwakamea
Folio	88/1803
Consent	Margaret Matheson, Mother
Date of Certificate	6 June 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Ryley, Presbyterian

18 June 1888

Henry Evans
Isabella Barrowman

Henry Evans
Isabella Barrowman
💍 1888/1843

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

30
22

Sawyers Bay, Port Chalmers
Sawyers Bay, Port Chalmers

3 days
3 days

House of J. Barrowman, Sawyers Bay

88/1804

18 June 1888

Rev. J. Ryley, Presbyterian

No	9
Date of Notice	18 June 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Evans	Isabella Barrowman
	💍 1888/1843
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Sawyers Bay, Port Chalmers	Sawyers Bay, Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	House of J. Barrowman, Sawyers Bay
Folio	88/1804
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 June 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Ryley, Presbyterian

23 June 1888

William Gibby
Mary White Peters

William John Gibbs
Mary White Peters
💍 1888/1844

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman
Dressmaker

22
19

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

9 years
1 year

House of J. Peters, Mamford Tower

88/1805

J. Peters, Father

23 June 1888

Rev. W. M. Grant, Congregational

No	10
Date of Notice	23 June 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Gibby	Mary White Peters
BDM Match (83%)	William John Gibbs	Mary White Peters
	💍 1888/1844
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman	Dressmaker
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	9 years	1 year
Marriage Place	House of J. Peters, Mamford Tower
Folio	88/1805
Consent	J. Peters, Father
Date of Certificate	23 June 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. M. Grant, Congregational

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).