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 901

District of Rangitikei Quarter ending 30 September 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
13	3 July 1888	Edward Harry Levett Maria St. George Gorton	Edward Harry Levett Nina St George Gorton 💍 1888/2139	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	27 23	Upper Jutaeum Bulls	5 years 9 years	The Church of England Greatford	88/2132		3 July 1888	Revd. J. Blackburn Church of England
14	6 July 1888	Christopher Frederick Schway Emma Elizabeth Goebel	Christopher Friedrich Schwass Emma Elisabeth Gaebel 💍 1888/2140	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer	24 19	Marton Marton	5 years 19 years	The house of Mr: Gottlieb Goebel near Marton	88/2133	Gottlieb Goebel	6 July 1888	Revd. C.C.W. Meyer Lutheran
15	27 July 1888	Alfred Edward Barnes Margaret Elizabeth Balmes	Alfred Edward Barns Margaret Elizabeth Balmer 💍 1888/2620	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	25 22	Turakina Turakina	6 days 1 month	The Presbyterian Church Turakina	88/2681		27 July 1888	Revd. J. Ross Presbyterian
16	7 August 1888	Francis James Patterick Clara Temperance Avery	Francis James Petherick Clara Temperance Avery 💍 1888/2137	Bachelor Spinster	Saddler	25 27	Marton Marton	2 years 9 years	St. Stephen's Church Marton	88/2130		7 August 1888	Revd. A. Towgood Church of England
17	13 August 1888	John Sorley Mary Alice Lettbridge	John Jolley Mary Alice Lethridge 💍 1888/2621	Bachelor Spinster	Medical Practitioner	28 22	Wanganui Turakina	6 years 20 years	The house of Mr: G.G. Lettbridge Turakina	88/2682		13 August 1888	Revd. J. Ross Presbyterian
18	13 August 1888	Andrew Cunningham Bruce Mary Susan Campbell	Andrew Cunningham Bruce Mary Susan Campbell 💍 1888/2197	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	37 36	Turakina Wanganui	27 years 30 years	The residence of Mr: Rowland Garrett Wanganui	88/2118		13 August 1888	Revd. J. Tredwell Presbyterian
19	3 September 1888	Thomas Higgie Ironside Howie Alice Graham Watt	Thomas Higgie Ironside Howie Elspet Graham Watt 💍 1888/2622	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	27 22	Parewanui Fern Flat	2 years 22 years	The house of Mr: Alexander Watt Fern Flat Rangitikei	88/2683		3 September 1888	Revd. J. Ross Presbyterian
20	10 September 1888	William Faulds McBeth Maria Howie	William Faulds McBeth Maria Howie 💍 1888/2141	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	34 21	Rangitikei Rangitikei	5 days 15 years	The Presbyterian Church Bunnythorpe	88/2134		10 September 1888	Revd. Wm. Stewart Presbyterian
21	29 September 1888	John Alfred Constantinesberg Sarah Ann Baker	John Alfred Constantine Newberry Sarah Ann Baker 💍 1888/2119	Bachelor Widow	Mason	49 31	Turakina Turakina	3 days 2 years	The residence of Revd. W. Cowell Marton	88/2135		29 September 1888	Revd. W. Cowell 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 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).