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 1333

District of Napier Quarter ending 31 December 1888 Registrar Sydney J. Jago

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

10 October 1888

Edmund Simmonds
Fanny Hodgerison

Edmund Simmonds
Fanny Hodgkinson
💍 1888/2971

Widower
Spinster

Engine fitter
Domestic Servant

42
33

Napier
Napier

14 years
3 years

St. Augustines Church Napier

88/3067

10 October 1888

Rev J Parkinson Church of England

No	79
Date of Notice	10 October 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edmund Simmonds	Fanny Hodgerison
BDM Match (91%)	Edmund Simmonds	Fanny Hodgkinson
	💍 1888/2971
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Engine fitter	Domestic Servant
Age	42	33
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	14 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Augustines Church Napier
Folio	88/3067
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 October 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev J Parkinson Church of England

22 October 1888

George Hill
Karen Bolete Nicholson

George Hill
Karen Bolette Nicholson
💍 1888/2967

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Dressmaker

22
19

Napier
Napier

4 years
15 years

Wesleyan Chapel Napier

88/3064

Andrew Nicholson, Brides father

22 October 1888

Rev D Mc Nicoll Wesleyan Chapel

No	80
Date of Notice	22 October 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Hill	Karen Bolete Nicholson
BDM Match (98%)	George Hill	Karen Bolette Nicholson
	💍 1888/2967
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Dressmaker
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	4 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Chapel Napier
Folio	88/3064
Consent	Andrew Nicholson, Brides father
Date of Certificate	22 October 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev D Mc Nicoll Wesleyan Chapel

23 October 1888

James Percival Stuart
Agnes McIntyre

James Percival Stuart
Agnes McIntyre
💍 1888/2966

Bachelor
Spinster

Coach driver
Domestic

30
25

Napier
Napier

9 years
3 years

Wesleyan Parsonage Napier

88/3063

23 October 1888

Rev D Mc Nicoll Wesleyan Parsonage

No	81
Date of Notice	23 October 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Percival Stuart	Agnes McIntyre
	💍 1888/2966
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coach driver	Domestic
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	9 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Parsonage Napier
Folio	88/3063
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 October 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev D Mc Nicoll Wesleyan Parsonage

23 October 1888

Stephen Tilley
Julia Eleashot Dean

Stephen Tilly
Julia Eleanor Dean
💍 1888/2972

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman

24
18

Napier
Napier

8 months
14 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages Napier

88/3088

John Thomas Dean, Brides Father

23 October 1888

Registrar S. Jago

No	82
Date of Notice	23 October 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stephen Tilley	Julia Eleashot Dean
BDM Match (89%)	Stephen Tilly	Julia Eleanor Dean
	💍 1888/2972
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman
Age	24	18
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	8 months	14 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages Napier
Folio	88/3088
Consent	John Thomas Dean, Brides Father
Date of Certificate	23 October 1888
Officiating Minister	Registrar S. Jago

1 November 1888

Joseph Hollis
Mary Ann Cornell

Joseph Hollis
Mary Josephine O'Donnell
💍 1888/2959

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic

30
19

Napier
Napier

3 years
19 years

Residence of the Brides mother Havelock Rd Napier

88/3076

Sarah Cornell, Brides mother

1 November 1888

Rev DeBerdt Hovell Church of England

No	83
Date of Notice	1 November 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Hollis	Mary Ann Cornell
BDM Match (75%)	Joseph Hollis	Mary Josephine O'Donnell
	💍 1888/2959
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic
Age	30	19
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Residence of the Brides mother Havelock Rd Napier
Folio	88/3076
Consent	Sarah Cornell, Brides mother
Date of Certificate	1 November 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev DeBerdt Hovell Church of England

2 November 1888

Edmond Hogan
Mary Cleary

Edmond Hogan
Mary Cleary
💍 1888/2965

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

30
28

Meanee
Meanee

9 years
1 year

Roman Catholic Chapel Meanee

88/3082

2 November 1888

Rev Father Yardin R.C. Priest

No	84
Date of Notice	2 November 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edmond Hogan	Mary Cleary
	💍 1888/2965
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	30	28
Dwelling Place	Meanee	Meanee
Length of Residence	9 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Chapel Meanee
Folio	88/3082
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 November 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev Father Yardin R.C. Priest

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 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).