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 1397

District of Kaiapoi Quarter ending 31 December 1888

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

682

3 October 1888

Edwin Sanders
Ellen Smith

Edwin Sanders
Ellen Smith
💍 1888/3211

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer laborer
Domestic duties

25
20

Ohoka
Ohoka

3 years
5 years

Church of England

88/3190

William Smith - Father

3 October 1888

Rev R Hayward, Church of England

No	682
Date of Notice	3 October 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin Sanders	Ellen Smith
	💍 1888/3211
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer laborer	Domestic duties
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Ohoka	Ohoka
Length of Residence	3 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Church of England
Folio	88/3190
Consent	William Smith - Father
Date of Certificate	3 October 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev R Hayward, Church of England

683

13 October 1888

Edward Henry Fautham
Margaret Kirgan

Edward Henry Fantham
Margaret Kirgan
💍 1888/3096

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic servant

23
22

Kaiapoi
Kaiapoi

15 years
1 year

The residence of John Jeffrey, Kaiapoi

88/3188

13 October 1888

Rev Robert Telford, Presbyterian

No	683
Date of Notice	13 October 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Henry Fautham	Margaret Kirgan
BDM Match (98%)	Edward Henry Fantham	Margaret Kirgan
	💍 1888/3096
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic servant
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Kaiapoi	Kaiapoi
Length of Residence	15 years	1 year
Marriage Place	The residence of John Jeffrey, Kaiapoi
Folio	88/3188
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev Robert Telford, Presbyterian

684

16 October 1888

William Alexander Dare
Mary Louisa Powell

William Alexander Dare
Mary Louisa Powell
💍 1888/3628

Bachelor
Spinster

Shipping Agent
Domestic duties

26
21

Kaiapoi
Kaiapoi

3 day
2 years

Parish Church

88/3623

16 October 1888

Rev J W Stack, Church of England

No	684
Date of Notice	16 October 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Alexander Dare	Mary Louisa Powell
	💍 1888/3628
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shipping Agent	Domestic duties
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Kaiapoi	Kaiapoi
Length of Residence	3 day	2 years
Marriage Place	Parish Church
Folio	88/3623
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 October 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev J W Stack, Church of England

685

17 October 1888

George Johnston Webster
Amelia Elizabeth Plaskett

George Johnstone Webster
Amelia Elizabeth Plaskett
💍 1888/3090

Bachelor
Spinster

Civil Engineer
Domestic duties

24
21

Kaiapoi
View Hill

7 years
21 years

The residence of George Plaskett, View Hill, West Oxford

88/3183

17 October 1888

Rev D D Rodger, Presbyterian

No	685
Date of Notice	17 October 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Johnston Webster	Amelia Elizabeth Plaskett
BDM Match (98%)	George Johnstone Webster	Amelia Elizabeth Plaskett
	💍 1888/3090
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Civil Engineer	Domestic duties
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Kaiapoi	View Hill
Length of Residence	7 years	21 years
Marriage Place	The residence of George Plaskett, View Hill, West Oxford
Folio	88/3183
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 October 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev D D Rodger, Presbyterian

686

22 October 1888

George Bailey
Isabella Margaret McGregor

George Bailey
Isabella Margaret McGregor
💍 1888/3220

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Governess

22
21

Eyreton
Flaxton

22 years
6 years

St Pauls Church, Flaxton

88/3193

22 October 1888

Rev R Hayward, Church of England

No	686
Date of Notice	22 October 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Bailey	Isabella Margaret McGregor
	💍 1888/3220
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Governess
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Eyreton	Flaxton
Length of Residence	22 years	6 years
Marriage Place	St Pauls Church, Flaxton
Folio	88/3193
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 October 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev R Hayward, Church of England

687

10 November 1888

Frederick Hircus Moore
Mary Ann Chapman

Frederick Hicas Moore
Mary Anne Chapman
💍 1888/3218

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

32
22

Eyreton
Eyreton

23 years
22 years

The Church of England, Eyreton

88/3191

10 November 1888

Rev R Hayward, Church of England

No	687
Date of Notice	10 November 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Hircus Moore	Mary Ann Chapman
BDM Match (93%)	Frederick Hicas Moore	Mary Anne Chapman
	💍 1888/3218
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	32	22
Dwelling Place	Eyreton	Eyreton
Length of Residence	23 years	22 years
Marriage Place	The Church of England, Eyreton
Folio	88/3191
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 November 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev R Hayward, Church of England

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).