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 1534

District of Quarter ending 31 December 1888 Registrar J. W. Wilkin

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

5 November 1888

James Kane
Jane Pollock Christie

James Kane
Jane Pollock Christie
💍 1888/3535

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd

22
25

Invercargill
Invercargill

14 days
5 days

Office of the Registrar, Invercargill

88/3509

5 November 1888

J. W. Wilkin, Registrar

No	79
Date of Notice	5 November 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Kane	Jane Pollock Christie
	💍 1888/3535
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd
Age	22	25
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	14 days	5 days
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar, Invercargill
Folio	88/3509
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 November 1888
Officiating Minister	J. W. Wilkin, Registrar

5 November 1888

Joseph McClelland
Mary Ann Rumson

Joseph McClelland
Mary Ann Simpson
💍 1888/3547

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmiller

31
21

Invercargill
West Plains

13 years
16 years

House of Rev. John Ferguson, Invercargill

88/3499

5 November 1888

Rev. John Ferguson

No	80
Date of Notice	5 November 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph McClelland	Mary Ann Rumson
BDM Match (91%)	Joseph McClelland	Mary Ann Simpson
	💍 1888/3547
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmiller
Age	31	21
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	West Plains
Length of Residence	13 years	16 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. John Ferguson, Invercargill
Folio	88/3499
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 November 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Ferguson

6 November 1888

John Hamilton
Catherine Tait

John Hamilton
Catherine Tait
💍 1888/3545

Northend Isaac Gooder
Catherine Tait
💍 1888/1155

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer

24
22

Bluff
Avenal

2 years
6 years

House of Rev. John Tait, Avenal, Bluff

88/3497

6 November 1888

Rev. John Ferguson

No	81
Date of Notice	6 November 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Hamilton	Catherine Tait
	💍 1888/3545
BDM Match (64%)	Northend Isaac Gooder	Catherine Tait
	💍 1888/1155
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Bluff	Avenal
Length of Residence	2 years	6 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. John Tait, Avenal, Bluff
Folio	88/3497
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 November 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Ferguson

8 November 1888

Charles McIntosh
Jessie Robertson

Charles McIntosh
Jessie Robertson
💍 1888/3530

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmill hand

28
19

Invercargill
Wairaniwa

4 days
19 years

House of Rev. J. H. Mackenzie, Wairaniwa

88/3504

John Robertson, Father

8 November 1888

Rev. J. H. Mackenzie

No	82
Date of Notice	8 November 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles McIntosh	Jessie Robertson
	💍 1888/3530
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmill hand
Age	28	19
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Wairaniwa
Length of Residence	4 days	19 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. J. H. Mackenzie, Wairaniwa
Folio	88/3504
Consent	John Robertson, Father
Date of Certificate	8 November 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. Mackenzie

13 November 1888

West Duarcon Audry
Edith Henriette Audry

West Marcon Awdry
Edith Henriette Awdry
💍 1888/3492

Bachelor
Spinster

Runholder

25
25

Invercargill
Invercargill

3 days
3 days

Church of England, Gladstone

88/3492

13 November 1888

Rev. C. J. R. Richardson

No	83
Date of Notice	13 November 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	West Duarcon Audry	Edith Henriette Audry
BDM Match (89%)	West Marcon Awdry	Edith Henriette Awdry
	💍 1888/3492
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Runholder
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Church of England, Gladstone
Folio	88/3492
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 November 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. J. R. Richardson

13 November 1888

Arthur Frank Quicke
Sarah Shepherd

Arthur Frank Quicke
Sarah Shepherd
💍 1888/3546

Bachelor
Spinster

Saddler

23
21

Invercargill
Invercargill

16 years
4 years

House of Rev. John Ferguson, Invercargill

88/3498

13 November 1888

Rev. John Ferguson

No	84
Date of Notice	13 November 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Frank Quicke	Sarah Shepherd
	💍 1888/3546
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	16 years	4 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. John Ferguson, Invercargill
Folio	88/3498
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 November 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Ferguson

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).