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 1062

District of Oamaru Quarter ending 30 September 1888 Registrar G. Filleul

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

1411

1 July 1888

John Richard Gray
Margaret White

John Richard Wray
Margaret White
💍 1888/2445

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

27
24

Oamaru
Brooklett

14 years
2 years

St Paul's Church, Manse, Oamaru

88/2492

14 July 1888

Rev. Alex. B. Todd, Presbyterian

No	1411
Date of Notice	1 July 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Richard Gray	Margaret White
BDM Match (97%)	John Richard Wray	Margaret White
	💍 1888/2445
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Brooklett
Length of Residence	14 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St Paul's Church, Manse, Oamaru
Folio	88/2492
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alex. B. Todd, Presbyterian

1412

23 July 1888

George Knox
Maggie Watson

George Knox
Maggie Watson
💍 1888/2738

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller (Ironmonger)

26
25

Oamaru
Oamaru

4 years
15 years

The house of Mr. Henry Watson, Tyne Street, Oamaru

88/2703

23 July 1888

Rev. James Macgregor D.D., Presbyterian

No	1412
Date of Notice	23 July 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Knox	Maggie Watson
	💍 1888/2738
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller (Ironmonger)
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	4 years	15 years
Marriage Place	The house of Mr. Henry Watson, Tyne Street, Oamaru
Folio	88/2703
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 July 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Macgregor D.D., Presbyterian

1413

2 August 1888

John Redden
Margaret Gleeson

John Bedden
Margaret Gleeson
💍 1888/2448

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Charwoman

35
37

Oamaru
Oamaru

14 years
14 years

St Patrick's Church, Oamaru

88/2495

2 August 1888

Rev. Edward Donnelly, Roman Catholic

No	1413
Date of Notice	2 August 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Redden	Margaret Gleeson
BDM Match (95%)	John Bedden	Margaret Gleeson
	💍 1888/2448
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Charwoman
Age	35	37
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	14 years	14 years
Marriage Place	St Patrick's Church, Oamaru
Folio	88/2495
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 August 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. Edward Donnelly, Roman Catholic

1414

2 August 1888

James Cumming Fraser
Matilda Waterreus

James Cumming Fraser
Matilda Watereus
💍 1888/2739

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

21
20

Oamaru
Oamaru

14 years
3 weeks

The house of Mr. John Fraser, Hull Street, Oamaru

88/2704

John Waterreus, Father

2 August 1888

Rev. James Macgregor D.D., Presbyterian

No	1414
Date of Notice	2 August 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Cumming Fraser	Matilda Waterreus
BDM Match (97%)	James Cumming Fraser	Matilda Watereus
	💍 1888/2739
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	14 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	The house of Mr. John Fraser, Hull Street, Oamaru
Folio	88/2704
Consent	John Waterreus, Father
Date of Certificate	2 August 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Macgregor D.D., Presbyterian

1415

13 August 1888

Robert Wilson
Bridget Gilligan

Robert Wilson
Bridget Gilligan
💍 1888/3560

Bachelor
Spinster

Ploughman
Cook

34
29

Ngapara
Oamaru

6 weeks
5 weeks

The house of the Reverend Edward Donnelly, Oamaru

88/2496

13 August 1888

Rev. Edward Donnelly, Roman Catholic

No	1415
Date of Notice	13 August 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Wilson	Bridget Gilligan
	💍 1888/3560
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ploughman	Cook
Age	34	29
Dwelling Place	Ngapara	Oamaru
Length of Residence	6 weeks	5 weeks
Marriage Place	The house of the Reverend Edward Donnelly, Oamaru
Folio	88/2496
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 August 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. Edward Donnelly, Roman Catholic

1416

13 August 1888

William Robert Fincher
Mary Hill

William Robert Fincher
Mary Hill
💍 1888/2594

Bachelor
Spinster

Vanman
Servant

23
21

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 years
10 years

The house of the Reverend Edward Donnelly, Oamaru

88/2497

13 August 1888

Rev. Edward Donnelly, Roman Catholic

No	1416
Date of Notice	13 August 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Robert Fincher	Mary Hill
	💍 1888/2594
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Vanman	Servant
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 years	10 years
Marriage Place	The house of the Reverend Edward Donnelly, Oamaru
Folio	88/2497
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 August 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. Edward Donnelly, Roman Catholic

1417

18 August 1888

Arthur Dixon
Ellen Dewhirst

Arthur Dixon
Ellen Dewhirst
💍 1888/2617

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller

28
20

Reidston
Oamaru

9 months
3 days

The house of the Reverend G. F. J. Spence, Oamaru

88/2504

Edward Dewhirst, Father

18 August 1888

Rev. G. F. J. Spence, Wesleyan

No	1417
Date of Notice	18 August 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Dixon	Ellen Dewhirst
	💍 1888/2617
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	Reidston	Oamaru
Length of Residence	9 months	3 days
Marriage Place	The house of the Reverend G. F. J. Spence, Oamaru
Folio	88/2504
Consent	Edward Dewhirst, Father
Date of Certificate	18 August 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. F. J. Spence, Wesleyan

1418

22 August 1888

Alexander Searle Smith
Louisa Ferens

Alexander Searle Smith
Louisa Ferens
💍 1888/2618

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Governess

23
30

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 days
3 months

The house of Mrs. Ferens, Trent Street, Oamaru

88/2505

22 August 1888

Rev. G. F. J. Spence, Wesleyan

No	1418
Date of Notice	22 August 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Searle Smith	Louisa Ferens
	💍 1888/2618
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Governess
Age	23	30
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	3 months
Marriage Place	The house of Mrs. Ferens, Trent Street, Oamaru
Folio	88/2505
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 August 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. F. J. Spence, 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 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).