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 922

District of Wellington 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
241	7 September 1888	Allan Dryden Esther Emmett	Adam Dryden Esther Emmett 💍 1888/2303	Bachelor Spinster	Railway Guard	27 23	Wellington Wellington	3 days 4 years	Registrars office Wellington	88/2226		7 September 1888	W. I. Wyatt
242	8 September 1888	Mark Roberson Marie Barr	Mark Robinson Marie Barr 💍 1888/3575	Bachelor Spinster	Factory Hand	26 21	Petone Wellington	4 years 4 years	St Mary of the Angels	88/3581		8 September 1888	Rev. P. Kerrigan
243	10 September 1888	Alexander Pemberton Lottie Annie Hill	Alexander Pemberton Stratford Lottie Annie Hill 💍 1888/2304	Bachelor Spinster	Gardener	37 27	Wellington Wellington	6 days 6 days	Registrars office Wellington	88/2227		10 September 1888	W. I. Wyatt
244	11 September 1888	David Mabey Lizzie Hawkes	David Mabey Lizzie Hawkes 💍 1888/2305	Bachelor Widow	Farmer	24 28	Taita Wellington	years years	Registrars office Wellington	88/2228		11 September 1888	W. I. Wyatt
245	12 September 1888	Philip Bevan Elizabeth Leech	Philip Bevan Elizabeth Leech 💍 1888/2306	Bachelor Spinster	Telegraphist	25 24	Wellington Wellington	4 days 4 days	Registrars office Wellington	88/2229		12 September 1888	W. I. Wyatt
246	12 September 1888	George Archer Sarah Annie Gregory	George Archer Sarah Annie Gregory 💍 1888/156	Bachelor Spinster	Brickmaker	22 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. Gregory Willis Street	88/2203		12 September 1888	Mr. Edward Lewis
247	12 September 1888	Henry James Kenney Ellen Goulstone White	Henry James Kenney Ellen Goulstone White 💍 1888/2265	Bachelor Spinster	Salesman	26 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	Wesley Church Taranaki Street	88/2187		12 September 1888	Rev. William Lane
248	12 September 1888	Gilbert Nair Eleanor Kate Sparrey		Bachelor Spinster	Civil Servant	44 26	Wellington Wellington	4 months years	Congregational Church Bowen Street	88/2697		12 September 1888	Rev. W. H. West
249	13 September 1888	Elisha Spencer Williams Elizabeth Gott	Eli Jasper Williams Elizabeth Gott 💍 1888/2307	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	35 27	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars office Wellington	88/2230		13 September 1888	W. I. Wyatt
250	13 September 1888	James Allen McCulloch Jane Russell	James Allen McCulloch Jane Russell 💍 1888/2276	Bachelor Spinster	Painter	22 18	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. Charles Cowie's John Street	88/2197	Mary Russell, mother	13 September 1888	Rev. Joseph Berry
251	14 September 1888	Cornelius O'Connor Bridget Kems	Cornelius O'Connor Bridget Kerns 💍 1888/2171	Bachelor Spinster	Contractor	41 27	Wellington Wellington	years years	St Mary of the Angels	88/2167		14 September 1888	Rev. P. Kerrigan
252	14 September 1888	John Nathaniel Ashley Kate Catharine Maria Jones	John Nathaniel Astill Kate Maria Jones 💍 1888/2873	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	27 27	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Budge on Sydney Street	88/2989		14 September 1888	Rev. John Nixon

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).