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 920

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
217	24 August 1888	Francis Edward Sandilands Mary Ann Thompson	Francis Aylwin Sandilands Mary Ann Thompson 💍 1888/2640	Bachelor Spinster	Draper	23 23	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. John's Manse, Woolcombe Street	88/2679		24 August 1888	Rev. J. Paterson
218	27 August 1888	John Thompson Annie Milne	John Thompson Annie Milne 💍 1888/136 Francis Joseph Cameron Annie Milne 💍 1888/726	Bachelor Spinster	Barrister and Solicitor	32 26	Wellington Taita	years years	House of W. W. J. Child, Taita	88/2207		27 August 1888	Rev. J. K. Elliott
219	27 August 1888	William Edward Holliates Jane Elizabeth Fleet	William Edward Hollister Perrant Jane Elizabeth Fleet 💍 1888/2879	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	23 22	Petone Lower Hutt	years years	St. James Church	88/2972		27 August 1888	Rev. Joshua Jones
220	28 August 1888	Lewis Henry Dewal Mary Ann Robey	Lewis Henry Duval Mary Ann Robey 💍 1888/2270	Bachelor Spinster	Architect	28 27	Wellington Arrived by Steamer from Sydney	years 1 day	House of Mr. Hatch, Tory Street	88/2192		28 August 1888	Rev. C. Penney
221	30 August 1888	Mark Blythe Margaret Grace	Mark Blythe Margaret Grice 💍 1888/2176	Bachelor Widow	Cooper	34 28	Wellington Wellington	years 3 months	St. Paul's Church	88/2171		30 August 1888	Rev. John Still
222	31 August 1888	Heinrich Wilhelm August Ferdinand Julius Fahrenbach Harriet Caroline Bragg	Heinrich Wilhelm August Ferdinand Julius Fahrenback Harriet Caroline Bragg 💍 1888/2274	Bachelor Spinster	Accountant	33 24	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Peter's Church	88/2177		31 August 1888	Venble. Archdeacon Stock
223	31 August 1888	Josiah Henry Oakley Lenora Parrant	Josiah Henry Oakley Leonora Parrant 💍 1888/152	Bachelor Spinster	Baker	23 19	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	88/2222	Henry Parrant, Father	31 August 1888	W. T. Wyall
224	31 August 1888	Amos Burr Clara Rankin	Amos Burr Clara Rankin 💍 1888/2264	Bachelor Spinster	Shorthand Writer	29 24	Wellington Wellington	6 months years	House of Mr. Staff, Ingestre Street	88/2186		31 August 1888	Revd. W. Kee
225	3 September 1888	Frederick Janson Lena Marian Victoria Bennett	Frederick Janson Lena Varian Victoria Bennett 💍 1888/2295	Bachelor Spinster	Tailor	43 19	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	88/2224	Henry Bennett, Father	3 September 1888	W. T. Wyall
226	3 September 1888	John McWhinney Elizabeth Workindale	John Wesley McWhinney Elizabeth McCorkindale 💍 1888/155	Bachelor Spinster	Stoker	25 22	Upper Hutt Lower Hutt	years 3 days	House of Mr. McWhinney, Lower Hutt	88/2202		3 September 1888	Revd. D. J. Murray
227	3 September 1888	John Lynch Kate Driscoll	John Lynch Kate Driscoll 💍 1888/2280	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	40 22	Lower Hutt Petone	years 9 months	Roman Catholic Church, Lower Hutt	88/2181		3 September 1888	Revd. John Lane
228	3 September 1888	James Davidson Jane Allman Wallace	James Davidson Jane Allman Wallace 💍 1888/138	Bachelor Spinster	Watchmaker	23 21	Wellington Wellington	18 months years	House of Mr. Robert Wallace, Alpha Street	88/2209		3 September 1888	Revd. J. K. Elliott

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 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).