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 836

District of Auckland Quarter ending 30 September 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

294

6 July 1888

William Ernest Frost
Catherine Moran

William Ernest Frost
Catherine Moran
💍 1888/1955

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

22
21

Otahuhu
Otahuhu

22 years
20 years

Roman Catholic Church, Otahuhu

88/1992

6 July 1888

Rev. M. D. O'Hara R. Catholic

No	294
Date of Notice	6 July 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Ernest Frost	Catherine Moran
	💍 1888/1955
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Otahuhu	Otahuhu
Length of Residence	22 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Otahuhu
Folio	88/1992
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 July 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. D. O'Hara R. Catholic

295

7 July 1888

Henry Bush
Sarah Sibbins

Harry Bush
Sarah Gibbins
💍 1888/1948

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

28
16

Day Street
Day Street

10 years
16 years

Dwelling of [illegible] Sibbins

88/1985

Thomas Sibbins, Father

7 July 1888

Mr. Roshill Baptist

No	295
Date of Notice	7 July 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Bush	Sarah Sibbins
BDM Match (86%)	Harry Bush	Sarah Gibbins
	💍 1888/1948
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	28	16
Dwelling Place	Day Street	Day Street
Length of Residence	10 years	16 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of [illegible] Sibbins
Folio	88/1985
Consent	Thomas Sibbins, Father
Date of Certificate	7 July 1888
Officiating Minister	Mr. Roshill Baptist

296

7 July 1888

William McCulloch
Rebecca Leathem

William McCullough Stoupe
Rebecca Leatham
💍 1888/1964

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

31
22

Parnell
Allen Road

12 years
2 years

St. Andrew's Church

88/1977

7 July 1888

Rev. A. Carrick Presbyterian

No	296
Date of Notice	7 July 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William McCulloch	Rebecca Leathem
BDM Match (79%)	William McCullough Stoupe	Rebecca Leatham
	💍 1888/1964
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	31	22
Dwelling Place	Parnell	Allen Road
Length of Residence	12 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Church
Folio	88/1977
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 July 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Carrick Presbyterian

297

9 July 1888

William Coper
Maria Ethel Rears

William Cooper
Maria Ethel Kerr
💍 1888/1989

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

35
22

Hawick
Hawick

25 years
22 years

Roman Catholic Church, Hawick

88/2002

9 July 1888

Rev. Mr. McDonald R. Catholic

No	297
Date of Notice	9 July 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Coper	Maria Ethel Rears
BDM Match (88%)	William Cooper	Maria Ethel Kerr
	💍 1888/1989
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	35	22
Dwelling Place	Hawick	Hawick
Length of Residence	25 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Hawick
Folio	88/2002
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 July 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. Mr. McDonald R. Catholic

298

9 July 1888

William Henry Skinner
Agnes Annie C. Edmondson

William Henry Skinner
Mary Agnes Kearns
💍 1888/2060

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

24
20

Onehunga
Onehunga

2 weeks
6 years

Congregational Church, Onehunga

88/1973

[illegible] Edmondson, Mother

9 July 1888

Rev. Mr. Miller Cong. Independt.

No	298
Date of Notice	9 July 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Skinner	Agnes Annie C. Edmondson
BDM Match (65%)	William Henry Skinner	Mary Agnes Kearns
	💍 1888/2060
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Onehunga	Onehunga
Length of Residence	2 weeks	6 years
Marriage Place	Congregational Church, Onehunga
Folio	88/1973
Consent	[illegible] Edmondson, Mother
Date of Certificate	9 July 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. Mr. Miller Cong. Independt.

299

11 July 1888

John Donovan
Maria Margaret Coppedge

John O'Donovan
Maria Margaret Coffey
💍 1888/2049

Bachelor
Spinster

Tram Driver

27
27

Ponsonby
Newton

5 years
27 years

St. Benedict's Church

88/1963

11 July 1888

Rev. [illegible] R. Catholic

No	299
Date of Notice	11 July 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Donovan	Maria Margaret Coppedge
BDM Match (82%)	John O'Donovan	Maria Margaret Coffey
	💍 1888/2049
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tram Driver
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Ponsonby	Newton
Length of Residence	5 years	27 years
Marriage Place	St. Benedict's Church
Folio	88/1963
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 July 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. [illegible] R. Catholic

300

11 July 1888

Donald Thomas Groome
Lilian Willmett

Donald Thomas O'Moore
Lilian Willinett
💍 1888/2638

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper

20
18

O'Neill Street
Ponsonby

1 year
12 years

All Saints Church

88/2676

William Frederick Willmett, Father

10 July 1888

Rev. Mr. Calder Ch. of England

No	300
Date of Notice	11 July 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald Thomas Groome	Lilian Willmett
BDM Match (84%)	Donald Thomas O'Moore	Lilian Willinett
	💍 1888/2638
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper
Age	20	18
Dwelling Place	O'Neill Street	Ponsonby
Length of Residence	1 year	12 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church
Folio	88/2676
Consent	William Frederick Willmett, Father
Date of Certificate	10 July 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. Mr. Calder Ch. 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).