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 666

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 30 June 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
551	7 June 1888	Herbert Mutton Isabella Barber	Herbert Mutton Isabella Barber 💍 1888/1652	Bachelor Spinster	Groom Domestic Servant	29 22	Ashburton Ashburton	7 years 12 years	Private dwellinghouse of Thomas Barber at Ashburton	88/1602		7 June 1888	Revd. J. N. Buttle
552	9 June 1888	Edward Beach Martha Holbrough	Edward Beach Martha Holbrough 💍 1888/1646	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Factory Hand	21 18	Hinds Allenton	1 year 13 years	Private dwellinghouse of Joseph Holbrough at Allenton	88/1597	Joseph Holbrough, Father	9 June 1888	Revd. J. W. Pawle
553	11 June 1888	Thomas Doig Eliza Ann Strachan	Thomas Doig Eliza Ann Strachan 💍 1888/1647	Bachelor Spinster	Factory Hand Farmer	23 23	Ashburton District Ashburton District	3 days 6 years	Private dwellinghouse of William Strachan at Ashburton District	88/1598		11 June 1888	Revd. A. M. Beattie
554	11 June 1888	Charles Rippingale Sarah McIntyre	Charles Rippingale Sarah Jane McIntyre 💍 1888/1648	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	27 19	Ashburton Forks Ashburton Forks	12 years 18 years	Presbyterian Church	88/1599	Robert McIntyre, Father	11 June 1888	Revd. A. M. Beattie
555	12 June 1888	Henry Elliott Ellen Mary Parker	Henry Elliott Ellen Mary Parker 💍 1888/1649	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	24 21	Hampstead Trevorton	1 year 4 years	Private dwellinghouse of Mr. A. Parker at Trevorton	88/1600		12 June 1888	Revd. A. M. Beattie
556	15 June 1888	Francis Henry Fottrell Emily Rosa Amelia Barratt	Francis Henry Steel Emily Rose Amelia Harvey 💍 1888/1653	Bachelor Spinster	Coach Builder Milliner	27 29	Ashburton Ashburton	5 years 6 years	Wesleyan Church	88/1603		15 June 1888	Revd. J. N. Buttle
557	22 June 1888	Andrew Ross Elizabeth Sarah Ann Gray	Andrew Ross Elizabeth Sarah Ann Gray 💍 1888/1654	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd Domestic Servant	35 21	Winslow Willowby	14 days 12 years	Wesleyan Church	88/1604		22 June 1888	Revd. J. N. Buttle
558	22 June 1888	Patrick O'Shea Norah Mullane	Patrick O'Shea Norah Mullane 💍 1888/2389	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	30 30	Ashburton Ashburton	3 years 4 months	Roman Catholic Church	88/2461		22 June 1888	Revd. J. N. Binsfield
559	25 June 1888	Robert Washington Agnes Pauling	Robert Washington Agnes Pauling 💍 1888/1651	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Domestic Servant	21 20	Ashburton Ashburton	3 days 7 years	Presbyterian Manse	88/1601	Jane Pauling, Mother	25 June 1888	Revd. A. M. Beattie

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).