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 528

District of Wellington 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
101	9 April 1888	John McPeak Maggie Nash	John McPeak Maggie Nash 💍 1888/1261	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	33 26	Wellington Wellington	1 week years	St. Marys	88/1194		9 April 1888	Rev. J. McNamara
102	11 April 1888	George Hornby Catherine McGaughey	George Hornby Catherine McGoughey 💍 1888/1263	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	33 27	Wellington Wellington	3 days 1 month	St. Marys	88/1196		11 April 1888	Rev. J. McNamara
103	11 April 1888	Joseph Alfred Higgins Margaret Violet Ellison	Joseph Alfred Higgie Margaret Violet Ellison 💍 1888/1483	Bachelor Spinster	Glue Hand	21 17	Petone Petone	10 months years	Registrars office	88/1224	Hannah Pope, Guardian	11 April 1888	W. T. Wyatt
104	11 April 1888	Henry Hayes Sarah Jane Dew	Henry Hayes Sarah Jane Dew 💍 1888/1484	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	25 24	Wellington Wellington	years 1 year	Registrars office	88/1225		11 April 1888	W. T. Wyatt
105	12 April 1888	James Henry Carter Annie Mary Henderson	James Henry Carter Annie Mary Henderson 💍 1888/1485	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	26 19	Petone Petone	years years	Registrars office	88/1226	Thomas Henderson, Father	12 April 1888	W. T. Wyatt
106	12 April 1888	David Walsh Kate Hamilton	David Walsh Kate Hamilton 💍 1888/1262	Widower Spinster	Telegraphist	39 24	Wellington Wellington	1 year years	St. Marys	88/1195		12 April 1888	Rev. J. McNamara
107	12 April 1888	Francis Dorran Ellen Grayham	Francis Douran Ellen Snaylham 💍 1888/1486	Bachelor Widow	Mariner	31 28	Wellington Wellington	years 1 year	Registrars office	88/1227		12 April 1888	W. T. Wyatt
108	13 April 1888	William Gandy Mitchell Ada Frances Ann Duke	William Gandy Mitchell Ada Frances Jane Duke 💍 1888/1466	Bachelor Spinster	Cabinet Maker	28 19	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars office	88/1230	William George Duke, Father	13 April 1888	W. T. Wyatt
109	13 April 1888	Thomas Walain Jane Couie Michie	Thomas Waldin Janet Cowie Michie 💍 1888/1488	Widower Spinster	Farmer	57 30	Wellington Wellington	40 days 3 months	Registrars office	88/1229		13 April 1888	W. T. Wyatt
110	14 April 1888	Charles Gardner Mary Jane Walker	Charles Gardner Mary Jane Walker 💍 1888/1232	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	25 19	Wellington Lewiside Terrace	years 2 weeks	House of Bridegroom	88/1163	Mary Walker, Mother	14 April 1888	Rev. W. Grant
111	16 April 1888	Charles William Brodie Elizabeth Cooper	Charles William Brodie Elizabeth Cooper 💍 1888/1266	Widower Widow	Gas Fitter	39 40	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Bride	88/1216	Thomas Murray	16 April 1888	Rev. J. K. Elliott
112	16 April 1888	Hans Matthias Petersen Margaret Hercock	Hans Matthias Petersen Margaret Hercock 💍 1888/1487	Widower Widow	Cabinet Maker	37 33	Wellington Wellington	3 days 1 year	Registrars office	88/1228		16 April 1888	W. T. Wyatt

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).