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 444

District of Auckland Quarter ending 20 June 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

211

20 April 1888

Robert Rae
Annie Morrow

Robert Rae
Annie Morrow
💍 1888/1003

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

23
22

Manurewa
Remuera

23 years

Dwelling of Mr John Morrow

88/976

20 April 1888

Rev. R. F. Macdonald, Presbyterian

No	211
Date of Notice	20 April 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Rae	Annie Morrow
	💍 1888/1003
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Manurewa	Remuera
Length of Residence	23 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mr John Morrow
Folio	88/976
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 April 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. F. Macdonald, Presbyterian

212

20 April 1888

Charles Colander
Bella Ann Simpson

Charles Rolander
Bella Ann Johnson
💍 1888/96

Bachelor
Widow

Coachman

32
33

Te Aroha
Costley Home

5 years
4 years

Dwelling of Bella Ann Simpson

88/936

20 April 1888

Rev. J. C. Downes, R. Catholic

No	212
Date of Notice	20 April 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Colander	Bella Ann Simpson
BDM Match (85%)	Charles Rolander	Bella Ann Johnson
	💍 1888/96
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Coachman
Age	32	33
Dwelling Place	Te Aroha	Costley Home
Length of Residence	5 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Bella Ann Simpson
Folio	88/936
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 April 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Downes, R. Catholic

213

23 April 1888

Michael Cronin
Mary Jane Price

Michael Cronin
Mary Jane Priest
💍 1888/976

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Spinster

25
19

Auckland
Whangarei

5 years
9 months

Church

88/949

Mary Ann Price, mother

23 April 1888

Rev. J. Lepine, Baptist

No	213
Date of Notice	23 April 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Cronin	Mary Jane Price
BDM Match (91%)	Michael Cronin	Mary Jane Priest
	💍 1888/976
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Spinster
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Whangarei
Length of Residence	5 years	9 months
Marriage Place	Church
Folio	88/949
Consent	Mary Ann Price, mother
Date of Certificate	23 April 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Lepine, Baptist

214

23 April 1888

William Owen Jeays
Martha Jane Fleming

William Ernest Gray
Martha Jane Fleming
💍 1888/986

Bachelor
Spinster

Pianist

26
22

Wyber Place
Eastcliffe

3 years
12 years

Dwelling of Joseph Fleming

88/958

23 April 1888

Rev. J. S. Hill, Wesleyan

No	214
Date of Notice	23 April 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Owen Jeays	Martha Jane Fleming
BDM Match (79%)	William Ernest Gray	Martha Jane Fleming
	💍 1888/986
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Pianist
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Wyber Place	Eastcliffe
Length of Residence	3 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Joseph Fleming
Folio	88/958
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 April 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. S. Hill, Wesleyan

215

24 April 1888

Henry Gilbert
Annie Mildred

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor

29
21

Auckland
Ponsonby

2 years
3 years

Church

88/1010

24 April 1888

Rev. F. Calder, Ch. of England

No	215
Date of Notice	24 April 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Gilbert	Annie Mildred
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Ponsonby
Length of Residence	2 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Church
Folio	88/1010
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 April 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Calder, Ch. of England

216

24 April 1888

Samuel Fenwick
Annie Clough

Samuel Merrick
Annie Clough
💍 1888/1002

Bachelor
Spinster

Agent

33
20

Clarence St
Church St

4 years
4 years

Dwelling of John Cooke

88/975

John Clough, father

24 April 1888

Rev. F. B. Gilmore, Baptist

No	216
Date of Notice	24 April 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Fenwick	Annie Clough
BDM Match (89%)	Samuel Merrick	Annie Clough
	💍 1888/1002
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Agent
Age	33	20
Dwelling Place	Clarence St	Church St
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of John Cooke
Folio	88/975
Consent	John Clough, father
Date of Certificate	24 April 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. B. Gilmore, Baptist

217

24 April 1888

Frederick Harris
Christina Murray

Frederic Harris
Christina Murray Hart
💍 1888/989

Bachelor
Spinster

Coach Builder

19
21

Auckland
Mary St

1 year
19 years

Church St

88/961

Lavinia Harris, mother

24 April 1888

Rev. J. C. Hoare, Ch. of England

No	217
Date of Notice	24 April 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Harris	Christina Murray
BDM Match (85%)	Frederic Harris	Christina Murray Hart
	💍 1888/989
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coach Builder
Age	19	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Mary St
Length of Residence	1 year	19 years
Marriage Place	Church St
Folio	88/961
Consent	Lavinia Harris, mother
Date of Certificate	24 April 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Hoare, 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).