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 138

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 March 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
61	3 March 1888	Arthur Lewer Annie Eley	Arthur Allen Lewer Annie Eley 💍 1888/431	Bachelor Spinster	Dairyman	21 21	Karori Karori	years years	Registrars office, Wellington	88/321		3 March 1888	Mr. W. S. Wyatt
62	5 March 1888	William Laurence Daniel Lonergan Eliza Weight	William Laurance Daniel Lonergan Eliza Wright 💍 1888/489	Bachelor Spinster	Sailor	24 21	Wellington Wellington	10 months years	House of Mr. Norris, Hanson Street	88/286		5 March 1888	Revd. C. Penney
63	5 March 1888	Samuel Mackay Sara Jane Ford	Samuel MacKay Sarah Jane Ford 💍 1888/485	Bachelor Spinster	Bookseller	27 28	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Pauls Cathedral	88/300		5 March 1888	Revd. John Still
64	6 March 1888	James Priest Mary Watson	James Priest Mary Watson 💍 1888/496	Bachelor Spinster	Tramdriver	22 22	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. Watson, Cuba Street	88/287		6 March 1888	Revd. C. Penney
65	9 March 1888	George Lenkcost Payne Mary Skinner	George Pentecost Payne Mary Skinner 💍 1888/486	Bachelor Spinster	Baker	23 25	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Pauls Cathedral	88/301		9 March 1888	Revd. John Still
66	9 March 1888	George Leiz Emma Esther Jackson	George Levy Emma Esther Jackson 💍 1888/497	Bachelor Spinster	Coachsmith	22 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mrs. Jackson, Wordsworth Street	88/288		9 March 1888	Revd. Charles Penney
67	9 March 1888	Frederick John Gooder Clara Beatrice Penty	Frederick John Gorder Clara Beatrice Bentz 💍 1888/760	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	26 23	Wellington Wellington	years 18 months	House of The Revd. L. M. Isitt, Willis Street	88/281		9 March 1888	Revd. L. M. Isitt
68	10 March 1888	Albert James Arnold Rosetta Steadman	Albert James Arnold Rosetta Herdman 💍 1888/769	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	21 20	Petone Petone	years years	St. James Church, Lower Hutt	88/268	Frederick William Steadman, Father	10 March 1888	Revd. Joshua Jones
69	10 March 1888	William Alexander Finlayson Minnie Blanche Jeffery	William Alexander Finlayson Minnie Blanche Jeffrey 💍 1888/767	Bachelor Spinster	Cabinet Maker	21 19	Wellington Wellington	1 month years	St. Marks Church	88/266	Albert Jeffery, Father	10 March 1888	Revd. R. Coffey
70	10 March 1888	George Burns Mary Ann Rouse	George Burns Mary Ann Rouse 💍 1888/432	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	26 21	Upper Hutt Wellington	years 18 months	Registrars office, Wellington	88/322		10 March 1888	Mr. W. S. Wyatt
71	13 March 1888	George Ernest Fearn Lucy Goodgame	George Ernest Fearn Lucy Goodgame 💍 1888/433	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	19 19	Karori Wellington	10 days years	Registrars office, Wellington	88/323	George Fearn, Father; Eliza Fearn, Guardian	13 March 1888	Mr. W. S. Wyatt
72	14 March 1888	Michael Joseph Lynch Helen Norah Redary	Michael Joseph Lynch Helen Nora Predary 💍 1888/483	Bachelor Spinster	Draper	28 24	Wellington Wellington	4 days	St. Marys Cathedral	88/298		14 March 1888	Revd. J. McNamara

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).