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 052

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 March 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

1 February 1888

John Rethwick
Martha Smith

John Rethwisch
Martha Smith
💍 1888/348

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

24
30

Albert Street Auckland
Auckland

4 years
5 years

Registrar's Office

88/150

1 February 1888

J. Owen Lord, Registrar

No	67
Date of Notice	1 February 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Rethwick	Martha Smith
BDM Match (93%)	John Rethwisch	Martha Smith
	💍 1888/348
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	24	30
Dwelling Place	Albert Street Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	88/150
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1888
Officiating Minister	J. Owen Lord, Registrar

1 February 1888

William Chapman
Emily Matilda Mary Caulton

John Chapman
Emily Matilda Mary Coldicutt
💍 1888/217

Widower
Spinster

Foreman

52
21

Parnell
Cook Street

20 years
21 years

Ellerslie

88/69

1 February 1888

Rev. F. C. Smallfield, Ch of England

No	68
Date of Notice	1 February 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Chapman	Emily Matilda Mary Caulton
BDM Match (62%)	John Chapman	Emily Matilda Mary Coldicutt
	💍 1888/217
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Foreman
Age	52	21
Dwelling Place	Parnell	Cook Street
Length of Residence	20 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Ellerslie
Folio	88/69
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. C. Smallfield, Ch of England

2 February 1888

John Doakett
Bridget Kennedy

John Doake
Bridget Kennedy
💍 1888/277

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

32
23

Ohinewai
Auckland

5 months
8 months

Cathedral

88/30

2 February 1888

Rev. J. Hackett, R. Catholic

No	69
Date of Notice	2 February 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Doakett	Bridget Kennedy
BDM Match (92%)	John Doake	Bridget Kennedy
	💍 1888/277
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	32	23
Dwelling Place	Ohinewai	Auckland
Length of Residence	5 months	8 months
Marriage Place	Cathedral
Folio	88/30
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Hackett, R. Catholic

2 February 1888

Michael Henry Johnson
Ellen Mary Frances Macken

Michael Henry McCarthy
Ellen Mary Frances Mackie
💍 1888/228

Bachelor
Widow

Plumber

29
38

Hobson Street
Newton

7 years
4 years

St Benedict's Church

88/57

2 February 1888

Rev. J. O'Sullivan, R. Catholic

No	70
Date of Notice	2 February 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Henry Johnson	Ellen Mary Frances Macken
BDM Match (78%)	Michael Henry McCarthy	Ellen Mary Frances Mackie
	💍 1888/228
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Plumber
Age	29	38
Dwelling Place	Hobson Street	Newton
Length of Residence	7 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St Benedict's Church
Folio	88/57
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. O'Sullivan, R. Catholic

2 February 1888

Matthew Head
Emily Parker

Mathew Crossan
Evalyne Parker
💍 1888/2459

Widower
Widow

Farmer

46
38

Eden Terrace
Newton

7 years
4 years

Registrar's Office

88/151

2 February 1888

J. Owen Lord, Registrar

No	71
Date of Notice	2 February 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Matthew Head	Emily Parker
BDM Match (61%)	Mathew Crossan	Evalyne Parker
	💍 1888/2459
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	46	38
Dwelling Place	Eden Terrace	Newton
Length of Residence	7 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	88/151
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1888
Officiating Minister	J. Owen Lord, Registrar

2 February 1888

Charles Edward Campbell
Mabel Johnson

Charles Edward Campbell
Mabel Johnston
💍 1888/325

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

22
20

Ponsonby
Ponsonby

Correspondent
20 years

Congregational Church

88/78

Father

2 February 1888

Rev. J. Chew, Congl Independent

No	72
Date of Notice	2 February 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Edward Campbell	Mabel Johnson
BDM Match (96%)	Charles Edward Campbell	Mabel Johnston
	💍 1888/325
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Ponsonby	Ponsonby
Length of Residence	Correspondent	20 years
Marriage Place	Congregational Church
Folio	88/78
Consent	Father
Date of Certificate	2 February 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Chew, Congl Independent

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).