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 048

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 March 1888 Registrar R. C. Law

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

20 January 1888

Hugh Fletcher
Annie Farmer

Hugh Fletcher
Annie Farmer
💍 1888/308

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer

25
23

Newton
Newton

5 years

St David's Church

88/85

20 January 1888

Rev. R. West, Presbyterian

No	43
Date of Notice	20 January 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Fletcher	Annie Farmer
	💍 1888/308
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Newton	Newton
Length of Residence	5 years
Marriage Place	St David's Church
Folio	88/85
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 January 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. West, Presbyterian

21 January 1888

James Davies
Emily Waterworth

James Davies
Emily Waterworth
💍 1888/305

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman

24
19

Beresford Street
Lorne Street

4 years
4 years

St Peter's Church

88/108

Thomas Waterworth, father

21 January 1888

Rev. R. Somerville, Presbyterian

No	44
Date of Notice	21 January 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Davies	Emily Waterworth
	💍 1888/305
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Beresford Street	Lorne Street
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St Peter's Church
Folio	88/108
Consent	Thomas Waterworth, father
Date of Certificate	21 January 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Somerville, Presbyterian

21 January 1888

John James Kerr
Harriet Shaw Milne

John James Ker
Harriett Shaw Milne
💍 1888/297

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

33
31

Devonport
Devonport

4 years
2 years

Dwelling of John Milne, Holmhurst, Devonport

88/123

21 January 1888

Rev. R. Shirley, Cong. Indept.

No	45
Date of Notice	21 January 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John James Kerr	Harriet Shaw Milne
BDM Match (94%)	John James Ker	Harriett Shaw Milne
	💍 1888/297
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	33	31
Dwelling Place	Devonport	Devonport
Length of Residence	4 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of John Milne, Holmhurst, Devonport
Folio	88/123
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 January 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Shirley, Cong. Indept.

23 January 1888

John Edward Salt
Madeline Jane Wyatt

John Edward Salt
Madeline Jane Wyatt
💍 1888/341

Bachelor
Spinster

Bushman

21
22

Omaha
Omaha

7 years
7 years

Registrar's Office

88/144

23 January 1888

J. Owen Lord, Regr.

No	46
Date of Notice	23 January 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Edward Salt	Madeline Jane Wyatt
	💍 1888/341
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bushman
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Omaha	Omaha
Length of Residence	7 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	88/144
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 January 1888
Officiating Minister	J. Owen Lord, Regr.

28 January 1888

George Augustus Avery
Bedelia King

George Augustus Avery
Bedelia King
💍 1888/374

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

18
21

Eden Crescent
Eden Crescent

4 days
4 years

Registrar's Office

88/155

4 February 1888

J. Owen Lord, Regr.

No	47
Date of Notice	28 January 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Augustus Avery	Bedelia King
	💍 1888/374
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	18	21
Dwelling Place	Eden Crescent	Eden Crescent
Length of Residence	4 days	4 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	88/155
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1888
Officiating Minister	J. Owen Lord, Regr.

23 January 1888

Philip Henry Watkins
Anna shorter Fryer

Philip Henry Watkins
Anna Shorter Fryer
💍 1888/220

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer

30
22

Napier Street
Brown Street, Epsom

8 years
13 years

Dwelling of Thomas Fryer, Brown St, Epsom

88/171

23 January 1888

Mr. J. Eldridge, Ch. of Christ

No	48
Date of Notice	23 January 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Philip Henry Watkins	Anna shorter Fryer
BDM Match (97%)	Philip Henry Watkins	Anna Shorter Fryer
	💍 1888/220
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Napier Street	Brown Street, Epsom
Length of Residence	8 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Thomas Fryer, Brown St, Epsom
Folio	88/171
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 January 1888
Officiating Minister	Mr. J. Eldridge, Ch. of Christ

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 1908. 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).