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 045

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 March 1888 Registrar John Owen Lord

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

13 January 1888

John Read
Brenda Gordon Bright

John Kean
Brenda Gordon Bright
💍 1888/337

Bachelor
Spinster

Jockey

24
18

Queen Lane
Remuera

18 mos
18 yrs

Registrars Office

88/140

Samuel Bright, father

13 January 1888

J. Owen Lord, Regr

No	25
Date of Notice	13 January 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Read	Brenda Gordon Bright
BDM Match (89%)	John Kean	Brenda Gordon Bright
	💍 1888/337
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Jockey
Age	24	18
Dwelling Place	Queen Lane	Remuera
Length of Residence	18 mos	18 yrs
Marriage Place	Registrars Office
Folio	88/140
Consent	Samuel Bright, father
Date of Certificate	13 January 1888
Officiating Minister	J. Owen Lord, Regr

13 January 1888

Alfred Charles Greenwood
Mary Jane McQuay

Alfred Charles Greenwood
Mary Jane McQuay
💍 1888/312

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

19
17

Mt Roskill
Mangere

19 yrs
17 yrs

Dwelling of George McQuay

88/89

J Greenwood, father; G McQuay, father

13 January 1888

Rev. A. Reid, Wesleyan

No	26
Date of Notice	13 January 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Charles Greenwood	Mary Jane McQuay
	💍 1888/312
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	19	17
Dwelling Place	Mt Roskill	Mangere
Length of Residence	19 yrs	17 yrs
Marriage Place	Dwelling of George McQuay
Folio	88/89
Consent	J Greenwood, father; G McQuay, father
Date of Certificate	13 January 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Reid, Wesleyan

13 January 1888

Thomas Booth Fleming
Agnes Wilhelmina Legge

Thomas Booth Fleming
Agnes Williamena Legge
💍 1888/224

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

23
19

Newmarket
Ponsonby

10 yrs
7 yrs

Dwelling of Edwin Newman Legge, Picton St, Ponsonby

88/75

Edwin Newman Legge, father

13 January 1888

Rev. J. Chew, Cong. Indepdt

No	27
Date of Notice	13 January 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Booth Fleming	Agnes Wilhelmina Legge
BDM Match (91%)	Thomas Booth Fleming	Agnes Williamena Legge
	💍 1888/224
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Newmarket	Ponsonby
Length of Residence	10 yrs	7 yrs
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Edwin Newman Legge, Picton St, Ponsonby
Folio	88/75
Consent	Edwin Newman Legge, father
Date of Certificate	13 January 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Chew, Cong. Indepdt

13 January 1888

William Robert Close Erson
Alice Mary Bankart

William Robert Close Erson
Alice Mary Bankart
💍 1888/222

Bachelor
Spinster

F.L.S.

30
22

Onehunga
Onehunga

3 yrs
8 mos

St Peter's Church

88/73

13 January 1888

Rev. Mc.Mullan, Ch. of England

No	28
Date of Notice	13 January 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Robert Close Erson	Alice Mary Bankart
	💍 1888/222
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	F.L.S.
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Onehunga	Onehunga
Length of Residence	3 yrs	8 mos
Marriage Place	St Peter's Church
Folio	88/73
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. Mc.Mullan, Ch. of England

13 January 1888

Frank Pulman
Selina Codder

Frank Pulman
Selina Lodder
💍 1888/208

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

22
21

Remuera
Remuera

22 yrs
16 yrs

St Mark's Church

88/51

13 January 1888

Rev. Richards, Ch. of England

No	29
Date of Notice	13 January 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Pulman	Selina Codder
BDM Match (96%)	Frank Pulman	Selina Lodder
	💍 1888/208
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Remuera	Remuera
Length of Residence	22 yrs	16 yrs
Marriage Place	St Mark's Church
Folio	88/51
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. Richards, Ch. of England

14 January 1888

Herbert William Brookes
Emma Helen Carter

Herbert William Brookes
Emma Helen Carter
💍 1888/1163

Bachelor
Spinster

Compositor

22
20

Ponsonby
Ponsonby

22 yrs
20 yrs

Dwelling of Mr James Albert Carter

88/44

James Albert Carter, father

14 January 1888

Rev. D. Mc. Runciman, Presbyterian

No	30
Date of Notice	14 January 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert William Brookes	Emma Helen Carter
	💍 1888/1163
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Compositor
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Ponsonby	Ponsonby
Length of Residence	22 yrs	20 yrs
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mr James Albert Carter
Folio	88/44
Consent	James Albert Carter, father
Date of Certificate	14 January 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Mc. Runciman, Presbyterian

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).