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 137

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
49	17 February 1888	Henry Smith Hale Ann Marshall	Henry Smith Hall Ann Marshall 💍 1888/449	Bachelor Spinster	Cook	21 22	Wellington Wellington	14 months 1 month	Registrars office Wellington	88/315		17 February 1888	W. T. Wyatt
50	18 February 1888	Alexander John Breaden Annie Louise Robinson	Alexander John Braden Annie Louise Robinson 💍 1888/450	Bachelor Spinster	Grocer	23 25	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars office Wellington	88/316		18 February 1888	W. T. Wyatt
51	18 February 1888	Robert Hamilton Cole Christina McRae	Robert Hamilton Cole Christina McRae 💍 1888/478	Widower Spinster	Carpenter	26 20	Wellington Wellington	years 1 Week	House of Mr. Blythe Susman Street	88/285	Guardian	18 February 1888	Rev. C. Penney
52	20 February 1888	David Dawson Annie Foster	David Dawson Annie Foster 💍 1888/481	Bachelor Spinster	Sanitary Engineer	28 24	Wellington Taranaki Street	3 months 1 Week	Wesley Church	88/296		20 February 1888	Rev. Wm. Lee
53	21 February 1888	George Harry Stewart Martin Amy Clapcott	George Harry Stewart Martin Amy Clapcott 💍 1888/451	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	25 24	Wellington Wellington	years 1 month	Registrars office Wellington	88/317		21 February 1888	W. T. Wyatt
54	22 February 1888	John David Mills Ellen Neely King	John David Mills Ellen Nelly King 💍 1888/452	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	22 21	Wellington Wellington	1 Week years	Registrars office Wellington	88/318		22 February 1888	W. T. Wyatt
55	24 February 1888	John Kelly Jessie Langdon	John Kelly Jessie Langdon 💍 1888/429	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	22 19	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars office Wellington	88/319	Margaret Holden Guardian	24 February 1888	W. T. Wyatt
56	27 February 1888	John Thompson Rosanna Davidson	John Thompson Rosanna Davidson 💍 1888/750	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	32 21	Ohariu Woolcombe Street	11 months 11 months	House of Revd. J. Paterson	88/272		27 February 1888	Rev. J. Paterson
57	28 February 1888	Samuel Moxham Louisa Lindop	Samuel Moxham Louisa Lindop 💍 1888/759	Bachelor Spinster	Dairyman	32 31	Wellington Ghuznee Street	years years	House of Mr. George Dixon	88/280		28 February 1888	Rev. L. H. Isitt
58	1 March 1888	James Britain Whitehead Mary Moffett	James Britain Whitehead Mary Moffet 💍 1888/751	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	48 39	Lower Hutt Ghuznee Street	years years	House of Mr. Duncan	88/273		1 March 1888	Rev. J. Paterson
59	1 March 1888	Evan Colman Maggie Lestrange Gee	Ewen Coleman Maggie Lestranger Gee 💍 1888/1156	Bachelor Spinster	Carrier	30 29	Kaiwarra Kaiwarra	years 2 Weeks	House of Mr. Colman	88/860		1 March 1888	Rev. C. J. Ogg
60	2 March 1888	George Walker Elizabeth Ellen Howe	George Walker Elizabeth Ellen Stone 💍 1888/430	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith	25 24	Wellington Wellington	4 days 4 days	Registrars office Wellington	88/320		2 March 1888	W. T. Wyatt

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).