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 245

District of Quarter ending

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
1	4 January 1888	Michael Hurley Maria Barry	Michael Hurley Maria Barry 💍 1888/684	Bachelor Spinster	Gardener Servant	32 24	Christchurch Christchurch	7 years 5 years	Roman Catholic Church	88/531		4 January 1888	Rev. D. McGuity, Roman Catholic
2	4 January 1888	William Johnson Edith Bartlett Mayo	William John Thomas Ranger Edith Bartlett Mayo 💍 1888/643	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	26 24	Christchurch Christchurch	14 days 24 years	Fendal Town Church	88/487		4 January 1888	Rev. J. Chaffers Webb, Church of England
3	4 January 1888	Matthew Grainger Jessie Ellen Robinson	Matthew Grainger Jessie Ellen Robinson 💍 1888/671	Widower Spinster	Blacksmith	27 23	Rakaia Christchurch	3 years 7 years	House of J. Heward, Rakaia	88/515		4 January 1888	Rev. G. Bond, Wesleyan
4	5 January 1888	Frederick William Piercy Julia Florence Badger	Frederick William Pierces Julia Florence Bedger 💍 1888/3513	Bachelor Spinster	Grocer	24 20	Christchurch Sydenham	24 years 20 years	Clothier St. Church, Christchurch	88/529	Badger, Father	5 January 1888	Rev. H. S. Cocks, Church of England
5	6 January 1888	Thomas George Widower Porter William Pearce		Widower Spinster	Porter	45 29	Christchurch Christchurch	20 years 2 years	House of Rev. J. Orchard	88/508		6 January 1888	Rev. J. Orchard, Bible Christians
6	7 January 1888	James Mercer Jennie Halley		Bachelor Spinster	Copper Smith Servant	32 29	Christchurch Ferry Road	4 years 2 years	Roman Catholic Church	88/532		7 January 1888	Rev. D. McGuity, Roman Catholic
7	9 January 1888	Harold Seccombe Hansen Lucy Cumming		Bachelor Spinster	Tailor Dressmaker	29 27	Christchurch Christchurch	11 months 12 years	House of Mr. Hunter, Montreal St.	88/481	Jessie Hunter, Mother	9 January 1888	Rev. F. W. Walker, Baptist
8	11 January 1888	William Robinson Jean Henderson	William Robinson Dora Jean Henderson 💍 1888/637 William Fowles Downes Ada Henderson 💍 1888/2147	Bachelor Spinster	Commercial Traveller Saleswoman	29 24	Christchurch Christchurch	19 years 5 years	House of Daniel Henderson	88/503		11 January 1888	Rev. H. Adamson, Presbyterian
9	12 January 1888	Jonathan Barrell Sarah Brice	Jonathan Barrett Sarah Brice 💍 1888/670	Bachelor Spinster	Hairdresser	23 20	Christchurch Christchurch	10 years 20 years	House of Charles Brice	88/514	Charles Brice, Father	12 January 1888	Rev. J. Williams, Wesleyan
10	12 January 1888	John Douglas Janet Hislop Young	John Douglas Janet Hislop Young 💍 1888/651	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	24 22	Paparua Paparua	7 years 22 years	House of Harry Young	88/517		12 January 1888	Rev. R. McGregor, 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 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).