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 247

District of Quarter ending Registrar J. M. Walkerson

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

21 January 1888

James Harrington
Mary Ann Bradford

James Harrington
Mary Anne Bradford
💍 1888/690

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Servant

24
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

24 years
10 years

Roman Catholic Church

88/535

23 January 1888

Rev. W. Greely

No	21
Date of Notice	21 January 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Harrington	Mary Ann Bradford
BDM Match (97%)	James Harrington	Mary Anne Bradford
	💍 1888/690
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Servant
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	24 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church
Folio	88/535
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 January 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Greely

22 January 1888

Herbert James Newman
Ellen Louisa Walden

Herbert Sam Newman
Ellen Louisa Walden
💍 1888/677

Bachelor
Spinster

Trainer

21
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 months
5 days

Registrars Office

88/545

Henry Walden, Father

23 January 1888

J. M. Walkerson

No	22
Date of Notice	22 January 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert James Newman	Ellen Louisa Walden
BDM Match (93%)	Herbert Sam Newman	Ellen Louisa Walden
	💍 1888/677
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Trainer
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 months	5 days
Marriage Place	Registrars Office
Folio	88/545
Consent	Henry Walden, Father
Date of Certificate	23 January 1888
Officiating Minister	J. M. Walkerson

23 January 1888

Walter Brook
Victoria Elizabeth Ross

Walter Brook
Victoria Elizabeth Rose Lilly Ross
💍 1888/678

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

24
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

24 years
23 years

Registrars Office

88/546

24 January 1888

J. M. Walkerson

No	23
Date of Notice	23 January 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Brook	Victoria Elizabeth Ross
BDM Match (84%)	Walter Brook	Victoria Elizabeth Rose Lilly Ross
	💍 1888/678
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	24 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office
Folio	88/546
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1888
Officiating Minister	J. M. Walkerson

24 January 1888

Silvanus Gabriel Daniel
Jane Fergus

Silvanus Gabriel Daniel
Jane Fergus
💍 1888/629

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraphist

23
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 months
22 years

St. Michaels Church

88/495

24 January 1888

Rev. W. Harper

No	24
Date of Notice	24 January 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Silvanus Gabriel Daniel	Jane Fergus
	💍 1888/629
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 months	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Michaels Church
Folio	88/495
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Harper

25 January 1888

William John Baker
Annie Schroder

William Knipler
Annie Frier
💍 1888/686

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter

31
21

Christchurch
Kaiapoi

9 years
15 years

Lincoln Church

No	25
Date of Notice	25 January 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Baker	Annie Schroder
BDM Match (63%)	William Knipler	Annie Frier
	💍 1888/686
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	31	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Kaiapoi
Length of Residence	9 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Lincoln Church
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister

26 January 1888

William Thomas Dougall
Sarah Ann Duffy

William Thomas Daiyall
Sarah Annie Duffy
💍 1888/691

Bachelor
Spinster

Polisher
Dressmaker

25
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

16 years
23 years

Roman Catholic Church

88/536

28 January 1888

Rev. D. McGinaty

No	26
Date of Notice	26 January 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Thomas Dougall	Sarah Ann Duffy
BDM Match (87%)	William Thomas Daiyall	Sarah Annie Duffy
	💍 1888/691
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Polisher	Dressmaker
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	16 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church
Folio	88/536
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 January 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. McGinaty

27 January 1888

Robert Scott Dickie
Jane Taylor

Robert Scott Dickie
Jane Taylor
💍 1888/627

Bachelor
Spinster

Fitter
Servant

29
25

Christchurch
Ferry Road

4 years
5 years

Presbyterian Church

88/485

30 January 1888

Rev. H. Irwin

No	27
Date of Notice	27 January 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Scott Dickie	Jane Taylor
	💍 1888/627
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fitter	Servant
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Ferry Road
Length of Residence	4 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church
Folio	88/485
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 January 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Irwin

28 January 1888

Herbert Arundel Glasson
Jeanie Dix

Herbert Arundel Glasson
Margaretta Jeannie Dix
💍 1888/615

Bachelor
Spinster

Commission Agent

21
19

Christchurch
Knights Down

12 years
19 years

St. Matthews Church

88/480

Mary Ann Dix, mother

30 January 1888

Rev. H. Y. Purchas

No	28
Date of Notice	28 January 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Arundel Glasson	Jeanie Dix
BDM Match (73%)	Herbert Arundel Glasson	Margaretta Jeannie Dix
	💍 1888/615
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commission Agent
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Knights Down
Length of Residence	12 years	19 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church
Folio	88/480
Consent	Mary Ann Dix, mother
Date of Certificate	30 January 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Y. Purchas

29 January 1888

Richard Robinson
Catherine Tracy

Richard Robinson
Catherine Tracey
💍 1888/3435

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber

25
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

23 years
24 years

St. Johns Church

88/534

31 January 1888

Rev. H. M. Watson

No	29
Date of Notice	29 January 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Robinson	Catherine Tracy
BDM Match (97%)	Richard Robinson	Catherine Tracey
	💍 1888/3435
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	23 years	24 years
Marriage Place	St. Johns Church
Folio	88/534
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 January 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. M. Watson

30 January 1888

Abraham Wade
Catherine Martin

Abraham Wade
Catherine Martin
💍 1888/668

Widower
Widow

Farmer
Nurse

65
52

Lincoln
Christchurch

25 years
15 years

House of Mrs. Martin

88/512

31 January 1888

Rev. H. B. Redstone

No	30
Date of Notice	30 January 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Abraham Wade	Catherine Martin
	💍 1888/668
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Nurse
Age	65	52
Dwelling Place	Lincoln	Christchurch
Length of Residence	25 years	15 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. Martin
Folio	88/512
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 January 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. B. Redstone

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).