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

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
21	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
22	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
23	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
24	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
25	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
26	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
27	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
28	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
29	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
30	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

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).