Intentions to Marry, 1889

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840401, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole at Archives NZ Wellington, May 23 2025

Page 438

District of Auckland Quarter ending 30 June 1880 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

100

25 April 1880

Edward Paddison
Matilda Mitchell

Edward Paddison
Matilda Mitchell
💍 1889/970

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

32
29

Kaikoura Island
Remuera

1 year

St Marks Church, Remuera

89/1956

24 April 1880

Rev. J. R. Haselden, Ch. of England

No	100
Date of Notice	25 April 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Paddison	Matilda Mitchell
	💍 1889/970
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	32	29
Dwelling Place	Kaikoura Island	Remuera
Length of Residence	1 year
Marriage Place	St Marks Church, Remuera
Folio	89/1956
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 April 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Haselden, Ch. of England

148

25 April 1880

John Soar
Mary McGrath

John Soar
Mary McGrath
💍 1889/964

Bachelor
Spinster

Bricklayer

28
21

Auckland
Auckland

21 years

St. Benedict's Church

89/1950

24 April 1880

Rev. J. C. Downey, R. Catholic

No	148
Date of Notice	25 April 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Soar	Mary McGrath
	💍 1889/964
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bricklayer
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence		21 years
Marriage Place	St. Benedict's Church
Folio	89/1950
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 April 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Downey, R. Catholic

149

25 April 1880

William Richard Tole
Mary Lavinia Kilgour

William Richard Tole
Mary Lavinia Kilgour
💍 1889/1026

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener

26
29

Onehunga
Onehunga

16 years
29 years

Dwelling of William KIlgour, Trafalgar Street, Onehunga

89/1935

24 April 1880

Rev. W. E. Mulgan, Ch. of England

No	149
Date of Notice	25 April 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Richard Tole	Mary Lavinia Kilgour
	💍 1889/1026
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener
Age	26	29
Dwelling Place	Onehunga	Onehunga
Length of Residence	16 years	29 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of William KIlgour, Trafalgar Street, Onehunga
Folio	89/1935
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 April 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. E. Mulgan, Ch. of England

150

25 April 1880

William Ward
Ann Forshaw

William Ward
Ann Forshaw
💍 1889/1175

Widower
Widow

Brass Finisher

50
56

Auckland
Auckland

10 years
34 years

Dwelling of Rev. A. J. Smith, Alexandra Street, Auckland

89/1868

24 April 1880

Rev. A. J. Smith, P. Methodist

No	150
Date of Notice	25 April 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Ward	Ann Forshaw
	💍 1889/1175
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Brass Finisher
Age	50	56
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	10 years	34 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Rev. A. J. Smith, Alexandra Street, Auckland
Folio	89/1868
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 April 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. J. Smith, P. Methodist

151

24 April 1880

Alfred Cobourne
Ellen Constance Merrio Taylor

Alfred Cobourne
Helen Constance Marie Taylor
💍 1889/965

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

23
25

Waiuku
Waiuku

23 years
18 months

St. Benedict's Church

89/1951

24 April 1880

Rev. J. C. Downey, R. Catholic

No	151
Date of Notice	24 April 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Cobourne	Ellen Constance Merrio Taylor
BDM Match (91%)	Alfred Cobourne	Helen Constance Marie Taylor
	💍 1889/965
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	Waiuku	Waiuku
Length of Residence	23 years	18 months
Marriage Place	St. Benedict's Church
Folio	89/1951
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 April 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Downey, R. Catholic

152

24 April 1880

Francis Louis Cooke
Maude Catherine Handlin

Francis Louis Cooke
Maud Catherine Handlin
💍 1889/992

Bachelor
Spinster

Gentleman

21
18

Auckland
Auckland

5 weeks
10 days

Registrar's Office

89/1977

"14 days' notice"

8 May 1880

J. Owen Lord, Reg.

No	152
Date of Notice	24 April 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Louis Cooke	Maude Catherine Handlin
BDM Match (98%)	Francis Louis Cooke	Maud Catherine Handlin
	💍 1889/992
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gentleman
Age	21	18
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	5 weeks	10 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	89/1977
Consent	"14 days' notice"
Date of Certificate	8 May 1880
Officiating Minister	J. Owen Lord, Reg.

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).