Intentions to Marry, 1869

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840381, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Page 410

District of Hokitika Quarter ending Jul - Sep

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

151

1 July 1869

William Spain
Emma Mary Josephine Oakes

William Spain
Lucinda Mary Josephine Oakes
💍 1869/7035

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Clerk

37
21

Hokitika
do

2 years
do

St. Mary's Church

943

5 July 1869

Rev. P.A. Martin

No	151
Date of Notice	1 July 1869
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Spain	Emma Mary Josephine Oakes
BDM Match (89%)	William Spain	Lucinda Mary Josephine Oakes
	💍 1869/7035
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Clerk
Age	37	21
Dwelling Place	Hokitika	do
Length of Residence	2 years	do
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church
Folio	943
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 July 1869
Officiating Minister	Rev. P.A. Martin

152

5 July 1869

John Byrnes
Emma Sharpe

John Bycroft
Emma Stone
💍 1869/5022

Widower

27
40

Hokitika
do

3 years
4 years

St. Mary's Church

960

5 July 1869

Rev. John Snow

No	152
Date of Notice	5 July 1869
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Byrnes	Emma Sharpe
BDM Match (65%)	John Bycroft	Emma Stone
	💍 1869/5022
Condition	Widower
Profession
Age	27	40
Dwelling Place	Hokitika	do
Length of Residence	3 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church
Folio	960
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 July 1869
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Snow

153

5 July 1869

Alfred Davey
Annie Faulbrook

Alfred Davey
Annie Sanbrook
💍 1869/7083

Bachelor
Spinster

Government Messenger
Government Servant

23
21

Hokitika
do

2 1/2 years
do

Registrar's Office

912

12 July 1869

Registrar Hokitika

No	153
Date of Notice	5 July 1869
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Davey	Annie Faulbrook
BDM Match (90%)	Alfred Davey	Annie Sanbrook
	💍 1869/7083
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Government Messenger	Government Servant
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Hokitika	do
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	do
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	912
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 July 1869
Officiating Minister	Registrar Hokitika

154

12 July 1869

Daniel Fraser
Mary Ann Dick

David Fraser
Mary Ann Dick
💍 1869/6948

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

26
22

Ross
Hokitika

4 years
4 weeks

Private Residence

13 July 1869

Rev. John Snow

No	154
Date of Notice	12 July 1869
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel Fraser	Mary Ann Dick
BDM Match (88%)	David Fraser	Mary Ann Dick
	💍 1869/6948
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Ross	Hokitika
Length of Residence	4 years	4 weeks
Marriage Place	Private Residence
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 July 1869
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Snow

155

13 July 1869

Henry Eastwood Grant
Mary Josephine Grant

Henry Eastwood
Maggie Josephine Grant
💍 1869/4746

Bachelor
Spinster

Traveller

26
24

Hokitika
do

7 years
4 months

All Saints Church

17 July 1869

Rev. Arch. Harper

No	155
Date of Notice	13 July 1869
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Eastwood Grant	Mary Josephine Grant
BDM Match (76%)	Henry Eastwood	Maggie Josephine Grant
	💍 1869/4746
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Traveller
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Hokitika	do
Length of Residence	7 years	4 months
Marriage Place	All Saints Church
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 July 1869
Officiating Minister	Rev. Arch. Harper

156

17 July 1869

William McCaull
Isabella Newton

William McCurdy
Isabella Newton
💍 1869/4749

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Bar Maid

23
19

Hokitika
do

6 days
5 days

All Saints Church

17 July 1869

Rev. Arch. Harper

No	156
Date of Notice	17 July 1869
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William McCaull	Isabella Newton
BDM Match (87%)	William McCurdy	Isabella Newton
	💍 1869/4749
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Bar Maid
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Hokitika	do
Length of Residence	6 days	5 days
Marriage Place	All Saints Church
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 July 1869
Officiating Minister	Rev. Arch. Harper

157

22 July 1869

James Stephens
Catherine Causey

James Stephens
Catherine Carney
💍 1869/6951

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Servant

24
25

Hokitika
do

3 days
3 days

Private Residence

913

22 July 1869

Rev. John Snow

No	157
Date of Notice	22 July 1869
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Stephens	Catherine Causey
BDM Match (94%)	James Stephens	Catherine Carney
	💍 1869/6951
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Servant
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Hokitika	do
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Private Residence
Folio	913
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 July 1869
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Snow

158

24 July 1869

William Nunn
Mary Mary Forwish

William Kuid
Mary Jane Curtis
💍 1869/5559

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Publican

23
24

Hokitika
do

1 year
18 months

Catholic Church

944

24 July 1869

Rev. P.A. Martin

No	158
Date of Notice	24 July 1869
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Nunn	Mary Mary Forwish
BDM Match (67%)	William Kuid	Mary Jane Curtis
	💍 1869/5559
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Publican
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Hokitika	do
Length of Residence	1 year	18 months
Marriage Place	Catholic Church
Folio	944
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 July 1869
Officiating Minister	Rev. P.A. Martin

159

6 September 1869

Stephen Bell
Mary Christiana Payne

Stephen Bell
Mary Christie
💍 1869/7041

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinet Maker

25
28

Hokitika
Hokitika

2 years
2 years

Catholic Church

945

8 September 1869

Rev. P.A. Martin

No	159
Date of Notice	6 September 1869
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stephen Bell	Mary Christiana Payne
BDM Match (81%)	Stephen Bell	Mary Christie
	💍 1869/7041
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinet Maker
Age	25	28
Dwelling Place	Hokitika	Hokitika
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Catholic Church
Folio	945
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 September 1869
Officiating Minister	Rev. P.A. Martin

160

24 August 1869

Henry William Mason
Ellen Fylris

Henry William Mason
Ellen Fylder
💍 1869/6957

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Servant

35
25

Hokitika
Hokitika

the week

Private Residence

69/915

29 August 1869

Rev. John Go[illegible]

No	160
Date of Notice	24 August 1869
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry William Mason	Ellen Fylris
BDM Match (88%)	Henry William Mason	Ellen Fylder
	💍 1869/6957
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Servant
Age	35	25
Dwelling Place	Hokitika	Hokitika
Length of Residence	the week
Marriage Place	Private Residence
Folio	69/915
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 August 1869
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Go[illegible]

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

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Attribution: This image was digitised by Archives NZ Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga and is republished here under CC BY. It has been cropped and rotated for convenience.

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).