Intentions to Marry, 1870

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840382, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke Howison at Archives NZ Wellington, November 15 2024

Page 309

District of Napier Quarter ending 31 March 1870

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

254

1 January 1870

Israel Trash
Kate McLaughlin

Israel Trask
Kate McLauchlan
💍 1870/6204

Bachelor
Spinster

Stockman
Domestic

33
28

Meanee, Napier
Lincoln Rd, Napier

11 years
4 years

At the Residence of Mr McCormick, Carlyle St, Napier

1 January 1870

Rev. G Morice, Napier

No	254
Date of Notice	1 January 1870
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Israel Trash	Kate McLaughlin
BDM Match (89%)	Israel Trask	Kate McLauchlan
	💍 1870/6204
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stockman	Domestic
Age	33	28
Dwelling Place	Meanee, Napier	Lincoln Rd, Napier
Length of Residence	11 years	4 years
Marriage Place	At the Residence of Mr McCormick, Carlyle St, Napier
Folio	7
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 January 1870
Officiating Minister	Rev. G Morice, Napier

255

10 February 1870

John Hunt
Sarah Ann Taylor

John Hunt
Sarah Ann Taylor
💍 1870/6255

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Nil

31
26

Dickens Street, Napier
Dickens Street, Napier

1 1/2 years
16 years

at the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Napier

10 February 1870

By Registrar of Marriages

No	255
Date of Notice	10 February 1870
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Hunt	Sarah Ann Taylor
	💍 1870/6255
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Nil
Age	31	26
Dwelling Place	Dickens Street, Napier	Dickens Street, Napier
Length of Residence	1 1/2 years	16 years
Marriage Place	at the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Napier
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1870
Officiating Minister	By Registrar of Marriages

256

14 February 1870

Jasper Lucas Herrick
Emily Martha Duncan

Jasper Lucas
Emily Martha Duncan
💍 1870/6273

Widower
Spinster

Sheepfarmer
Nil

36
21

Kereru
Shakespeare Road, Napier

12 years
2 years

At the Episcopalian Church, Tennyson St, Napier

14 February 1870

Rev. J. Townsend, Napier

No	256
Date of Notice	14 February 1870
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jasper Lucas Herrick	Emily Martha Duncan
BDM Match (80%)	Jasper Lucas	Emily Martha Duncan
	💍 1870/6273
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer	Nil
Age	36	21
Dwelling Place	Kereru	Shakespeare Road, Napier
Length of Residence	12 years	2 years
Marriage Place	At the Episcopalian Church, Tennyson St, Napier
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1870
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Townsend, Napier

257

16 February 1870

John Wainhouse Neal
Eliza Close

John Wainhouse Neal
Eliza Close
💍 1870/6270

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Nil

30
20

Carlisle St, Napier
Carlisle St, Napier

4 years
1 1/2 years

at the Episcopalian Church, Tennyson St, Napier

16 February 1870

Rev. J. Townsend, Napier

No	257
Date of Notice	16 February 1870
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Wainhouse Neal	Eliza Close
	💍 1870/6270
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Nil
Age	30	20
Dwelling Place	Carlisle St, Napier	Carlisle St, Napier
Length of Residence	4 years	1 1/2 years
Marriage Place	at the Episcopalian Church, Tennyson St, Napier
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1870
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Townsend, Napier

258

22 February 1870

Leonard Roper
Mary Ann Parker

Leonard Roper
Mary Ann Parker
💍 1870/6297

Bachelor
Spinster

Drover
Nil

37
30

Meanee, Napier
Meanee, Napier

10 years
10 years

at the Roman Catholic Church, Meanee

22 February 1870

Rev Father Reginier, Meanee

No	258
Date of Notice	22 February 1870
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Roper	Mary Ann Parker
	💍 1870/6297
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Drover	Nil
Age	37	30
Dwelling Place	Meanee, Napier	Meanee, Napier
Length of Residence	10 years	10 years
Marriage Place	at the Roman Catholic Church, Meanee
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1870
Officiating Minister	Rev Father Reginier, Meanee

259

2 March 1870

William Patrick
Mary Ewart

William Petherick
Mary Ewart
💍 1870/6306

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Nil

21
20

Waipawa, Napier
Waipawa, Napier

14 years
3 months

at the Wesleyan Chapel, Waipawa

Maria Ewart, mother

2 March 1870

Rev. S. Williams, Te Aute

No	259
Date of Notice	2 March 1870
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Patrick	Mary Ewart
BDM Match (91%)	William Petherick	Mary Ewart
	💍 1870/6306
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Nil
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Waipawa, Napier	Waipawa, Napier
Length of Residence	14 years	3 months
Marriage Place	at the Wesleyan Chapel, Waipawa
Folio
Consent	Maria Ewart, mother
Date of Certificate	2 March 1870
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Williams, Te Aute

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).