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 311

District of Napier Quarter ending 30 June 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

260

1 April 1870

William Alexander Riddell
Royal Holland

William Alexander Riddell
Royal Holland
💍 1870/6210

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Nil

29
21

White Road, Napier
West Clive, Napier

5 years
2 years

At the residence of Mr Faulkner, West Clive, Napier

1 April 1870

Rev. G. Morice, Napier

No	260
Date of Notice	1 April 1870
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Alexander Riddell	Royal Holland
	💍 1870/6210
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Nil
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	White Road, Napier	West Clive, Napier
Length of Residence	5 years	2 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of Mr Faulkner, West Clive, Napier
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 April 1870
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Morice, Napier

261

11 April 1870

Allan McLean
Hannah Chambers

Allan McLean
Hannah Chambers
💍 1870/6261

Bachelor
Spinster

Station Manager
Nil

31
20

Tuki Tuki, Station, Napier
Te Mata, Napier

2 yrs
12 years

At the residence of John Chambers, Te Mata, Napier

John Chambers, father

11 April 1870

Rev. A. Shepherd, Napier

No	261
Date of Notice	11 April 1870
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Allan McLean	Hannah Chambers
	💍 1870/6261
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Station Manager	Nil
Age	31	20
Dwelling Place	Tuki Tuki, Station, Napier	Te Mata, Napier
Length of Residence	2 yrs	12 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of John Chambers, Te Mata, Napier
Folio
Consent	John Chambers, father
Date of Certificate	11 April 1870
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Shepherd, Napier

262

21 April 1870

George Stewart Fraser
Alice Rebecca Levick

George Stewart Fraser
Alice Rebecca Levick
💍 1870/6258

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer
Nil

23
22

Hastings St, Napier
Shamrock Hotel, Napier

2 years
3 years

at the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Napier

21 April 1870

Registrar of Marriages, Napier

No	262
Date of Notice	21 April 1870
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Stewart Fraser	Alice Rebecca Levick
	💍 1870/6258
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer	Nil
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Hastings St, Napier	Shamrock Hotel, Napier
Length of Residence	2 years	3 years
Marriage Place	at the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Napier
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 April 1870
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Napier

263

16 May 1870

James Boyd
Margaret Patrek

James Boyd
Margaret Patrick
💍 1870/6264

Bachelor
Widow

Overseer
Nil

31
22

Pekapeka, Napier
Pekapeka, Napier

6 years
10 days

at the residence of Mr Brenigan, Puketapu, Napier

16 May 1870

Revd. A. Shepherd, Napier

No	263
Date of Notice	16 May 1870
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Boyd	Margaret Patrek
BDM Match (94%)	James Boyd	Margaret Patrick
	💍 1870/6264
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Overseer	Nil
Age	31	22
Dwelling Place	Pekapeka, Napier	Pekapeka, Napier
Length of Residence	6 years	10 days
Marriage Place	at the residence of Mr Brenigan, Puketapu, Napier
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 May 1870
Officiating Minister	Revd. A. Shepherd, Napier

264

16 May 1870

George Herbert
Elizabeth Williamson

George Herbert
Elizabeth Williamson
💍 1870/6213

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer
Nil

43
50

Petane, Napier
Battery Road, Napier

15 yrs
3 yrs

at the Presbyterian Church, Napier

16 May 1870

Rev. G. Morice, Napier

No	264
Date of Notice	16 May 1870
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Herbert	Elizabeth Williamson
	💍 1870/6213
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Nil
Age	43	50
Dwelling Place	Petane, Napier	Battery Road, Napier
Length of Residence	15 yrs	3 yrs
Marriage Place	at the Presbyterian Church, Napier
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 May 1870
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Morice, Napier

265

17 May 1870

Alfred Hollies
Abigal Harvey

Alfred Hollies
Abigail Harry
💍 1870/6216

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Nil

28
28

Clive, Napier
Tennyson St, Napier

5 yrs
5 yrs

At the residence of Mr Graham, Tennyson St, Napier

17 May 1870

Rev. G. Morice, Napier

No	265
Date of Notice	17 May 1870
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Hollies	Abigal Harvey
BDM Match (88%)	Alfred Hollies	Abigail Harry
	💍 1870/6216
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Nil
Age	28	28
Dwelling Place	Clive, Napier	Tennyson St, Napier
Length of Residence	5 yrs	5 yrs
Marriage Place	At the residence of Mr Graham, Tennyson St, Napier
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 May 1870
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Morice, Napier

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 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).