Intentions to Marry, 1871

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840383, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

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

Page 297

District of Napier Quarter ending 31 December 1871

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
313	4 October 1871	Mikel Nylond Christiana McLennan	Mikel Hyland Christina McLennan 💍 1871/8241	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner Domestic	28 18	The Spit, Napier Seawater St, Napier	2½ years 1 month	on the Pilot Station, Port	486	Donald McLennan	4 October 1871	Rev. G. Morrice
314	4 October 1871	Joseph Doherty Bridget Sellers	Joseph Doherty Bridget Sellars 💍 1871/7308	Bachelor Spinster	Wheelwright Domestic	22 19	White Road, Napier Hastings St, Napier	12 years 2 years	Roman Catholic Church, Napier	170	William Sellers	4 October 1871	Rev. Father Forest
315	4 October 1871	Patrick Collins Margaret Corgrove	Patrick C Coghlan Margaret Cosgrove 💍 1871/7305 Patrick Cassidy Margaret Connor 💍 1871/6351 Patrick Melvin Margaret Bartley 💍 1871/4209 Patrick Tallan Margaret Boyd 💍 1871/7626	Bachelor Spinster	Constable Domestic	24 20	Marine Parade, Napier Hastings St, Napier	2½ years 3½ years	Roman Catholic Church, Napier	169	Patrick Corgrove	4 October 1871	Rev. Father Forest
316	16 October 1871	Thomas Baker Florence Mary Caulton	Thomas Baker Florence Mary Caulton 💍 1871/7293	Bachelor Spinster	A.C. Forces Nil	36 20	The Spit, Napier Harbour St, Napier	1½ years 2 years	Episcopalian Church, Napier	165	John Caulton	16 October 1871	Rev. J. Youmans
317	25 October 1871	David Seton Melville Louisa Alice French	David Seton Melville Louisa Alicia French 💍 1871/7296	Bachelor Widow	Manager of Union Bank Nil	35 30	Shakespeare Rd, Napier Shakespeare Rd, Napier	1½ months 2 years	Residence of Clifton, Napier	166		25 October 1871	Rev. J. Youmans
318	13 November 1871	Benjamin Clarke Mary Ann Buston	Benjamin Clarke Mary Ann Burston 💍 1871/7299	Bachelor Widow	Labourer Nil	35 38	Havelock St, Napier Meanee St, Napier	5 years 5 years	Episcopalian Church, Napier	167		13 November 1871	Rev. J. Youmans
319	20 November 1871	Walter George Slater Margaret Angus	Walter George Slater Margaret Angus 💍 1871/8244	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Domestic	24 21	Emerson St, Napier Milton Rd, Napier	12 years 1½ years	The Residence of Rev. G. Morrice, Napier	484		20 November 1871	Rev. G. Morrice
320	20 November 1871	Robert John Pym Eliza Malaney		Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Nil	21 22	Fitzroy Rd, Napier Carlyle St, Napier	12 years 12 years	Roman Catholic Church, Napier	171		20 November 1871	Rev. Father Forest
321	22 November 1871	Robert Macfarlane Mary Wilson Begg	Robert Macfarlane Mary Wilson Begg 💍 1871/3896	Bachelor Spinster	Banker Nil	32 21	Tennyson St, Napier Clyde Rd, Napier	7 days 12 years	The residence of Samuel Begg, Esq., Napier	488		22 November 1871	Rev. G. Morrice

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).