Intentions to Marry, 1872

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840384, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Page 245

District of Wanganui Quarter ending 30 September 1872 Registrar J. T. Edwards

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

3 July 1872

William Lilly England
Clara Hill

William L England
Clara Hill
💍 1872/5082

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

30
26

Wanganui
Wanganui

4 years
6 years

Mr. Earles' house at Campbelltown

72/1150

3 July 1872

Revd. Mr. Steward

No	13
Date of Notice	3 July 1872
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Lilly England	Clara Hill
BDM Match (91%)	William L England	Clara Hill
	💍 1872/5082
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	30	26
Dwelling Place	Wanganui	Wanganui
Length of Residence	4 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Mr. Earles' house at Campbelltown
Folio	72/1150
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 July 1872
Officiating Minister	Revd. Mr. Steward

4 July 1872

Ngamaka Ronga Hikaia
Rahua Hohe

Takana Nga Moko Rongo Hikaia
Rahera Hohe
💍 1872/5112

Bachelor
Spinster

Ab. Native
Ab. Native

Full
Full

Iwatatua, Wangaehu
Kaiwhaihi, Wangaehu

21
21

St. Paul's Church, Putiki

72/1160

4 July 1872

Rev. B. K. Taylor

No	14
Date of Notice	4 July 1872
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ngamaka Ronga Hikaia	Rahua Hohe
BDM Match (69%)	Takana Nga Moko Rongo Hikaia	Rahera Hohe
	💍 1872/5112
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ab. Native	Ab. Native
Age	Full	Full
Dwelling Place	Iwatatua, Wangaehu	Kaiwhaihi, Wangaehu
Length of Residence	21	21
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Putiki
Folio	72/1160
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 July 1872
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. K. Taylor

11 July 1872

Daniel McKay
Elizabeth Lynch

Daniel McCoy
Eliza Lynch
💍 1872/5118

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

32
21

Wanganui
Wanganui

3 years
15 years

At the Roman Catholic Church, Wanganui

72/1162

11 July 1872

Rev. Mr. Costello

No	15
Date of Notice	11 July 1872
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel McKay	Elizabeth Lynch
BDM Match (78%)	Daniel McCoy	Eliza Lynch
	💍 1872/5118
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	32	21
Dwelling Place	Wanganui	Wanganui
Length of Residence	3 years	15 years
Marriage Place	At the Roman Catholic Church, Wanganui
Folio	72/1162
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 July 1872
Officiating Minister	Rev. Mr. Costello

13 July 1872

George McCulloch
Johana Tresa Mahoney

George McCulloch
Johanna Teresa Mahoney
💍 1872/5115

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman

27
20

Wanganui
Wanganui

5 years
18 years

At St. Mary's Church, Wanganui

72/1161

Michael Mahoney, father

13 July 1872

Rev. Mr. Trecellitt

No	16
Date of Notice	13 July 1872
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George McCulloch	Johana Tresa Mahoney
BDM Match (95%)	George McCulloch	Johanna Teresa Mahoney
	💍 1872/5115
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Wanganui	Wanganui
Length of Residence	5 years	18 years
Marriage Place	At St. Mary's Church, Wanganui
Folio	72/1161
Consent	Michael Mahoney, father
Date of Certificate	13 July 1872
Officiating Minister	Rev. Mr. Trecellitt

29 July 1872

Alexander Dundas
Ellen Elizabeth Trafford

Alexander Dundas
Ellen Elizabeth Trafford
💍 1872/5097

Bachelor
Spinster

Surveyor

32
17

Wanganui, Rangitiki
Wanganui

14 days
17 years

Christ church, Wanganui

72/1155

Henry Treser Jones, guardian

29 July 1872

Rev. E. B. Neville

No	17
Date of Notice	29 July 1872
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Dundas	Ellen Elizabeth Trafford
	💍 1872/5097
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Surveyor
Age	32	17
Dwelling Place	Wanganui, Rangitiki	Wanganui
Length of Residence	14 days	17 years
Marriage Place	Christ church, Wanganui
Folio	72/1155
Consent	Henry Treser Jones, guardian
Date of Certificate	29 July 1872
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. B. Neville

4 September 1872

Malcolm Bell
Eliza Slight

Malcolm Bell
Eliza Sleight
💍 1872/5154

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

29
21

Marton
Marton

4 days

72/1175

5 September 1872

Revd. Wm. Stewart

No	18
Date of Notice	4 September 1872
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Malcolm Bell	Eliza Slight
BDM Match (96%)	Malcolm Bell	Eliza Sleight
	💍 1872/5154
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Marton	Marton
Length of Residence	4 days
Marriage Place
Folio	72/1175
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 September 1872
Officiating Minister	Revd. Wm. Stewart

25 September 1872

George Ross
Caroline Lancto

Geo Ross
Caroline Sancto
💍 1872/8213

Widower
Spinster

Labourer

27
20

Wanganui
Wanganui

27 years
15 years

Mr. J. C. Young's house, Wanganui

72/2215

25 October 1872

No	19
Date of Notice	25 September 1872
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Ross	Caroline Lancto
BDM Match (83%)	Geo Ross	Caroline Sancto
	💍 1872/8213
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Wanganui	Wanganui
Length of Residence	27 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Mr. J. C. Young's house, Wanganui
Folio	72/2215
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 October 1872
Officiating Minister

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 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).