Intentions to Marry, 1873

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840385, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke Howison at Archives NZ Wellington, December 4 2024

Page 182

District of Shortland Quarter ending 31 March 1873

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

353

24 January 1873

Isaac Philip Leak
Mary Ann White

Isaac Philip Leah
Mary Ann White
💍 1873/10834

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

31 years
22 years

Shortland
Shortland

5 years
5 years

St George's Church, the Thames

73/2053

25 January 1873

Revd V. Lush

No	353
Date of Notice	24 January 1873
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Isaac Philip Leak	Mary Ann White
BDM Match (97%)	Isaac Philip Leah	Mary Ann White
	💍 1873/10834
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	31 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Shortland	Shortland
Length of Residence	5 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St George's Church, the Thames
Folio	73/2053
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 January 1873
Officiating Minister	Revd V. Lush

354

28 January 1873

Francis Gregory Welch
Elizabeth Ann Rickit

Francis Gregory Welch
Elizabeth Ann Ricket
💍 1873/10831

Bachelor
Spinster

Agent

23 years
22 years

Shortland
Shortland

12 months
3 years

St George's Church

73/2057

30 January 1873

Revd V. Lush

No	354
Date of Notice	28 January 1873
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Gregory Welch	Elizabeth Ann Rickit
BDM Match (98%)	Francis Gregory Welch	Elizabeth Ann Ricket
	💍 1873/10831
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Agent
Age	23 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Shortland	Shortland
Length of Residence	12 months	3 years
Marriage Place	St George's Church
Folio	73/2057
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 January 1873
Officiating Minister	Revd V. Lush

355

28 January 1873

Michael Turney
Mary McDonnell

Michael Turney
Mary McDonald
💍 1873/5635

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

30 years
23 years

Grahamstown
Parawai

4 years
1.5 years

the Roman Catholic Chapel, Shortland

73/278

28 January 1873

Rev. Father Nivardo

No	355
Date of Notice	28 January 1873
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Turney	Mary McDonnell
BDM Match (87%)	Michael Turney	Mary McDonald
	💍 1873/5635
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	30 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Grahamstown	Parawai
Length of Residence	4 years	1.5 years
Marriage Place	the Roman Catholic Chapel, Shortland
Folio	73/278
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 January 1873
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Nivardo

356

10 February 1873

David Pamm
Helen Hutchinson

David Camm
Helen Hutchinson
💍 1873/10828

Bachelor
Widow

Quarryman

45 years
50 years

Hape
Hape

4 years
4 years

St George's Church, The Thames

73/2053

10 February 1873

Revd V. Lush

No	356
Date of Notice	10 February 1873
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Pamm	Helen Hutchinson
BDM Match (95%)	David Camm	Helen Hutchinson
	💍 1873/10828
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Quarryman
Age	45 years	50 years
Dwelling Place	Hape	Hape
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St George's Church, The Thames
Folio	73/2053
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1873
Officiating Minister	Revd V. Lush

357

10 February 1873

William Henry Burch
Esther Cartwright

William Henry Burch
Esther Cartwright
💍 1873/6346

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

28 years
18 years

Karaka
Karaka

5 years
18 months

the dwelling house occupied by John Cartwright, Karaka, The Thames

731/520

John Cartwright, "The Father"

10 February 1873

Revd L. Jones

No	357
Date of Notice	10 February 1873
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Burch	Esther Cartwright
	💍 1873/6346
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	28 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Karaka	Karaka
Length of Residence	5 years	18 months
Marriage Place	the dwelling house occupied by John Cartwright, Karaka, The Thames
Folio	731/520
Consent	John Cartwright, "The Father"
Date of Certificate	10 February 1873
Officiating Minister	Revd L. Jones

358

12 February 1873

John Stafford
Jane Alma Sustins

John Stafford
Jane Alina Sustinz
💍 1873/9460

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

25 years
18 years

Waiotahi
Waiotahi

3 years
6 months

the dwelling house occupied by Rev James Hill, Shortland

73/1580

27 February 1873

Rev James Hill

No	358
Date of Notice	12 February 1873
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Stafford	Jane Alma Sustins
BDM Match (92%)	John Stafford	Jane Alina Sustinz
	💍 1873/9460
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	25 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Waiotahi	Waiotahi
Length of Residence	3 years	6 months
Marriage Place	the dwelling house occupied by Rev James Hill, Shortland
Folio	73/1580
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1873
Officiating Minister	Rev James Hill

359

15 February 1873

William Johnson
Georgina Isabella Emily Clarke

William Johnson
Georgina Isabella Emily Clarke
💍 1873/5644

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic

30 years
21 years

Karaka
Karaka

3 years
5 years

In the dwelling house occupied by William Johnson, Thames

73/287

15 February 1873

Rev. B. b. Butland

No	359
Date of Notice	15 February 1873
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Johnson	Georgina Isabella Emily Clarke
	💍 1873/5644
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic
Age	30 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Karaka	Karaka
Length of Residence	3 years	5 years
Marriage Place	In the dwelling house occupied by William Johnson, Thames
Folio	73/287
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1873
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. b. Butland

360

17 February 1873

Thomas Scott
Sarah Frelan

Thomas Scott
Sarah Frelan
💍 1873/9457

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic

27 years
17 years

Grahamstown
Grahamstown

4 years
4 years

St James Church, the Thames

73/1578

Jane Goard, "The Mother"

17 February 1873

Rev James Hill

No	360
Date of Notice	17 February 1873
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Scott	Sarah Frelan
	💍 1873/9457
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic
Age	27 years	17 years
Dwelling Place	Grahamstown	Grahamstown
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St James Church, the Thames
Folio	73/1578
Consent	Jane Goard, "The Mother"
Date of Certificate	17 February 1873
Officiating Minister	Rev James Hill

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).