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 301

District of Wanganui Quarter ending 30 June 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

10 June 1873

John Wilson Armstrong
Clarina Foster

John Wilson Armstrong
Clarinda Foster
💍 1873/5677

Bachelor
Widow

Carpenter

32
36

Tanganui

16 years
8 years

at the Residence of Mrs Foster, Tanganui

73/292

10 June 1873

Rev. Basel Taylor

No	51
Date of Notice	10 June 1873
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Wilson Armstrong	Clarina Foster
BDM Match (97%)	John Wilson Armstrong	Clarinda Foster
	💍 1873/5677
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Carpenter
Age	32	36
Dwelling Place	Tanganui
Length of Residence	16 years	8 years
Marriage Place	at the Residence of Mrs Foster, Tanganui
Folio	73/292
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 June 1873
Officiating Minister	Rev. Basel Taylor

16 June 1873

William Brewer
Eliza Helen Durie

William Brewer
Eliza Helen Durie
💍 1873/10042

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

27
21

Wanganui
Manganui

6 years
21 years

Christchurch

73/1781

Rev. Richard Taylor

No	52
Date of Notice	16 June 1873
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Brewer	Eliza Helen Durie
	💍 1873/10042
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Wanganui	Manganui
Length of Residence	6 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Christchurch
Folio	73/1781
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	Rev. Richard Taylor

16 June 1873

William George Watt
Henriella Caroline Durie

William George Watt
Henrietta Caroline Durie
💍 1873/10045

Bachelor
Spinster

Merchant

22
19

Wanganui
Wanganui

19 years
19 years

Square Choral Church

73/1782

J.B. Durie, Father

16 June 1873

Rev. Richard Taylor

No	53
Date of Notice	16 June 1873
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William George Watt	Henriella Caroline Durie
BDM Match (96%)	William George Watt	Henrietta Caroline Durie
	💍 1873/10045
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Merchant
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Wanganui	Wanganui
Length of Residence	19 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Square Choral Church
Folio	73/1782
Consent	J.B. Durie, Father
Date of Certificate	16 June 1873
Officiating Minister	Rev. Richard Taylor

23 June 1873

Alfred Bailey
Amelia Old

Alfred Bailey
Amelia Old
💍 1873/10036

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

23
17

No 3 Line Wanganui
Wanganui

5 years
15 years

Matarawa Church No 2 Line

73/1779

23 June 1873

Rev. B. Taylor

No	54
Date of Notice	23 June 1873
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Bailey	Amelia Old
	💍 1873/10036
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	23	17
Dwelling Place	No 3 Line Wanganui	Wanganui
Length of Residence	5 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Matarawa Church No 2 Line
Folio	73/1779
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 June 1873
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. Taylor

23 June 1873

William Guynne
Catherine Witson

William Guynne
Catherine Wilson
💍 1873/10048

Bachelor
Spinster

Constable

29
21

Wanganui
Wanganui

1 year
1 year

Catholic Church Wanganui

73/1783

25 June 1873

Rev. Father Tresallet

No	55
Date of Notice	23 June 1873
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Guynne	Catherine Witson
BDM Match (97%)	William Guynne	Catherine Wilson
	💍 1873/10048
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Constable
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Wanganui	Wanganui
Length of Residence	1 year	1 year
Marriage Place	Catholic Church Wanganui
Folio	73/1783
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 June 1873
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Tresallet

25 June 1873

James Methven
Emily Bauk

James Bowden
Emily Coop
💍 1873/4724

Bachelor
Widow

Clerk in Holy orders

31
28

Otaki
Wanganui

5 years
14 years

the House of Reed & B. Neville

73/1777

25 June 1873

Rev. F.B. Neville

No	56
Date of Notice	25 June 1873
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Methven	Emily Bauk
BDM Match (61%)	James Bowden	Emily Coop
	💍 1873/4724
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Clerk in Holy orders
Age	31	28
Dwelling Place	Otaki	Wanganui
Length of Residence	5 years	14 years
Marriage Place	the House of Reed & B. Neville
Folio	73/1777
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 June 1873
Officiating Minister	Rev. F.B. Neville

30 June 1873

Stewart Mauson
Hori Te Ao Turoa

Stewart Manson
Hohi te Ao Turoa
💍 1873/4736

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper

36
32

Wanganui
Wanganui

8 years
32 years

at the Church, Putiki

73/2150

30 June 1873

Rev. B. Taylor

No	57
Date of Notice	30 June 1873
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stewart Mauson	Hori Te Ao Turoa
BDM Match (90%)	Stewart Manson	Hohi te Ao Turoa
	💍 1873/4736
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper
Age	36	32
Dwelling Place	Wanganui	Wanganui
Length of Residence	8 years	32 years
Marriage Place	at the Church, Putiki
Folio	73/2150
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 June 1873
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. Taylor

30 June 1873

Ewen Alexander Campbell
Helen Barbara Macdonald

Ewen Alexander Campbell
Helen Barbara Macdonald
💍 1873/10009

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

35
23

Wanganui

30 years
7 years

at the Residence of Mrs Macdonald

73/1769

30 June 1873

Rev. John Elmslie

No	58
Date of Notice	30 June 1873
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ewen Alexander Campbell	Helen Barbara Macdonald
	💍 1873/10009
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	35	23
Dwelling Place	Wanganui
Length of Residence	30 years	7 years
Marriage Place	at the Residence of Mrs Macdonald
Folio	73/1769
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 June 1873
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Elmslie

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).