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 613

District of Lyttelton 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

107

13 January 1873

George Horsefield
Agnes M. Kinzer

George Horsfield
Agnes McKenzie
💍 1873/7867

Bachelor
Spinster

Shoemaker

40
19

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

9 years
3 months

Holy Trinity Church Lyttelton

73/1037

None in colony of N.Z.

13 January 1873

Rev. Frederick Pemberton

No	107
Date of Notice	13 January 1873
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Horsefield	Agnes M. Kinzer
BDM Match (80%)	George Horsfield	Agnes McKenzie
	💍 1873/7867
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shoemaker
Age	40	19
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	9 years	3 months
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church Lyttelton
Folio	73/1037
Consent	None in colony of N.Z.
Date of Certificate	13 January 1873
Officiating Minister	Rev. Frederick Pemberton

108

10 February 1873

John Edwin Allen
Sarah Bennet Sturrs

John Edwin Allen
Sarah Jennett Gilchrist
💍 1873/6265

Bachelor
Spinster

Steward

29
20

Lyttelton
Christchurch

5 weeks
3 months

Private House of Mr Robert Harris Christchurch

73/1491

None in colony of N.Z.

25 February 1873

Rev. William Morley

No	108
Date of Notice	10 February 1873
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Edwin Allen	Sarah Bennet Sturrs
BDM Match (80%)	John Edwin Allen	Sarah Jennett Gilchrist
	💍 1873/6265
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Steward
Age	29	20
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 weeks	3 months
Marriage Place	Private House of Mr Robert Harris Christchurch
Folio	73/1491
Consent	None in colony of N.Z.
Date of Certificate	25 February 1873
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Morley

109

12 February 1873

Anthony Hart
Ellen Martha Harris

Anthony Hall
Ellen Martha Harris
💍 1873/5264

Bachelor
Spinster

Poughman

30
19

Governors Bay
Governors Bay

2 months
2 months

Meek Church of England Governors Bay

73/1492

Robert Harris, father

12 February 1873

Rev. William Morley

No	109
Date of Notice	12 February 1873
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Anthony Hart	Ellen Martha Harris
BDM Match (92%)	Anthony Hall	Ellen Martha Harris
	💍 1873/5264
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Poughman
Age	30	19
Dwelling Place	Governors Bay	Governors Bay
Length of Residence	2 months	2 months
Marriage Place	Meek Church of England Governors Bay
Folio	73/1492
Consent	Robert Harris, father
Date of Certificate	12 February 1873
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Morley

110

21 February 1873

Morton Horniman
Julia Parsons

Morton Storneman
Julia Parsons
💍 1873/7870

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

28
23

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

8 days
Do

Holy Trinity Church Lyttelton

73/1038

Lyttelton

21 February 1873

Rev. Frederick Pemberton

No	110
Date of Notice	21 February 1873
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Morton Horniman	Julia Parsons
BDM Match (91%)	Morton Storneman	Julia Parsons
	💍 1873/7870
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	8 days	Do
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church Lyttelton
Folio	73/1038
Consent	Lyttelton
Date of Certificate	21 February 1873
Officiating Minister	Rev. Frederick Pemberton

111

25 February 1873

Henry Wilson
Harriet Grace Mitchell

Henry Wilson
Harriet Grace Mitchell
💍 1873/6268

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper

25
19

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

9 years
12 years with Mr Mitchell, father

Private House of Mr Wilson Mitchell Lyttelton

73/1492

Mr Mitchell, father

25 February 1873

Rev. William Morley

No	111
Date of Notice	25 February 1873
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Wilson	Harriet Grace Mitchell
	💍 1873/6268
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	9 years	12 years with Mr Mitchell, father
Marriage Place	Private House of Mr Wilson Mitchell Lyttelton
Folio	73/1492
Consent	Mr Mitchell, father
Date of Certificate	25 February 1873
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Morley

112

14 March 1873

Thomas Brough
Mary Touzar

Thomas Brough
Mary Tozer
💍 1873/10666

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer

full
Full

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

2 months
5 days

Roman Catholic Chapel LytteltonLyttelton

73/1994

14 March 1873

Rev. Francis Del Monte

No	112
Date of Notice	14 March 1873
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Brough	Mary Touzar
BDM Match (91%)	Thomas Brough	Mary Tozer
	💍 1873/10666
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	full	Full
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	2 months	5 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Chapel LytteltonLyttelton
Folio	73/1994
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 March 1873
Officiating Minister	Rev. Francis Del Monte

113

22 March 1873

Harried Parker
Grace Ann Bright

Harrild Baxter
Grace Ann Bright
💍 1873/7873

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer

22
17

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

over 3 days
Do

Holy Trinity Church Lyttelton

73/1039

Sarah Bright, mother, Lyttelton

22 March 1873

Rev. Frederick Pemberton

No	113
Date of Notice	22 March 1873
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harried Parker	Grace Ann Bright
BDM Match (86%)	Harrild Baxter	Grace Ann Bright
	💍 1873/7873
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer
Age	22	17
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	over 3 days	Do
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church Lyttelton
Folio	73/1039
Consent	Sarah Bright, mother, Lyttelton
Date of Certificate	22 March 1873
Officiating Minister	Rev. Frederick Pemberton

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).