Intentions to Marry, 1874

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840386, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Page 182

District of Shortland Quarter ending 31 March 1874

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

461

30 January 1874

John Lang Kean
Sarah Miller

John Lang Kean
Sarah Miller
💍 1874/6121

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

23 years
19 years

Moanataiari
Parawai

4 years
6 days

The dwelling house occupied by Alfred Smith, Parawai

74/81

Mary Eliza Miller, "The Mother"

30 January 1874

The Revd. B. C. Butland, Congl.

No	461
Date of Notice	30 January 1874
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Lang Kean	Sarah Miller
	💍 1874/6121
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	23 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Moanataiari	Parawai
Length of Residence	4 years	6 days
Marriage Place	The dwelling house occupied by Alfred Smith, Parawai
Folio	74/81
Consent	Mary Eliza Miller, "The Mother"
Date of Certificate	30 January 1874
Officiating Minister	The Revd. B. C. Butland, Congl.

462

2 February 1874

William Judd
Elizabeth Jones

William Judd
Elizabeth Jones
💍 1874/6136

Bachelor
Widow

Dresser
Milliner

26 years
21 years

Karaka
Karaka

3 years
5 years

The dwelling house occupied by John Andrews, Karaka, Thames

74/87

2 February 1874

The Revd. John Crump, Wes.

No	462
Date of Notice	2 February 1874
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Judd	Elizabeth Jones
	💍 1874/6136
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Dresser	Milliner
Age	26 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Karaka	Karaka
Length of Residence	3 years	5 years
Marriage Place	The dwelling house occupied by John Andrews, Karaka, Thames
Folio	74/87
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1874
Officiating Minister	The Revd. John Crump, Wes.

463

9 February 1874

Francis Molesworth Lascelles
Sarah Anne Senior

Francis Molesworth Lascelles
Sarah Ann Senior
💍 1874/6109

Bachelor
Spinster

Draftsman

24 years
22 years

Thames
Thames

5 weeks
8 months

The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Shortland

74/77

9 February 1874

E. H. Power

No	463
Date of Notice	9 February 1874
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Molesworth Lascelles	Sarah Anne Senior
BDM Match (97%)	Francis Molesworth Lascelles	Sarah Ann Senior
	💍 1874/6109
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draftsman
Age	24 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	5 weeks	8 months
Marriage Place	The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Shortland
Folio	74/77
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 February 1874
Officiating Minister	E. H. Power

464

9 February 1874

John Douglas Partridge
Alice Anna Gudgeon

John Douglas Patridge
Alice A Gudgeon
💍 1874/6124

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Agent

42 years
29 years

Thames
Thames

4 years
3 years

The Roman Catholic Chapel, Willoughby Street, Thames

74/83

9 February 1874

The Revd. Father Norris, R.C.

No	464
Date of Notice	9 February 1874
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Douglas Partridge	Alice Anna Gudgeon
BDM Match (89%)	John Douglas Patridge	Alice A Gudgeon
	💍 1874/6124
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Agent
Age	42 years	29 years
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	4 years	3 years
Marriage Place	The Roman Catholic Chapel, Willoughby Street, Thames
Folio	74/83
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 February 1874
Officiating Minister	The Revd. Father Norris, R.C.

465

16 February 1874

William Kean
Sarah Emily Cleveland

William Kean
Sarah Emily Cleveland
💍 1874/9421

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

28 years
19 years

Moanataiari
Karaka

3 years
4 years

The dwelling house occupied by George Henry Cleveland, Karaka Hill

74/1210

George Henry Cleveland, "The Father"

16 February 1874

The Revd. James Hill, R.C.

No	465
Date of Notice	16 February 1874
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Kean	Sarah Emily Cleveland
	💍 1874/9421
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	28 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Moanataiari	Karaka
Length of Residence	3 years	4 years
Marriage Place	The dwelling house occupied by George Henry Cleveland, Karaka Hill
Folio	74/1210
Consent	George Henry Cleveland, "The Father"
Date of Certificate	16 February 1874
Officiating Minister	The Revd. James Hill, R.C.

466

18 February 1874

John Stewart Leslie
Jane Harris Smith

John Stewart Leslie
Jane Harris Smith
💍 1874/5944

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer

22 years
19 years

Thames
Auckland

2 years
9 years

The dwelling house occupied by Mr. Henry Stokes, Wynahan Street, Auckland.

See Auckland No. 21

4 March 1874

The Revd. Alexr. Macdonald, Congl.

No	466
Date of Notice	18 February 1874
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Stewart Leslie	Jane Harris Smith
	💍 1874/5944
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	22 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Thames	Auckland
Length of Residence	2 years	9 years
Marriage Place	The dwelling house occupied by Mr. Henry Stokes, Wynahan Street, Auckland.
Folio	See Auckland No. 21
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1874
Officiating Minister	The Revd. Alexr. Macdonald, Congl.

467

24 February 1874

William Burton
Sarah Ann Berryman

William Burton
Sarah Ann Berryman
💍 1874/6151

Bachelor
Widow

Publican

32 years
40 years

Thames
Thames

5 years
5 years

The dwelling house of John Fose, Baillie Street, Thames

74/92

24 February 1874

The Revd. W. Lush, Congl.

No	467
Date of Notice	24 February 1874
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Burton	Sarah Ann Berryman
	💍 1874/6151
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Publican
Age	32 years	40 years
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	5 years	5 years
Marriage Place	The dwelling house of John Fose, Baillie Street, Thames
Folio	74/92
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1874
Officiating Minister	The Revd. W. Lush, Congl.

468

11 March 1874

Henry Godsworthy
Elizabeth Rowe

Henry Goldsworthy
Elizabeth Rowe
💍 1874/6139

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

22 years
18 years

Thames
Pleasant Valley

5 years
4 years

The Wesleyan Chapel, Grahamstown

74/88

Abel Rowe, "The Father"

11 March 1874

Revd. John Crump, Wes.

No	468
Date of Notice	11 March 1874
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Godsworthy	Elizabeth Rowe
BDM Match (97%)	Henry Goldsworthy	Elizabeth Rowe
	💍 1874/6139
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	22 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Thames	Pleasant Valley
Length of Residence	5 years	4 years
Marriage Place	The Wesleyan Chapel, Grahamstown
Folio	74/88
Consent	Abel Rowe, "The Father"
Date of Certificate	11 March 1874
Officiating Minister	Revd. John Crump, Wes.

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).