Intentions to Marry, 1875

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840387, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, May 16 2025.

This register is quite fragile and some of the pages are damaged or even missing.

Page 205

District of Cambridge Quarter ending 30 September 1875 Registrar Bernard Chas Beale

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

148

8 July 1875

William Henry O'Neill
Flora Hook

William Henry O'Neill
Flora Hook
💍 1875/2054

Bachelor
Widow

Constable A.C.F.

23
21

Hamilton
Hamilton

11 years at the house
11 years in McKenzie Hamilton

at the house

75/2209

8 July 1875

Revd. H. S. Davis, Indep.

No	148
Date of Notice	8 July 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry O'Neill	Flora Hook
	💍 1875/2054
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Constable A.C.F.
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Hamilton
Length of Residence	11 years at the house	11 years in McKenzie Hamilton
Marriage Place	at the house
Folio	75/2209
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 July 1875
Officiating Minister	Revd. H. S. Davis, Indep.

149

11 August 1875

Robert Coltman
Mary Jane Simpson

Robert Coltman
Mary Jane Simpson
💍 1875/2056

Bachelor
Spinster

Constable A.C.F.
Dress Maker

32
21

Cambridge
Cambridge

1 1/2 years at the Congregational Church
2 months Hamilton

at the Congregational Church

75/2210

11 August 1875

Revd. H. S. Davis, Indep.

No	149
Date of Notice	11 August 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Coltman	Mary Jane Simpson
	💍 1875/2056
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Constable A.C.F.	Dress Maker
Age	32	21
Dwelling Place	Cambridge	Cambridge
Length of Residence	1 1/2 years at the Congregational Church	2 months Hamilton
Marriage Place	at the Congregational Church
Folio	75/2210
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 August 1875
Officiating Minister	Revd. H. S. Davis, Indep.

150

26 August 1875

Francis Henry Edgecumbe
Alice Elizabeth Salmon

[No matching marriage registration has been located]

Bachelor
Spinster

Surveyor

24
20

Ngaruawahia
Ngaruawahia

10 years
1 year

at the Episcopalian Church Ngaruawahia

Henry M. Salmon, Father

26 August 1875

Revd. F. C. Lloyd, C of E.

No	150
Date of Notice	26 August 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Henry Edgecumbe	Alice Elizabeth Salmon
	💍 [No matching marriage registration has been located]
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Surveyor
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Ngaruawahia	Ngaruawahia
Length of Residence	10 years	1 year
Marriage Place	at the Episcopalian Church Ngaruawahia
Folio
Consent	Henry M. Salmon, Father
Date of Certificate	26 August 1875
Officiating Minister	Revd. F. C. Lloyd, C of E.

151

28 August 1875

Walter Cadworth
Maria Kingdon

[No matching marriage registration has been located]

Widower
Spinster

Settler

42
23

Cambridge
Cambridge

3 years
2 years

at the Episcopalian Church Cambridge

28 August 1875

Revd. F. C. Lloyd, C of E.

No	151
Date of Notice	28 August 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Cadworth	Maria Kingdon
	💍 [No matching marriage registration has been located]
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Settler
Age	42	23
Dwelling Place	Cambridge	Cambridge
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	at the Episcopalian Church Cambridge
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 August 1875
Officiating Minister	Revd. F. C. Lloyd, C of E.

152

30 August 1875

William Brown
Elizabeth Primrose

William Brown
Elizabeth Primrose
💍 1875/3007

Bachelor
Spinster

Otago Police

32
22

Hamilton
Kirikiriroa

10 days at the house of Andrew Primrose
7 years Kirikiriroa

at the house of Andrew Primrose

75/2218

30 August 1875

Revd. S. Y. Neill, P.C.

No	152
Date of Notice	30 August 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Brown	Elizabeth Primrose
	💍 1875/3007
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Otago Police
Age	32	22
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Kirikiriroa
Length of Residence	10 days at the house of Andrew Primrose	7 years Kirikiriroa
Marriage Place	at the house of Andrew Primrose
Folio	75/2218
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 August 1875
Officiating Minister	Revd. S. Y. Neill, P.C.

153

4 September 1875

William Hogan
Elizabeth Stanley

William Hogan
Elizabeth Stanley
💍 1875/2058

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

21
22

Cambridge
Cambridge

6 months at the house of Mrs. Heammon
6 months Cambridge

at the house of Mrs. Heammon

75/2219

4 September 1875

Revd. Father Golden, J. Smith, R.C.

No	153
Date of Notice	4 September 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Hogan	Elizabeth Stanley
	💍 1875/2058
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Cambridge	Cambridge
Length of Residence	6 months at the house of Mrs. Heammon	6 months Cambridge
Marriage Place	at the house of Mrs. Heammon
Folio	75/2219
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 September 1875
Officiating Minister	Revd. Father Golden, J. Smith, R.C.

154

25 September 1875

Stephen Tucker
Mary Louisa Rogers

Stephen Tucker
Mary Louisa Rogers
💍 1875/2057

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

21
20

Hamilton
Hamilton

9 months at the house of Stephen Tucker
9 months Hamilton

at the house of Stephen Tucker

75/2211

Henry Rogers, Father

25 September 1875

Revd. H. S. Davis, Indep.

No	154
Date of Notice	25 September 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stephen Tucker	Mary Louisa Rogers
	💍 1875/2057
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Hamilton
Length of Residence	9 months at the house of Stephen Tucker	9 months Hamilton
Marriage Place	at the house of Stephen Tucker
Folio	75/2211
Consent	Henry Rogers, Father
Date of Certificate	25 September 1875
Officiating Minister	Revd. H. S. Davis, Indep.

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).