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 349

District of Waipukurau Quarter ending 31 December 1875 Registrar William Rathbone

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

138

1 October 1875

John James Broughton Epps
Theodora Helen Stanley

John James Broughton Epps
Theodora Helen Stanley
💍 1875/2638

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Nurse

34
17

Hampden
Hampden

1 year
10 years

In the house of Theodore Jackson Stanley

75/2834

Theodore Jackson Stanley, father

1 October 1875

Rev. Joseph White

No	138
Date of Notice	1 October 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John James Broughton Epps	Theodora Helen Stanley
	💍 1875/2638
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Nurse
Age	34	17
Dwelling Place	Hampden	Hampden
Length of Residence	1 year	10 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Theodore Jackson Stanley
Folio	75/2834
Consent	Theodore Jackson Stanley, father
Date of Certificate	1 October 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. Joseph White

139

11 October 1875

Peter Thomson
Mary Ann Foskett

Peter Thomson
Mary Ann Foskett
💍 1875/2642

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawyer
Domestic

32
20

Takapau
Waipukurau

9 months
5 Weeks

In the house of Rowland Roythorne, Waipukurau

75/2838

No person resident in the Colony having authority to give consent to her marriage

11 October 1875

Rev. John A. Caygill

No	139
Date of Notice	11 October 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Thomson	Mary Ann Foskett
	💍 1875/2642
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawyer	Domestic
Age	32	20
Dwelling Place	Takapau	Waipukurau
Length of Residence	9 months	5 Weeks
Marriage Place	In the house of Rowland Roythorne, Waipukurau
Folio	75/2838
Consent	No person resident in the Colony having authority to give consent to her marriage
Date of Certificate	11 October 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. John A. Caygill

140

12 October 1875

George Henry Clark
Louisa Jane Boorer

George Henry Clarke
Louisa Jane Boorer
💍 1875/2721

Bachelor
Spinster

Fitter
Domestic

24
17

Kaikora
Kaikora

[illegible]
3 years

At the Church, Te Aute

75/2990

John Wood, Step father

12 October 1875

Rev. Samuel Williams

No	140
Date of Notice	12 October 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Clark	Louisa Jane Boorer
BDM Match (97%)	George Henry Clarke	Louisa Jane Boorer
	💍 1875/2721
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fitter	Domestic
Age	24	17
Dwelling Place	Kaikora	Kaikora
Length of Residence	[illegible]	3 years
Marriage Place	At the Church, Te Aute
Folio	75/2990
Consent	John Wood, Step father
Date of Certificate	12 October 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. Samuel Williams

141

27 October 1875

William Hopper
Elizabeth Love

William Hopper
Elizabeth Lowe
💍 1875/2732

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Domestic

31
21

Te Aute
Te Aute

11 years
12 years

In the Church, Te Aute

75/2991

27 October 1875

Rev. Samuel Williams

No	141
Date of Notice	27 October 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Hopper	Elizabeth Love
BDM Match (96%)	William Hopper	Elizabeth Lowe
	💍 1875/2732
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic
Age	31	21
Dwelling Place	Te Aute	Te Aute
Length of Residence	11 years	12 years
Marriage Place	In the Church, Te Aute
Folio	75/2991
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 October 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. Samuel Williams

142

2 November 1875

James Allone
Esther Cecelia O'Clair

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant
Teacher

25
22

Waipawa
Waipawa

3 days
3 days

In the Roman Catholic Church, Waipawa

2 November 1875

Rev. Buloge Reignier R.C.

No	142
Date of Notice	2 November 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Allone	Esther Cecelia O'Clair
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	Teacher
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Waipawa	Waipawa
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Church, Waipawa
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 November 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. Buloge Reignier R.C.

143

10 November 1875

Donald McDonald
Mary Reid

Donald McDonald
Mary Reid
💍 1875/2639

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

38
26

Tamumu
Waipawa

12 years
[illegible]

In the house of Duncan McDonald, Tamumu

75/2835

10 November 1875

Rev. Joseph White

No	143
Date of Notice	10 November 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald McDonald	Mary Reid
	💍 1875/2639
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	38	26
Dwelling Place	Tamumu	Waipawa
Length of Residence	12 years	[illegible]
Marriage Place	In the house of Duncan McDonald, Tamumu
Folio	75/2835
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 November 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. Joseph White

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).