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 471

District of Grey Quarter ending 31 March 1875 Registrar Harry Kenrick

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

6 January 1875

John O'Connor
Margaret Garde

John O'Connor
Margaret Garde
💍 1875/364

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Barmaid

36 years
28 years

Greymouth
Greymouth

3 mos
3 1/2 years

Roman Catholic Chapel

75/382

6 January 1875

Revd Father Ecuyer R C

No	1
Date of Notice	6 January 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John O'Connor	Margaret Garde
	💍 1875/364
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Barmaid
Age	36 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	3 mos	3 1/2 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Chapel
Folio	75/382
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1875
Officiating Minister	Revd Father Ecuyer R C

14 January 1875

John Livingstone
Martha Woodward

John Livingstone
Martha Woodward
💍 1875/61

Bachelor
Widow

Miner
Servant

35 years
30 years

Nelson Creek
Nelson Creek

7 years
6 years

Church of England Greymouth

75/63

14 January 1875

Revd G. Th. Watkins C of E

No	2
Date of Notice	14 January 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Livingstone	Martha Woodward
	💍 1875/61
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Miner	Servant
Age	35 years	30 years
Dwelling Place	Nelson Creek	Nelson Creek
Length of Residence	7 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Church of England Greymouth
Folio	75/63
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 January 1875
Officiating Minister	Revd G. Th. Watkins C of E

14 January 1875

Clement Parfitt
Emily Hocking

Clement Parfitt
Emily Hocking
💍 1875/62

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
None

36 years
20 years

No Town
No Town

5 years
18 months

Church of England Greymouth

75/64

14 January 1875

Revd G. Th. Watkins C of E

No	3
Date of Notice	14 January 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Clement Parfitt	Emily Hocking
	💍 1875/62
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	None
Age	36 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	No Town	No Town
Length of Residence	5 years	18 months
Marriage Place	Church of England Greymouth
Folio	75/64
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 January 1875
Officiating Minister	Revd G. Th. Watkins C of E

29 January 1875

Edward Trott
Jane Ryan

Edward Trott
Jane Ryan
💍 1875/921

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Washwoman

45 years
38 years

Greymouth
Greymouth

5 months
7 years

Roman Catholic Chapel Greymouth

75/1064

29 January 1875

Revd J. M. Ecuyer R C

No	4
Date of Notice	29 January 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Trott	Jane Ryan
	💍 1875/921
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Washwoman
Age	45 years	38 years
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	5 months	7 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Chapel Greymouth
Folio	75/1064
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1875
Officiating Minister	Revd J. M. Ecuyer R C

4 February 1875

Michael Madden
Mary Clarke

Michael Madden
Mary Clarke
💍 1875/607

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Servant

38 years
36 years

Maori Gully Arnold
Maori Gully Arnold

8 years
12 months

Roman Catholic Chapel Maori Gully, Arnold

75/731

4 February 1875

Revd Father Roland R C

No	5
Date of Notice	4 February 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Madden	Mary Clarke
	💍 1875/607
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Servant
Age	38 years	36 years
Dwelling Place	Maori Gully Arnold	Maori Gully Arnold
Length of Residence	8 years	12 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Chapel Maori Gully, Arnold
Folio	75/731
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1875
Officiating Minister	Revd Father Roland R C

8 February 1875

Edward George Sharmon
Ann Wilson Duncan

Edward George Shannon
Ann Wilson Duncan
💍 1875/365

Bachelor
Spinster

Stone Mason
None

28 years
27 1/2 years

Greymouth
Greymouth

6 months
6 months

Roman Catholic Chapel Greymouth

75/383

8 February 1875

Revd Father Ecuyer R C

No	6
Date of Notice	8 February 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward George Sharmon	Ann Wilson Duncan
BDM Match (95%)	Edward George Shannon	Ann Wilson Duncan
	💍 1875/365
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stone Mason	None
Age	28 years	27 1/2 years
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	6 months	6 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Chapel Greymouth
Folio	75/383
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1875
Officiating Minister	Revd Father Ecuyer R C

16 February 1875

William Taylor McKechnie
Mary Jane Whitford

William Taylor McKechnie
Mary Jane Whitford
💍 1875/517

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Housemaid

42 years
21 years

Maori Creek Clifton
Maori Creek Clifton

6 1/2 years
10 months

Private House of Revd. J McIntosh, Sefton Road, Greymouth

75/539

16 February 1875

Revd J. McIntosh

No	7
Date of Notice	16 February 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Taylor McKechnie	Mary Jane Whitford
	💍 1875/517
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Housemaid
Age	42 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Maori Creek Clifton	Maori Creek Clifton
Length of Residence	6 1/2 years	10 months
Marriage Place	Private House of Revd. J McIntosh, Sefton Road, Greymouth
Folio	75/539
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1875
Officiating Minister	Revd J. McIntosh

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).