Intentions to Marry, 1876

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840388, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Alexandra at Archives NZ Wellington, January 31 2025

A few of the pages are missing.

Page 287

District of Rangitikei Quarter ending 31 March 1876

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

137

15 January 1876

Charles Renew
Esther Fruin

Charles Retter
Esther Fruin
💍 1876/427

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

39 years
27 years

Parewanui
Parewanui

6 months
12 months

At the residence of Rev J. Doull, Bulls

76/322

15 January 1876

Rev J. Doull, Pres

No	137
Date of Notice	15 January 1876
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Renew	Esther Fruin
BDM Match (89%)	Charles Retter	Esther Fruin
	💍 1876/427
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	39 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Parewanui	Parewanui
Length of Residence	6 months	12 months
Marriage Place	At the residence of Rev J. Doull, Bulls
Folio	76/322
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1876
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Doull, Pres

138

25 January 1876

Henry McNeil
Celia Atkinson

Henry McNeil
Celia Atkinson
💍 1876/422

Bachelor
Widow

Contractor

44 years
44 years

Palmerston
Palmerston

3 years
2 years

The Presbyterian Church at Turakina

76/318

25 January 1876

Rev John Ross, Pres

No	138
Date of Notice	25 January 1876
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry McNeil	Celia Atkinson
	💍 1876/422
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Contractor
Age	44 years	44 years
Dwelling Place	Palmerston	Palmerston
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	The Presbyterian Church at Turakina
Folio	76/318
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 January 1876
Officiating Minister	Rev John Ross, Pres

139

1 February 1876

Carl John Hensee
Perina Smith

Carl John Hensen
Penina Smith
💍 1876/428

Bachelor
Widow

Cook

41 years
38 years

Otakapo
Rangitikei

4 months
4 months

The Office of the Registrar, Marton

76/323

1 February 1876

The Registrar at Marton

No	139
Date of Notice	1 February 1876
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Carl John Hensee	Perina Smith
BDM Match (93%)	Carl John Hensen	Penina Smith
	💍 1876/428
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Cook
Age	41 years	38 years
Dwelling Place	Otakapo	Rangitikei
Length of Residence	4 months	4 months
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar, Marton
Folio	76/323
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1876
Officiating Minister	The Registrar at Marton

140

5 February 1876

Thomas Riley Taylor
Maryery Perry

Thomas Riley Taylor
Margery Perry
💍 1876/664

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

31 years
17 years

Turakina
Turakina

12 months
16 years

The Residence of Mr Robert Perry, Turakina

76/424

Robert Perry, Father

5 February 1876

Rev John Ross, Pres

No	140
Date of Notice	5 February 1876
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Riley Taylor	Maryery Perry
BDM Match (96%)	Thomas Riley Taylor	Margery Perry
	💍 1876/664
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	31 years	17 years
Dwelling Place	Turakina	Turakina
Length of Residence	12 months	16 years
Marriage Place	The Residence of Mr Robert Perry, Turakina
Folio	76/424
Consent	Robert Perry, Father
Date of Certificate	5 February 1876
Officiating Minister	Rev John Ross, Pres

141

21 February 1876

William Hammond
Sarah Ann Gower

William Hammond
Sarah Ann Gower
💍 1876/1065

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

25 years
19 years

Rangitikei
Rangitikei

20 years
19 years

The Residence of Mrs Gower, The Glen

76/435

Mary Ann Gower - Mother

21 February 1876

Rev A. Towgood, CofE

No	141
Date of Notice	21 February 1876
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Hammond	Sarah Ann Gower
	💍 1876/1065
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	25 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Rangitikei	Rangitikei
Length of Residence	20 years	19 years
Marriage Place	The Residence of Mrs Gower, The Glen
Folio	76/435
Consent	Mary Ann Gower - Mother
Date of Certificate	21 February 1876
Officiating Minister	Rev A. Towgood, CofE

142

4 March 1876

John Markwick Brown
Caroline Ann Richardson

John Markwick Broughton
Caroline Ann Richardson
💍 1876/1072

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

28 years
22 years

Rangitikei
Rangitikei

5 years
18 years

The English Church, Putiki

76/436

4 March 1876

Rev B. K. Taylor, CofE

No	142
Date of Notice	4 March 1876
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Markwick Brown	Caroline Ann Richardson
BDM Match (89%)	John Markwick Broughton	Caroline Ann Richardson
	💍 1876/1072
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	28 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Rangitikei	Rangitikei
Length of Residence	5 years	18 years
Marriage Place	The English Church, Putiki
Folio	76/436
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1876
Officiating Minister	Rev B. K. Taylor, CofE

143

15 March 1876

Sylvester Coleman
Margaret Frances Goodison

Sylvester Coleman
Margaret Frances Goodjohn
💍 1876/426

Bachelor
Spinster

Auctioneer

47 years
29 years

Marton
Marton

7 years
4 years

The Residence of Mr S. Coleman, Marton

76/321

15 March 1876

Rev W. Stewart, Pres

No	143
Date of Notice	15 March 1876
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sylvester Coleman	Margaret Frances Goodison
BDM Match (94%)	Sylvester Coleman	Margaret Frances Goodjohn
	💍 1876/426
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Auctioneer
Age	47 years	29 years
Dwelling Place	Marton	Marton
Length of Residence	7 years	4 years
Marriage Place	The Residence of Mr S. Coleman, Marton
Folio	76/321
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1876
Officiating Minister	Rev W. Stewart, Pres

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).