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 317

District of Wellington 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

3 January 1876

Albert Norris
Harriet Ralph

Albert Norris
Harriet Ralph
💍 1876/236

Bachelor
Spinster

Slaughterman

31
21

Wellington
Wellington

4 days
4 days

House of Rev. W Morley, The Terrace

76/348

Original - Rev. W Morley, Registrar, Wellington

May 3rd, Date of fresh Certificate Jan 4

Rev. W Morley

No	1
Date of Notice	3 January 1876
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Norris	Harriet Ralph
	💍 1876/236
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Slaughterman
Age	31	21
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	House of Rev. W Morley, The Terrace
Folio	76/348
Consent	Original - Rev. W Morley, Registrar, Wellington
Date of Certificate	May 3rd, Date of fresh Certificate Jan 4
Officiating Minister	Rev. W Morley

3 January 1876

Edmund Speucer
Susannah Stuart Wilkinson

Edmund Spencer
Susannah Stuart Wilkinson
💍 1876/242

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinet Maker
Schoolmistress

20
23

Wellington
Wellington

20 years
8 years

House of Rev. W Morley, The Terrace

76/56

Edward Spencer, Father

Jan 4

Rev. Wm Morley

No	2
Date of Notice	3 January 1876
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edmund Speucer	Susannah Stuart Wilkinson
BDM Match (96%)	Edmund Spencer	Susannah Stuart Wilkinson
	💍 1876/242
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinet Maker	Schoolmistress
Age	20	23
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	20 years	8 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. W Morley, The Terrace
Folio	76/56
Consent	Edward Spencer, Father
Date of Certificate	Jan 4
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm Morley

3 January 1876

John Johnston
Isabella Petrie

John Johnston
Isabella Pithie
💍 1876/476

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

40
45

Wellington
Wellington

about 16 years
about 18 years

House of John Johnston, Herbert Street, Wellington

76/349

no one

Jan 3

Rev C S Ogg

No	3
Date of Notice	3 January 1876
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Johnston	Isabella Petrie
BDM Match (93%)	John Johnston	Isabella Pithie
	💍 1876/476
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	40	45
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	about 16 years	about 18 years
Marriage Place	House of John Johnston, Herbert Street, Wellington
Folio	76/349
Consent	no one
Date of Certificate	Jan 3
Officiating Minister	Rev C S Ogg

4 January 1876

Alfred Bartlett
Catherine Burke

Alfred Bartlett
Catherine Burke
💍 1876/244

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

22
20

Wellington
Wellington

3 1/2 years
2 years

House of Mrs Henry Ann Bench, Wingfield Street, Wellington

76/58

no one in Colony

Jan 4

Rev. Wm Morley

No	4
Date of Notice	4 January 1876
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Bartlett	Catherine Burke
	💍 1876/244
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 1/2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs Henry Ann Bench, Wingfield Street, Wellington
Folio	76/58
Consent	no one in Colony
Date of Certificate	Jan 4
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm Morley

10 January 1876

John Morgan
Mary Donovan

John Mongan
Mary Donovan
💍 1876/223

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

28
20

Upper Hutt
Upper Hutt

1 month
1 month

Roman Catholic Church, Upper Hutt

76/60

10 years in Colony to June Consent

Jan 10

Rev. Francis Yardin

No	5
Date of Notice	10 January 1876
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Morgan	Mary Donovan
BDM Match (95%)	John Mongan	Mary Donovan
	💍 1876/223
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	Upper Hutt	Upper Hutt
Length of Residence	1 month	1 month
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Upper Hutt
Folio	76/60
Consent	10 years in Colony to June Consent
Date of Certificate	Jan 10
Officiating Minister	Rev. Francis Yardin

10 January 1876

Walter Baldoch Durante Mautell
Jane Hardwick

Walter Baldock Durant Mantell
Jane Hardwick
💍 1876/237

Widower
Spinster

Gentleman

55
44

Wellington
Wellington

36 years
6 months

Registrar's office, Wellington

76/57

no one

Jan 10

Registrar Wellington

No	6
Date of Notice	10 January 1876
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Baldoch Durante Mautell	Jane Hardwick
BDM Match (95%)	Walter Baldock Durant Mantell	Jane Hardwick
	💍 1876/237
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Gentleman
Age	55	44
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	36 years	6 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's office, Wellington
Folio	76/57
Consent	no one
Date of Certificate	Jan 10
Officiating Minister	Registrar Wellington

13 January 1876

George Godfrey Louis Ringold
Susannah Eltham

George Godfrey Louis Ringold
Susannah Eltham
💍 1876/466

Widower
Spinster

Clerk

35
25

Wellington
Wellington

4 months
7 years

House of Revd. W West, Molesworth Street, Wellington

76/340

Alfred James, Eliza Oakley, Ghuznee Street, Wellington

Jan 13, Amended and issued 14 Jany

Rev Wm J H West

No	7
Date of Notice	13 January 1876
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Godfrey Louis Ringold	Susannah Eltham
	💍 1876/466
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	35	25
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	4 months	7 years
Marriage Place	House of Revd. W West, Molesworth Street, Wellington
Folio	76/340
Consent	Alfred James, Eliza Oakley, Ghuznee Street, Wellington
Date of Certificate	Jan 13, Amended and issued 14 Jany
Officiating Minister	Rev Wm J H West

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).