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 347

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30 September 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

184

9 August 1876

James Mckellow
Ellen Barnett

James McMahon
Ellen Barnett
💍 1876/2180

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

35
25

Wellington
do

3 months
3 months

Church of St Mary & the Angels, Boulcott Street, Wellington

76/2264

14 August 1876

Rev. Father Kearney

No	184
Date of Notice	9 August 1876
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Mckellow	Ellen Barnett
BDM Match (82%)	James McMahon	Ellen Barnett
	💍 1876/2180
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	35	25
Dwelling Place	Wellington	do
Length of Residence	3 months	3 months
Marriage Place	Church of St Mary & the Angels, Boulcott Street, Wellington
Folio	76/2264
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 August 1876
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Kearney

185

14 August 1876

William Thomas Osborne
Martha Thrift Stitchen

William Thomas Partington Osborne
Martha Thrift Mitchell
💍 1876/2421

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

24
26

Wellington
do

2 years
3 years

House of James Mitchell, Royleburgh Street, Wellington

76/2206

14 August 1876

Rev. Jas Paterson

No	185
Date of Notice	14 August 1876
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Thomas Osborne	Martha Thrift Stitchen
BDM Match (74%)	William Thomas Partington Osborne	Martha Thrift Mitchell
	💍 1876/2421
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	24	26
Dwelling Place	Wellington	do
Length of Residence	2 years	3 years
Marriage Place	House of James Mitchell, Royleburgh Street, Wellington
Folio	76/2206
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 August 1876
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jas Paterson

186

15 August 1876

Mitchell Redland
Agnes Petrie

Mitchell Ridland
Agnes Petrie
💍 1876/1881

Widower
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

39
38

Wellington
Wellington

1 month
2.5 years

House of Rev. C. S. Ogg, Molesworth Street, Wellington

76/1484

15 August 1876

Rev. C. S. Ogg, Pres.

No	186
Date of Notice	15 August 1876
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Mitchell Redland	Agnes Petrie
BDM Match (97%)	Mitchell Ridland	Agnes Petrie
	💍 1876/1881
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	39	38
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	1 month	2.5 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. C. S. Ogg, Molesworth Street, Wellington
Folio	76/1484
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 August 1876
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. S. Ogg, Pres.

187

15 August 1876

Charles Dopping Irvine
Lucy Maudlin McLachlan

Charles Dopping Irvine
Lucy Mandlin McLachlin
💍 1876/1959

Bachelor
Spinster

Civil Engineer

41
15

Wellington
Wellington

1 year
2 years

House of Rev. John Moir, Woolcombe Street, Wellington

76/1717

Declaration of us and in Colony

15 August 1876

Rev. John Moir, Pres.

No	187
Date of Notice	15 August 1876
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Dopping Irvine	Lucy Maudlin McLachlan
BDM Match (95%)	Charles Dopping Irvine	Lucy Mandlin McLachlin
	💍 1876/1959
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Civil Engineer
Age	41	15
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	1 year	2 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. John Moir, Woolcombe Street, Wellington
Folio	76/1717
Consent	Declaration of us and in Colony
Date of Certificate	15 August 1876
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Moir, Pres.

188

15 August 1876

Augustus Middleton Rocke
Maria Josephina Catherine Reepen

Bachelor
Spinster

Night Watchman
Dressmaker

30
25

Wellington
do

2 years
5 months

House of Rev. C. S. Ogg, Willis Street, Wellington

76/1488

15 August 1876

Rev. C. S. Ogg.

No	188
Date of Notice	15 August 1876
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Augustus Middleton Rocke	Maria Josephina Catherine Reepen
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Night Watchman	Dressmaker
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Wellington	do
Length of Residence	2 years	5 months
Marriage Place	House of Rev. C. S. Ogg, Willis Street, Wellington
Folio	76/1488
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 August 1876
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. S. Ogg.

189

16 August 1876

Cecil Roadley
Maria Jones

Cecil Roadley
Maria Jones
💍 1876/1878

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer
Bookbinder

23
19

Wellington
do

1.75 years
10 months

Church of St Peters, Willis Street, Wellington

76/1804

Henry [illegible] Jones, Father

16 August 1876

Rev. Archd. Stock, CofE

No	189
Date of Notice	16 August 1876
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cecil Roadley	Maria Jones
	💍 1876/1878
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer	Bookbinder
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Wellington	do
Length of Residence	1.75 years	10 months
Marriage Place	Church of St Peters, Willis Street, Wellington
Folio	76/1804
Consent	Henry [illegible] Jones, Father
Date of Certificate	16 August 1876
Officiating Minister	Rev. Archd. Stock, CofE

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).