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 417

District of Napier Quarter ending 30 June 1876

No	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
730	26 May 1876	Frank William Maria Jackson	Frank Williams Maria Jackson 💍 1876/1192	Bachelor Spinster	Dealer Nil	22 20	Havelock Napier	4 years 6 days	Residence of Rev. I.B. Smalley, Napier	76/843		26 May 1876	Rev. I. Parkin, United
731	30 May 1876	Alfred Falloon Eliza Grouchy	Alfred Pallot Eliza Gruchy 💍 1876/1460	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk Saleswoman	20 25	Napier Napier	1 year 2 years	Residence of Mr Grouchy, Napier	76/1625		30 May 1876	Rev. I.A. [illegible], Pres
732	31 May 1876	John Cleaver Elizabeth Shephard	John Elms Elizabeth Shepherd 💍 1876/749 John Beattie Elizabeth Ward 💍 1876/2717	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Domestic	23 16	Napier Napier	18 years 15 years	St. Mary's Church, Napier	76/858	Jane Lyoun, mother	31 May 1876	Rev. I. [illegible], CofE
733	1 June 1876	Niels Peder Hansen Johanna Svensson	Niels Peder Hansen Johanne Svensen 💍 1876/1459	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Domestic	27 27	Napier Napier	1 year 8 months	Residence of Rev. Smalley, Napier	76/1624		1 June 1876	Rev. I.A. Smalley, Pres
734	5 June 1876	James Boniface Laura Gillies	James Boniface Laura Gillice 💍 1876/1461	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	38 19	Meeanee Meeanee	15 years 3 years	Residence of Mr Gillies, Meeanee	76/1626	James Gillies, Father	5 June 1876	Rev. I.A. Smalley, Pres
735	5 June 1876	William Ayson Ellen Mosley	William Ayson Ellen Masley 💍 1876/748	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	23 27	Napier Napier	12 days 12 days	Registrar's Office, Napier	76/857		5 June 1876	Registrar of Marriages
736	16 June 1876	Sarren Hansen Christine Marie Petersen	Sorren Hansen Christine Marie Petersen Beck 💍 1876/1462 Peter Hansen Kristina Mary Jorensen 💍 1876/901 Johan Hansen Christine Nielsen 💍 1876/94	Bachelor Spinster	Fisherman Farm servant	42 23	Napier Napier	4 months 4 months	Residence of Rev. I.S. Smalley, Napier	76/1627		16 June 1876	Rev. I.S. Smalley, Pres
737	17 June 1876	James Taylor Eda Luanstrom	James Taylor Eda Quamstrom 💍 1876/1206	Bachelor Spinster	Carrier [illegible]	32 [illegible]	Napier District Napier	6 years [illegible]	Residence of Rev. D. Sidey	76/863		17 June 1876	Rev. D. Sidey, Pres
738	23 June 1876	James Macfarlane Stephana Mary Tylee	James MacFarlane Stephana Mary Tylee 💍 1876/1730	Bachelor Spinster	Bank Clerk	22 24	Napier Napier	3 years 14 years	Residence of I.J. Tylee, Napier	76/1859		23 June 1876	Rev. David Sidey, Pres

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 1894. More registers will be added as the project continues.

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).