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 545

District of Greymouth 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

5 July 1876

John Jorgen Frederick Asmus
Margaret Mary Josephine Kiely

John Joachim Frederick Asmus
Margaret Mary Josephine Kiely
💍 1876/1742

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Servant

40 years
24 years

Greymouth
Greymouth

3 Days
3 Weeks

Roman Catholic Chapel, Greymouth

76/1923

5 July 1876

Rev. J. M. Ecuyer

No	20
Date of Notice	5 July 1876
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Jorgen Frederick Asmus	Margaret Mary Josephine Kiely
BDM Match (91%)	John Joachim Frederick Asmus	Margaret Mary Josephine Kiely
	💍 1876/1742
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Servant
Age	40 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	3 Days	3 Weeks
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Chapel, Greymouth
Folio	76/1923
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 July 1876
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Ecuyer

7 July 1876

Samuel Thomas
Frances Brown

Samuel Thomas
Frances Brown
💍 1876/1806

Widower
Widow

Stonecutter
Housekeeper

65 years
45 years

Greymouth
Greymouth

8 years
8 years

Registrar's Office, Greymouth

76/1920

7 July 1876

Harry Kenrick, Registrar

No	21
Date of Notice	7 July 1876
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Thomas	Frances Brown
	💍 1876/1806
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Stonecutter	Housekeeper
Age	65 years	45 years
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	8 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Greymouth
Folio	76/1920
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 July 1876
Officiating Minister	Harry Kenrick, Registrar

8 July 1876

Patrick Cornelius O'Donoghue Smith
Susan Solomon

Patrick Cornelius O'Donoghue Smith
Susan Solomon
💍 1876/1753

Widower
Spinster

Surgeon
None

44 years
40 years

Greymouth
Greymouth

9 years
6 months

Roman Catholic Chapel, Greymouth

76/1924

Done in July 8th / 76

Rev. J. M. Ecuyer

No	22
Date of Notice	8 July 1876
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick Cornelius O'Donoghue Smith	Susan Solomon
	💍 1876/1753
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Surgeon	None
Age	44 years	40 years
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	9 years	6 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Chapel, Greymouth
Folio	76/1924
Consent
Date of Certificate	Done in July 8th / 76
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Ecuyer

There is a note: "See attached return of Deputy Registrar."

No	23
Date of Notice
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties
	💍 There is a note: "See attached return of Deputy Registrar."
Condition
Profession
Age
Dwelling Place
Length of Residence
Marriage Place
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister

27 July 1876

Michael Keating
Anne Carrigan

Michael Keating
Annie Carigan
💍 1876/1760

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Servant

30 years
24 years

South Beach
Greymouth

9 years
8 years

Roman Catholic Chapel, Greymouth

76/1925

July 27

Rev. J. M. Ecuyer

No	24
Date of Notice	27 July 1876
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Keating	Anne Carrigan
BDM Match (92%)	Michael Keating	Annie Carigan
	💍 1876/1760
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Servant
Age	30 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	South Beach	Greymouth
Length of Residence	9 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Chapel, Greymouth
Folio	76/1925
Consent
Date of Certificate	July 27
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Ecuyer

1 August 1876

Thomas Hutchinson
Margaret Hayes

Thomas Hutchinson
Margaret Hayes
💍 1876/1765

Widower
Spinster

Carter
Servant

38 years
39 years

Greymouth
Greymouth

8 years
8 years

Private House, Thomas Hutchinson, Herbert Street, Greymouth

76/1930

August 1, 1876

Rev. F. H. Watkins

No	25
Date of Notice	1 August 1876
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Hutchinson	Margaret Hayes
	💍 1876/1765
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Servant
Age	38 years	39 years
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	8 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Private House, Thomas Hutchinson, Herbert Street, Greymouth
Folio	76/1930
Consent
Date of Certificate	August 1, 1876
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. H. Watkins

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).