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 733

District of Oamaru 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
489	4 April 1876	Alexander Campbell Ann Smith	Alexander Campbell Ann Smith 💍 1876/971 Alexander Cowie Mary Smith 💍 1876/3038	Bachelor Spinster	Miner Dairymaid	36 23	Oamaru Oamaru	2 months 12 months	The Manse, Oamaru	76/1043		4 April 1876	The Revd A. B. Todd, Pres
490	8 April 1876	William Morgan Southan Martha Jane Bradley	William Morgan Southam Martha Jane Bradley 💍 1876/970	Bachelor Spinster	Accountant	25 17	Oamaru Oamaru	7 days 3 days	The residence of C.W. Samuel, Thames St, Oamaru	76/1042	Henry Bradley (Father)	8 April 1876	The Revd A. B. Todd, Pres
491	8 April 1876	Hans Eric Heallberg Albertina Helena Belsen	Hans Erick Hallberg Albertina Helina Olson 💍 1876/957	Bachelor Spinster	Boatman Domestic Servant	27 21	Oamaru Kakanui North	2.5 years 3 days	The residence of the Revd John Armitage, Oamaru	76/1030		8 April 1876	The Revd John Armitage, Pres
492	10 April 1876	James Shand Annie McClymont	James Shand Annie McClymont 💍 1876/978	Bachelor Spinster	Wharfman Domestic Servant	37 23	Oamaru Oamaru	10 months 3 days	The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Oamaru	76/1027		10 April 1876	W. G. Filleul, Registrar
493	15 April 1876	Patrick Croft Johanna Hanley	Patrick Croft Johanna Hanley 💍 1876/973	Bachelor Spinster	Contractor	28 20	Oamaru Oamaru	12 months 3.5 years	St Patricks Church, Oamaru	76/1022		15 April 1876	Revd Jeremiah Donovan, RC
494	17 April 1876	James Marr Mary Alice Stocks	James Marr Mary Alice Stocks 💍 1876/969	Bachelor Spinster	Jeweller Dressmaker	21 21	Oamaru Oamaru	18 months 3 years	The residence of C.W. James Marr, Wansbeck St, Oamaru	76/1041		17 April 1876	Revd A. B. Todd, Pres
495	17 April 1876	William Henderson Helen Wright	William Henderson Helen Wight 💍 1876/968 William Henderson Rachel Aitken Newton 💍 1876/2025	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith Housemaid	30 26	Windsor Park, Waiareka Oamaru	2 years 4 weeks	The residence of James Henderson, Coquet Street, Oamaru	76/1040		17 April 1876	Revd A. B. Todd, Pres
496	17 April 1876	James Marshall Margaret Troy	James Marshall Margaret Troy 💍 1876/974	Bachelor Spinster	Contractor Housemaid	28 21	Oamaru Oamaru	4 years 6 months	St Patricks Church, Oamaru	76/1023		17 April 1876	Revd Jeremiah Donovan, RC
497	20 April 1876	John Moore Catherine McAusland	John Moore Catherine McCausland 💍 1876/967 John Moore Margaret Kennelly 💍 1876/506	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Domestic Servant	21 21	Oamaru Oamaru	1 year 6 months	The residence of C.W. John Moore in Eden St, Oamaru	76/1039		20 April 1876	Revd A. B. Todd, Pres
498	21 April 1876	George Davidson Maggie Berenger	George Davidson Margaret Ann Beranger 💍 1876/958 George Davidson Jessie Smith 💍 1876/2519	Widower Spinster	Mason	29 23	Oamaru Oamaru	12 years 1 year	The residence of C.W. John Berenger in Eden St, Oamaru			21 April 1876	Revd John Armitage, Pres
499	21 April 1876	Charles Stock Ruth Emma Amies	Charles Stock Ruth Emma Amies 💍 1876/1588	Bachelor Spinster	Hotelkeeper Dressmaker	23 19	Kakanui North Kakanui North	7 months 9 years	St Lukes Church, Oamaru		Robert Amies (Father)	21 April 1876	Revd Algernon Gifford, 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 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).