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 897

District of Gabriels 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

242

6 July 1876

William Dimmock
Janet Mitchell

William Dimmock
Janet Mitchell
💍 1876/2244

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Servant

24 years
19 years

Lawrence
Do

6 years
5 years

At the Church of England, Lawrence

76/12328

Allan Mitchell, Father

6 July 1876

Rev. G. P. Beaumont, CofE

No	242
Date of Notice	6 July 1876
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Dimmock	Janet Mitchell
	💍 1876/2244
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Servant
Age	24 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Lawrence	Do
Length of Residence	6 years	5 years
Marriage Place	At the Church of England, Lawrence
Folio	76/12328
Consent	Allan Mitchell, Father
Date of Certificate	6 July 1876
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. P. Beaumont, CofE

243

31 July 1876

William Rattray
Maria Leech

William Rattray
Maria Leech
💍 1876/2094

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Servant

27 years
18 years

Lawrence
Lawrence

1 month
1 month

At the residence of Mrs Leech at Lawrence

76/12156

Samuel Leech, Father

31 July 1876

Rev. J. H. Cameron, CofE

No	243
Date of Notice	31 July 1876
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Rattray	Maria Leech
	💍 1876/2094
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Servant
Age	27 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Lawrence	Lawrence
Length of Residence	1 month	1 month
Marriage Place	At the residence of Mrs Leech at Lawrence
Folio	76/12156
Consent	Samuel Leech, Father
Date of Certificate	31 July 1876
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. Cameron, CofE

244

24 August 1876

Sam Yiek Mong
Mary Ann Nesbitt

Sam Yeck Mong
Mary Ann Nesbitt
💍 1876/2117

John Jackson
Mary Ann Nesbitt
💍 1876/1512

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Servant

29 years
21 years

Chinese Camp, Tuapeka
Tuapeka

10 years and two months
4 months

At the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Lawrence, Gabriels

76/12155

24 August 1876

The Registrar at Gabriels

No	244
Date of Notice	24 August 1876
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sam Yiek Mong	Mary Ann Nesbitt
BDM Match (92%)	Sam Yeck Mong	Mary Ann Nesbitt
	💍 1876/2117
BDM Match (62%)	John Jackson	Mary Ann Nesbitt
	💍 1876/1512
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Servant
Age	29 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Chinese Camp, Tuapeka	Tuapeka
Length of Residence	10 years and two months	4 months
Marriage Place	At the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Lawrence, Gabriels
Folio	76/12155
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 August 1876
Officiating Minister	The Registrar at Gabriels

245

13 September 1876

Andrew Hutchison
Hannah Finlay

Andrew Hutchison
Hannah Finlay
💍 1876/2096

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Servant
Servant

32 years
26 years

Beaumont
Do

3 days
4 months

At the Residence of the Revd J. H. Cameron, Lawrence

76/12158

13 September 1876

Rev. J. H. Cameron, CofE

No	245
Date of Notice	13 September 1876
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Hutchison	Hannah Finlay
	💍 1876/2096
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Servant	Servant
Age	32 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Beaumont	Do
Length of Residence	3 days	4 months
Marriage Place	At the Residence of the Revd J. H. Cameron, Lawrence
Folio	76/12158
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 September 1876
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. Cameron, CofE

246

16 September 1876

Anthony [illegible] Christopher
Juliet Mary Gillon

Anthony Christopher
Juliet Mary Gillon
💍 1876/2998

Bachelor
Spinster

Banker

33 years
21 years

Lawrence
Dunedin

2 years
12 months

At All Saints Church, Dunedin

76/13008

16 September 1876

Rev. R. L. Stanford, CofE

No	246
Date of Notice	16 September 1876
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Anthony [illegible] Christopher	Juliet Mary Gillon
BDM Match (81%)	Anthony Christopher	Juliet Mary Gillon
	💍 1876/2998
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Banker
Age	33 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Lawrence	Dunedin
Length of Residence	2 years	12 months
Marriage Place	At All Saints Church, Dunedin
Folio	76/13008
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 September 1876
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. L. Stanford, 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).