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 416

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
722	1 May 1876	Patrick Rubt. Drongoul Russella Durning		Bachelor Spinster	Publican Dressmaker	25 23	Napier Napier	5 days 4 days	Roman Catholic Chapel Napier	76/875		1 May 1876	Revd Father Regnier
723	11 May 1876	George Francis Scott Annie Maclean Brobram	George Francis Scott Annie Matilda Brobson 💍 1876/1207	Bachelor Spinster	Trooper A.C. Dressmaker	24 21	Napier Napier	4 years 2 years	Residence of Mr Sidey, Napier	76/864		11 May 1876	Revd D Sidey, Pres
724	12 May 1876	James Delarice Mary Jane Hibdin	James Pearce Mary Jane McMillan 💍 1876/3119 James Ireland Mary Jane Hebden 💍 1876/1191	Bachelor Spinster	Warder Domestic	32 19	Napier Napier	8 years 9 years	Residence of Mr Hibdin, Tarltin	76/872		12 May 1876	Revd J Parkins, United
725	12 May 1876	William Jones Catherine Brett	William Jones Jane Loney 💍 1876/1162 William Jones Johanna Lang 💍 1876/54 William Jones Emma Jane Cudby 💍 1876/1498	Bachelor Widow	Thatchmaker Dressmaker	38 32	Napier Napier	6 days 6 days	English Church, Napier			12 May 1876	Revd J B Smailey, Pres
726	13 May 1876	John William Leach Mary Driscoll	John William Cook Mary Driscoll 💍 1876/1457	Bachelor Spinster	Seaman Domestic	24 17	Napier Napier	6 months 6 months	Wesleyan Chapel, Napier	76/1621	Cornelius Driscoll, Guardian	13 May 1876	Revd J S Smalley, Pres
727	15 May 1876	Alfred Payne Alice Georgina DeGruchy	Alfred Payne Alice Georgina de Gruchy 💍 1876/3250	Bachelor Spinster	Ironmonger Nil	23 17	Napier Napier	13 months 2 years	Residence of Mrs De Gruchy, Napier	76/1623	Jane DeGruchy, Mother	15 May 1876	Revd J S Smalley, Pres
728	16 May 1876	Wm Leveran Coward Isabella Bendall	William Leveson Coward Isabella Bendall 💍 1876/1186	Bachelor Spinster	Bank Clerk Nil	26 26	Napier Napier	15 months 15 months	English Church, Napier	76/859		16 May 1876	Revd J Townsend, CofE
729	22 May 1876	Joseph Matthew Parker Harriett Dyett	Joseph Matthew Parker Harriett Dyett 💍 1876/1458	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith Domestic	22 21	Napier Napier	2 years 2 years	Residence of J M. Parker, Napier	76/1622		22 May 1876	Revd J S Smalley, Pres
729A	26 May 1876	William Chalmers Annie Hillhouse	William Chalmers Annie Hillhouse 💍 1876/1205	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Housekeeper	37 26	Pukance Clive	8 years 5 years	Residence of Rev. William, Clive	76/862		26 May 1876	Revd A Shepherd, Pres

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).