Intentions to Marry, 1877

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840389, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, April 16 2025

Page 187

District of Thames Quarter ending 31 December 1877 Registrar Edward Henry Power

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

721

9 October 1877

John Gardiner Murray
Ellen Dixon

John Gardiner Murray
Ellen Dixon
💍 1877/2339

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic

36
20

Thames
Thames

8 years
2 years

In the dwelling house occupied by Samuel Dickey, Coromandel, Thames

77/2331

Ann Dixon, the mother

9 October 1877

Rev. S. J. Neill

No	721
Date of Notice	9 October 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Gardiner Murray	Ellen Dixon
	💍 1877/2339
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic
Age	36	20
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	8 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In the dwelling house occupied by Samuel Dickey, Coromandel, Thames
Folio	77/2331
Consent	Ann Dixon, the mother
Date of Certificate	9 October 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. J. Neill

722

12 October 1877

Charles Trammell
Ellen Morton

Charles Manuell
Ellen Morton
💍 1877/2335

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
[illegible]

25
17

Thames
Waitangina

1½ years
8 years

Wesleyan Church, Willoughby St, Thames

77/2332

Samuel Morton, "The Father"

13 October 1877

Rev. R. S. Bunn

No	722
Date of Notice	12 October 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Trammell	Ellen Morton
BDM Match (88%)	Charles Manuell	Ellen Morton
	💍 1877/2335
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	[illegible]
Age	25	17
Dwelling Place	Thames	Waitangina
Length of Residence	1½ years	8 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Willoughby St, Thames
Folio	77/2332
Consent	Samuel Morton, "The Father"
Date of Certificate	13 October 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. S. Bunn

723

13 October 1877

William Henry Bagnall
Anna Louisa Jones

William Henry Bagnall
Anne Louisa Honiss
💍 1877/2368

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
[illegible]

32
18

Cyrna
Thames

8 years
9 years

St. George's Church

77/2338

Edward Hopkins "The Father"

13 October 1877

Rev. A. Lush

No	723
Date of Notice	13 October 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Bagnall	Anna Louisa Jones
BDM Match (89%)	William Henry Bagnall	Anne Louisa Honiss
	💍 1877/2368
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	[illegible]
Age	32	18
Dwelling Place	Cyrna	Thames
Length of Residence	8 years	9 years
Marriage Place	St. George's Church
Folio	77/2338
Consent	Edward Hopkins "The Father"
Date of Certificate	13 October 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Lush

724

15 October 1877

Lawrence Leussen
Annie Wallnutt

Laurence Cussen
Annie Wallnutt
💍 1877/2332

Bachelor
Spinster

Surveyor
[illegible]

24
21

Auckland
Thames

7 years
9 years

St. Francis' Roman Catholic Church, Wellington St. Thames

77/2325 Auckland

Charles Wallnutt "The Father"

15 October 1877

Rev. J. O'Shaughnessy

No	724
Date of Notice	15 October 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lawrence Leussen	Annie Wallnutt
BDM Match (91%)	Laurence Cussen	Annie Wallnutt
	💍 1877/2332
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Surveyor	[illegible]
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Thames
Length of Residence	7 years	9 years
Marriage Place	St. Francis' Roman Catholic Church, Wellington St. Thames
Folio	77/2325 Auckland
Consent	Charles Wallnutt "The Father"
Date of Certificate	15 October 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. O'Shaughnessy

725

16 October 1877

James Alexander McWilliams
Isabella Purcell

James Alexander McWilliams
Isabella Purcell
💍 1877/2340

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
[illegible]

23
23

Thames
Thames

9 years
6 years

At the dwelling house occupied by Henry Moore, Bird in Hand Hill, Karaka

77/2532

[illegible]

16 October 1877

Rev. S. J. Neill

No	725
Date of Notice	16 October 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Alexander McWilliams	Isabella Purcell
	💍 1877/2340
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	[illegible]
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	9 years	6 years
Marriage Place	At the dwelling house occupied by Henry Moore, Bird in Hand Hill, Karaka
Folio	77/2532
Consent	[illegible]
Date of Certificate	16 October 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. J. Neill

726

23 October 1877

Alexander Laird
Ellen Leurtis

Alexander Laird
Ellen Curtis
💍 1877/2341

Widower
Spinster

Miner
[illegible]

45
17

Thames
Thames

4 months
4 years

In the dwelling house occupied by Rev. S. Neill, Rolleston Street, Thames

77/2333

Amelia Leurtis, "the mother"

23 October 1877

Rev. S. J. Neill

No	726
Date of Notice	23 October 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Laird	Ellen Leurtis
BDM Match (92%)	Alexander Laird	Ellen Curtis
	💍 1877/2341
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Miner	[illegible]
Age	45	17
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	4 months	4 years
Marriage Place	In the dwelling house occupied by Rev. S. Neill, Rolleston Street, Thames
Folio	77/2333
Consent	Amelia Leurtis, "the mother"
Date of Certificate	23 October 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. J. Neill

727

27 October 1877

Richard Henry Polkinghorne
Sarah Louisa Vowels

Richard Henry Polkinghorn
Sarah Louisa Vowels
💍 1877/2336

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

24
20

Thames
Thames

7 days
9 years

In the dwelling house occupied by Thomas Vowels, Bella St. Thames

77/2329

Thomas Vowels "the Father"

27 October 1877

Rev. R. S. Bunn

No	727
Date of Notice	27 October 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Henry Polkinghorne	Sarah Louisa Vowels
BDM Match (98%)	Richard Henry Polkinghorn	Sarah Louisa Vowels
	💍 1877/2336
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	7 days	9 years
Marriage Place	In the dwelling house occupied by Thomas Vowels, Bella St. Thames
Folio	77/2329
Consent	Thomas Vowels "the Father"
Date of Certificate	27 October 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. S. Bunn

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 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).