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 205

District of [illegible] Quarter ending 31 March 1877 Registrar G. L. Greenwood

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

142

8 January 1877

Joseph Edward Hills
Annie Gallagher

Joseph Edward Hills
Annie Gallagher
💍 1877/1735

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine driver
Domestic

27
21

Waerenga ahika
Waerenga ahika

2 years
22 months

John Drayton's Ormond

77/1664

8 January 1877

Rev. W. H. Root

No	142
Date of Notice	8 January 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Edward Hills	Annie Gallagher
	💍 1877/1735
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine driver	Domestic
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Waerenga ahika	Waerenga ahika
Length of Residence	2 years	22 months
Marriage Place	John Drayton's Ormond
Folio	77/1664
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 January 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Root

143

28 January 1877

James Dunn
Jessie Birch

James Dunn
Jessie Birch
💍 1877/752

Widower
Widow

Bushman
None

50
50

Makauri
Makauri

5 years
5 years

W. Charles Wrightson at Makauri

77/1669

28 January 1877

Rev. Wharton J. Harper

No	143
Date of Notice	28 January 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Dunn	Jessie Birch
	💍 1877/752
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Bushman	None
Age	50	50
Dwelling Place	Makauri	Makauri
Length of Residence	5 years	5 years
Marriage Place	W. Charles Wrightson at Makauri
Folio	77/1669
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 January 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wharton J. Harper

144

27 January 1877

John Kenny
Abey Field

John Kenny
Abey Field
💍 1877/699

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

30
24

Poverty Bay
Poverty Bay

Ten weeks
Do

The Old Government School House Gisborne

77/1667

27 January 1877

Rev. Culage Reepina

No	144
Date of Notice	27 January 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Kenny	Abey Field
	💍 1877/699
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Poverty Bay	Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	Ten weeks	Do
Marriage Place	The Old Government School House Gisborne
Folio	77/1667
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 January 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. Culage Reepina

145

1 February 1877

Peter Breingon
Martha Ann Doleman

Peter Breignan
Martha Ann Doleman
💍 1877/754

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

30
17

Waerenga ahika
Ormond

4 years
3 months

The Residence of Mr. Doleman at Ormond

77/1670

James Doleman Father of M. A. Doleman

1 February 1877

Rev. Wharton J. Harper

No	145
Date of Notice	1 February 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Breingon	Martha Ann Doleman
BDM Match (89%)	Peter Breignan	Martha Ann Doleman
	💍 1877/754
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	30	17
Dwelling Place	Waerenga ahika	Ormond
Length of Residence	4 years	3 months
Marriage Place	The Residence of Mr. Doleman at Ormond
Folio	77/1670
Consent	James Doleman Father of M. A. Doleman
Date of Certificate	1 February 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wharton J. Harper

146

7 February 1877

John Clark
Sarah Jane Rowe

John Clark
Sarah Jane Rowe
💍 1877/1736

Widower
Spinster

Shop-keeper

41
24

Ormond
Ormond

5 1/2 years
3 years

St Andrews Church Gisborne

77/1668

7 February 1877

Rev. W. H. Root

No	146
Date of Notice	7 February 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Clark	Sarah Jane Rowe
	💍 1877/1736
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Shop-keeper
Age	41	24
Dwelling Place	Ormond	Ormond
Length of Residence	5 1/2 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St Andrews Church Gisborne
Folio	77/1668
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Root

147

10 February 1877

Edward Patricks Joyce
Margaret Lucinda Stanhope

James Lawrence
Margaret Lucinda Stanhope
💍 1877/1741

Bachelor
Widow

Settler

31
23

Gisborne
Gisborne

3 1/2 years
3 years

St. Andrews Church Gisborne

Bride's marriage to James Lawrence was 26 May 1877

10 February 1877

Rev. W. H. Root

No	147
Date of Notice	10 February 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Patricks Joyce	Margaret Lucinda Stanhope
BDM Match (62%)	James Lawrence	Margaret Lucinda Stanhope
	💍 1877/1741
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Settler
Age	31	23
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	3 1/2 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church Gisborne
Folio	Bride's marriage to James Lawrence was 26 May 1877
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Root

148

12 February 1877

John Mcgridge
Emma Phebe Brown

John Magridge
Emma Phoebe Brown
💍 1877/1737

Bachelor
Spinster

Compositor

21
21

Gisborne
Gisborne

2 1/2 years
1 year

The residence of Mr. Mcgridge Gisborne

77/1669

12 February 1877

Rev. W. H. Root

No	148
Date of Notice	12 February 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Mcgridge	Emma Phebe Brown
BDM Match (93%)	John Magridge	Emma Phoebe Brown
	💍 1877/1737
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Compositor
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	1 year
Marriage Place	The residence of Mr. Mcgridge Gisborne
Folio	77/1669
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Root

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 1908. 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).