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 253

District of Wanganui Quarter ending 31 March 1877 Registrar Garland W. Woon

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
1	9 January 1877	Michael Suage Elija Heve		Bachelor Widow	Laborer	46 47	Wanganui Wanganui	12 years 14 years	Wesleyan Church	77/151		9 January 1877	Revd R. Barrin
2	10 January 1877	William Golf Mirika Le Quoripo	William Golf Mirika Te Auripo 💍 1877/244	Bachelor Spinster	Toryman	60 20	Wanganui Wanganui	30 years 20 years	Roman Catholic	77/144		10 January 1877	Revd Father Kirk
3	15 January 1877	William Rooman Ellen Brovtee	William Norman Ellen Brooke 💍 1877/258 William Dobson Ellen Brosnan 💍 1877/2684 William Roy Ellen Brown 💍 1877/2852 William Lewis Ellen Bowie 💍 1877/1883	Bachelor Spinster	Cattle Dealer	22 18	Wanganui Wanganui	3 weeks 12 months	Wesleyan Church	77/152	Robert Brooke, father	15 January 1877	Revd R. Barrin
4	24 January 1877	Andrew King Honorah Murphy	Andrew King Honora Murphy 💍 1877/246	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	26 20	Wanganui Wanganui	1 year and 9 months 1 year and 9 months	Roman Catholic	77/145		2 February 1877	Revd Father Kirk
5	2 February 1877	Edward Bunting Elija Emma Brown	Edward Burting Eliza Emma Brown 💍 1877/278	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	23 27	Maxwelltown Maxwelltown	5 years 10 years	English Church	77/158		2 February 1877	Revd T. L. Tudor
6	7 February 1877	Walter Frederick Bowes Ellen In Elwain	Walter Frederick Bowes Ellen McElwain 💍 1877/269	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer	25 19	Wanganui Wanganui	3 years 19 years	Private residence	77/153	James A. Imblwain, father	7 February 1877	Revd R. Barrin
7	15 February 1877	George Thurston Jane Isabella Kennedy	George Thurston Jane Isabella Kennedy 💍 1877/247	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith	19 18	Wanganui Wanganui	1 year 1 year	Roman Catholic	77/146	George Thurston, father	15 February 1877	Revd Father Kirk
8	22 February 1877	David Allcott Alice Kanes	David Allcott Alice Caines 💍 1877/274	Bachelor Widow	Carter	27 27	Wanganui Wanganui	3 years 20 years	Private residence	77/154	Michael Kennedy, father	22 February 1877	Revd R. Barrin
9	6 March 1877	Henry Elley Mary Kearse	Henry Elley Mary Kearse 💍 1877/275	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	23 19	Wanganui Wanganui	1 year 3 years	Private residence	77/153	James E. Kearse, father	6 March 1877	Revd R. Barrin
10	7 March 1877	James Horcuson Campbell Mary Jane Halmpley	James Stevenson Campbell Mary Jane Walmsley 💍 1877/248	Bachelor Spinster	Hotelkeeper	34 25	Wanganui Wanganui	10 years 3 weeks	Private residence	77/147	James E. Hearse, father	7 March 1877	Revd Jno. Treadwell
11	7 March 1877	John Darlyshire Letha Bunting		Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	28 19	Maxwelltown Maxwelltown	4 years 5 years	English Church	77/159	Jno. Bunting, father	7 March 1877	Revd T. L. Tudor
12	16 March 1877	Walter Neilson Agnes Leitch	Walter Neilson Agnes Leitch 💍 1877/280	Bachelor Spinster	Hotelkeeper	22 22	Wanganui Wanganui	19 years 15 months	Registrar's Office	77/160		16 March 1877	Registrar
13	20 March 1877	John Petty Alaridge Martha Green	John Petty Aldridge Martha Green 💍 1877/897	Bachelor Spinster	Ironmonger	23 19	Wanganui Wanganui	20 years 2 years	[illegible]	77/816	Ann Green, mother	20 March 1877	Revd B. Barrin
14	24 March 1877	George Mackie Maria Domin	George Mackie Marie Domin 💍 1877/259	Bachelor Spinster	Farm Labourer	21 18	Wanganui Wanganui	2 years 7 months	Registrar's Office	77/161	Luisa Domin, mother	24 March 1877	Registrar
15	26 March 1877	Joseph Monteith Margaret Ross	Joseph Monteith Margaret Ross 💍 1877/249 Peter Scott Hay Margaret Ross 💍 1878/121	Bachelor Spinster	Groom	23 16	Bull Town Bull Town	20 months 3 years	[illegible]	77/148	Alexr. Ross, father	26 March 1877	Revd Jno. Treadwell
16	26 March 1877	John Paton Mary Ann Laird	John Paton Mary Ann Laird 💍 1877/250	Bachelor Spinster	Storeman	20 21	Wanganui Wanganui	6 years 5 years	Private residence	77/150		26 March 1877	Revd Jno. Treadwell
17	26 March 1877	Charles William Turner Emma Morton	Charles William Turner Emma Morton 💍 1877/82 James Brokenshire Emma Morton 💍 1878/201	Bachelor Spinster	Smith	27 21	Wanganui Wanganui	5 years 5 years	Private residence	77/149		26 March 1877	Revd Jno. Treadwell

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 1899. 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).