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 463

District of Waimea South Quarter ending 30 September 1877 Registrar Richard Chattock

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

23 July 1877

Frederick Fenemor
Mary Jane Fitch

Frederick Fenemor
Mary Jane Fitch
💍 1877/1769

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

28
19

Sherry Waimea South
Tadmor Waimea South

one month
12 years

At the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Waimea South

77/1725

Isaac Fitch Father

27 July 1877

Richard Chattock Registrar of Marriages

No	25
Date of Notice	23 July 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Fenemor	Mary Jane Fitch
	💍 1877/1769
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	28	19
Dwelling Place	Sherry Waimea South	Tadmor Waimea South
Length of Residence	one month	12 years
Marriage Place	At the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Waimea South
Folio	77/1725
Consent	Isaac Fitch Father
Date of Certificate	27 July 1877
Officiating Minister	Richard Chattock Registrar of Marriages

4 August 1877

Thomas Henry Kinzett
Martha Anne Phipps

Thomas Henry Kinzett
Martha Anne Phipps
💍 1877/1770

Bachelor
Spinster

Flax Dresser

22
18

88 Valley Waimea South
Pigeon Valley Waimea South

8 years
5 years

At the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Waimea South

77/1726

Richard James Phipps

7 August 1877

Richard Chattock Registrar of Marriages

No	26
Date of Notice	4 August 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Henry Kinzett	Martha Anne Phipps
	💍 1877/1770
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Flax Dresser
Age	22	18
Dwelling Place	88 Valley Waimea South	Pigeon Valley Waimea South
Length of Residence	8 years	5 years
Marriage Place	At the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Waimea South
Folio	77/1726
Consent	Richard James Phipps
Date of Certificate	7 August 1877
Officiating Minister	Richard Chattock Registrar of Marriages

30 July 1877

Joshua Charles Nicholls
Emily Florence Gapper

Joshua Charles Nicholls
Florence Emily Gapper
💍 1877/1771

Bachelor
Spinster

Bushman

22
18

Wakefield Waimea South
Wakefield Waimea South

22 years
10 years

At the residence of Mr Frank Gapper, Waimea South

77/1727

Francis Henry Gapper

15 August 1877

Rev. C. Moon [illegible]

No	27
Date of Notice	30 July 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joshua Charles Nicholls	Emily Florence Gapper
BDM Match (71%)	Joshua Charles Nicholls	Florence Emily Gapper
	💍 1877/1771
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bushman
Age	22	18
Dwelling Place	Wakefield Waimea South	Wakefield Waimea South
Length of Residence	22 years	10 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of Mr Frank Gapper, Waimea South
Folio	77/1727
Consent	Francis Henry Gapper
Date of Certificate	15 August 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Moon [illegible]

23 August 1877

George Felton
Sophia Augusta Cooke

George Felton
Sophia Augusta Cooke
💍 1877/1772

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Storekeeper

31
22

Wakefield Waimea South
Wakefield Waimea South

three days
2 years

At St John's Church Wakefield

77/1728

28 August 1877

Rev. C. Moon C of E

No	28
Date of Notice	23 August 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Felton	Sophia Augusta Cooke
	💍 1877/1772
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Storekeeper
Age	31	22
Dwelling Place	Wakefield Waimea South	Wakefield Waimea South
Length of Residence	three days	2 years
Marriage Place	At St John's Church Wakefield
Folio	77/1728
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 August 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Moon C of E

20 September 1877

Thomas Leary
Madeline Holland

Thomas Feary
Madeline Holland
💍 1877/1773

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

24
21

Motupiko Valley Waimea South
Motupiko Valley Waimea South

three days
13 years

At the residence of Mr Henry Holland Motupiko Valley

77/1729

20 September 1877

Rev. C. Moon [illegible]

No	29
Date of Notice	20 September 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Leary	Madeline Holland
BDM Match (96%)	Thomas Feary	Madeline Holland
	💍 1877/1773
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Motupiko Valley Waimea South	Motupiko Valley Waimea South
Length of Residence	three days	13 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of Mr Henry Holland Motupiko Valley
Folio	77/1729
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 September 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Moon [illegible]

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).