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 703

District of Waimate Quarter ending 30 June 1877 Registrar A. Proctor

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

06 April 1877

William Tooley
Mary Ann Ely

William Fooley
Mary Ann Ely
💍 1877/1147

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Servant

30 years
15 years

Pariora
Pariora

13 years
6 weeks

William Muanay's Pariora, Waimate

77/1063

William Ely, Father of Mary Ann Ely

09 April 1877

Rev. Geo. Lindsay, Pres

No	60
Date of Notice	06 April 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Tooley	Mary Ann Ely
BDM Match (96%)	William Fooley	Mary Ann Ely
	💍 1877/1147
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Servant
Age	30 years	15 years
Dwelling Place	Pariora	Pariora
Length of Residence	13 years	6 weeks
Marriage Place	William Muanay's Pariora, Waimate
Folio	77/1063
Consent	William Ely, Father of Mary Ann Ely
Date of Certificate	09 April 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. Lindsay, Pres

10 April 1877

John Roach
Martha Brough

John Roach
Martha Brough
💍 1877/1167

Widower
Widow

Bushman
Nurse

64 years
34 years

Waimate
Waimate

9 years
3 days

Registrar's Office, Waimate

77/1070

10 April 1877

A. Proctor, Registrar

No	61
Date of Notice	10 April 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Roach	Martha Brough
	💍 1877/1167
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Bushman	Nurse
Age	64 years	34 years
Dwelling Place	Waimate	Waimate
Length of Residence	9 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Waimate
Folio	77/1070
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 April 1877
Officiating Minister	A. Proctor, Registrar

11 April 1877

John Roberts
Ellen Green

John Roberts
Ellen Green
💍 1877/1144

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

21 years
23 years

Waimate
Waimate

1 year
1 year

Church of England, Waimate

77/1064

11 April 1877

Rev. Chas. Coates, CofE

No	62
Date of Notice	11 April 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Roberts	Ellen Green
	💍 1877/1144
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	21 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Waimate	Waimate
Length of Residence	1 year	1 year
Marriage Place	Church of England, Waimate
Folio	77/1064
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 April 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. Chas. Coates, CofE

03 May 1877

John Loper
Annie Butler

John Loper
Annie Butler
💍 1877/1145

Widower
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

33 years
23 years

Waimate
Waimate

20 years
18 months

William Harpur's Waimate

77/1065

03 May 1877

Rev. Chas. Coates, CofE

No	63
Date of Notice	03 May 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Loper	Annie Butler
	💍 1877/1145
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	33 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Waimate	Waimate
Length of Residence	20 years	18 months
Marriage Place	William Harpur's Waimate
Folio	77/1065
Consent
Date of Certificate	03 May 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. Chas. Coates, CofE

09 May 1877

Frederick William Millhouse
Martha Winter

Frederick William Millhouse
Martha Winter
💍 1877/1156

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Dressmaker

40 years
33 years

Waimate
Waimate

3 years
7 days

Mr. Goldsmith's, Waimate

77/1069

09 May 1877

Rev. Henry Ellis, Pres

No	64
Date of Notice	09 May 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick William Millhouse	Martha Winter
	💍 1877/1156
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Dressmaker
Age	40 years	33 years
Dwelling Place	Waimate	Waimate
Length of Residence	3 years	7 days
Marriage Place	Mr. Goldsmith's, Waimate
Folio	77/1069
Consent
Date of Certificate	09 May 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry Ellis, Pres

23 May 1877

Joseph Martin Gilchrist
Elizabeth Maxwell

John Martin Gilchrist
Elizabeth Maxwell
💍 1877/1146

Bachelor
Spinster

Sergeant of Police
Nil

29 years
22 years

Waimate
Waimate

3 days
12 months

Church of England, Waimate

77/1066

23 May 1877

Rev. Chas. Coates, CofE

No	65
Date of Notice	23 May 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Martin Gilchrist	Elizabeth Maxwell
BDM Match (91%)	John Martin Gilchrist	Elizabeth Maxwell
	💍 1877/1146
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sergeant of Police	Nil
Age	29 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Waimate	Waimate
Length of Residence	3 days	12 months
Marriage Place	Church of England, Waimate
Folio	77/1066
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 May 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. Chas. Coates, CofE

23 May 1877

John Hattray
Jane Gunn

John Rattray
Jane Gunn
💍 1877/1148

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Nil

31 years
27 years

Waimate
Waimate

6 years
11 years

D. Gunn's, Waimate

77/1068

23 May 1877

Rev. Geo. Lindsay, Pres

No	66
Date of Notice	23 May 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Hattray	Jane Gunn
BDM Match (96%)	John Rattray	Jane Gunn
	💍 1877/1148
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Nil
Age	31 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Waimate	Waimate
Length of Residence	6 years	11 years
Marriage Place	D. Gunn's, Waimate
Folio	77/1068
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 May 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. Lindsay, 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 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).