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 696

District of Imaru Quarter ending 30 September 1877

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
46	9 August 1877	John Calnan Emily Temperton	John Calvan Emily Temperton 💍 1877/1912	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer Dressmaker	23 25	Imaru Imaru	1 week 3 years	Residence of Joseph Honey, Imaru	77/1844		9 August 1877	H. Bond, H. B. Oliver
47	11 August 1877	Robert Thomson Jemima London	Robert Thomson Janet Loudon 💍 1877/2166	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	33 23	Brakihuii Olaio	3 years 6 years	Residence of E. E. Ward, Imaru	77/2125		11 August 1877	C. E. Ward
48	16 August 1877	Abraham George Angelina Toutth Webster	Abraham George Ennis Angelina Faith Webster 💍 1877/2158	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	22 18	Imaru Imaru	3 years 7 months	Residence of Hy Powell, Imaru	77/2124	Declaration made that there was no person living in the colony whose consent required by law	15 August 1877	C. E. Ward
49	20 August 1877	Joseph Thomas Ingley Elizabeth Temperton	Joseph Thomas Ingley Elizabeth Temperton 💍 1877/2177	Widower Spinster	Shoemaker Governess	52 30	Imaru Imaru	2 years 1 year	Residence of Elizabeth Temperton, Imaru	77/2126		20 August 1877	C. E. Ward
50	24 August 1877	John Murphy Hannah Bowler	John Murphy Hanora Bowler 💍 1877/1895	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer Servant	22 21	Imaru Imaru	2 years 3 1/2 years	Roman Catholic Church, Imaru	77/1851		24 August 1877	J. A. Gouteurone
51	24 August 1877	Thomas Hampson Maggie Burke	Thomas Hampson Margaret Burke 💍 1877/1915 Thomas Taylor Sarah Burke 💍 1877/627	Bachelor Spinster	Contractor Servant	27 21	Imaru Imaru	4 1/2 years 7 months	Roman Catholic Church, Imaru	77/1847		24 August 1877	J. A. Gouteurone
52	25 August 1877	Frederick Ongley Mary Ann Bullen	Frederick Ongley Mary Ann Mullin 💍 1877/1893	Bachelor Spinster	Gardener Housemaid	26 23	Imaru Imaru	3 years 4 years	Residence of J. Atoutessone, Imaru	77/1849		25 August 1877	J. A. Gouteurone
53	27 August 1877	Thomas Harold Newson Mary Annie Hargreaves	Thomas Harold Rawson Mary Annie Hargreaves 💍 1877/1901	Bachelor Spinster	Civil Engineer	26 25	Imaru Imaru	5 days 1 year	St Mary's Church	77/1854		27 August 1877	Hy M. Harper
54	10 September 1877	James Kenny Hogwood Rosa Walker	James Henry Hogwood Rosa Walker 💍 1877/1903	Bachelor Spinster	Cook Housekeeper	23 22	Imaru Imaru	8 months 18 months	St Mary's Church	77/1858		10 September 1877	Hy M. Harper, H. Yendall
55	17 September 1877	Thomas Mckay Mary Jane Barnarn	Thomson McKay Mary Jane Bannan 💍 1877/1914	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd Housemaid	30 23	Imaru Imaru	4 days 18 months	Presbyterian Church	77/1846		17 September 1877	Wm Gillies

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 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).