Intentions to Marry, 1878

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840390, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, March 5 2025

Page 273

District of Cambridge Quarter ending 30 September 1878

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 July 1878

James Meush
Jane Troth

James McNeish
Jane Castle
💍 1878/1417

Bachelor
Spinster

Billiard Maker
Domestic Servant

24
20

Cambridge
Cambridge

5 years
2 years

St Andrews Church, Cambridge

78/705

No one resident to do

1 July 1878

Rev. W. N. de L. Willis, CofE

No	47
Date of Notice	1 July 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Meush	Jane Troth
BDM Match (66%)	James McNeish	Jane Castle
	💍 1878/1417
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Billiard Maker	Domestic Servant
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Cambridge	Cambridge
Length of Residence	5 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St Andrews Church, Cambridge
Folio	78/705
Consent	No one resident to do
Date of Certificate	1 July 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. N. de L. Willis, CofE

3 July 1878

John Boyd
Sophia Heaslip

John Boyd
Sophia Heaslip
💍 1878/1782

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
[illegible]

29
18

Cambridge
Cambridge

16 months
12 years

St Andrews Church, Cambridge

78/704

Benj. Heaslip, Father

3 July 1878

Rev. W. N. de L. Willis, CofE

No	48
Date of Notice	3 July 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Boyd	Sophia Heaslip
	💍 1878/1782
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	[illegible]
Age	29	18
Dwelling Place	Cambridge	Cambridge
Length of Residence	16 months	12 years
Marriage Place	St Andrews Church, Cambridge
Folio	78/704
Consent	Benj. Heaslip, Father
Date of Certificate	3 July 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. N. de L. Willis, CofE

4 July 1878

John Mullins
Elizabeth Knox

John Mullins
Elizabeth Knox
💍 1878/1781

Bachelor
Spinster

Groom
[illegible]

30
22

Hamilton
Newcastle

3 years
13 years

Episcopalian Church, Newcastle

78/703

6 July 1878

Rev. W. Calder, CofE

No	49
Date of Notice	4 July 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Mullins	Elizabeth Knox
	💍 1878/1781
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Groom	[illegible]
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Newcastle
Length of Residence	3 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Episcopalian Church, Newcastle
Folio	78/703
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 July 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Calder, CofE

11 July 1878

Denis Ritchie
Eliza Hogan

Denis Ritchie
Honora Hogan
💍 1878/1778

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
[illegible]

21
26

Cambridge
Cambridge

7 months
7 months

Roman Catholic Church, Cambridge

78/708

11 July 1878

Rev. J. Golden, RC

No	50
Date of Notice	11 July 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Denis Ritchie	Eliza Hogan
BDM Match (79%)	Denis Ritchie	Honora Hogan
	💍 1878/1778
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	[illegible]
Age	21	26
Dwelling Place	Cambridge	Cambridge
Length of Residence	7 months	7 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Cambridge
Folio	78/708
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 July 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Golden, RC

15 July 1878

William Bolton
Ann Whyte

William Bolton
Anne White
💍 1878/1779

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
[illegible]

23
20

Hamilton
Hamilton

2 years
2 years

Roman Catholic Church, Hamilton

78/707

15 July 1878

Rev. J. Golden, RC

No	51
Date of Notice	15 July 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Bolton	Ann Whyte
BDM Match (90%)	William Bolton	Anne White
	💍 1878/1779
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	[illegible]
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Hamilton
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Hamilton
Folio	78/707
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 July 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Golden, RC

22 July 1878

Thomas O'Brien
Rose Gray

Thomas O'Brien
Rose A Gray
💍 1878/1780

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
[illegible]

21
21

Cambridge
Hamilton

6 months
6 months

Roman Catholic Church, Hamilton

78/702

22 July 1878

Rev. J. Golden, RC

No	52
Date of Notice	22 July 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas O'Brien	Rose Gray
BDM Match (91%)	Thomas O'Brien	Rose A Gray
	💍 1878/1780
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	[illegible]
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Cambridge	Hamilton
Length of Residence	6 months	6 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Hamilton
Folio	78/702
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 July 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Golden, RC

14 August 1878

Thomas Goodman Sandes
Isabel McGlashan

Thomas Goodman Sankes
Isabel McGlachan
💍 1878/2341

Bachelor
Spinster

Surveyor
[illegible]

32
21

Hamilton
Waitoa

2 years
18 months

Episcopalian Church, Hamilton

78/2357

17 August 1878

Rev. W. Calder, CofE

No	53
Date of Notice	14 August 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Goodman Sandes	Isabel McGlashan
BDM Match (95%)	Thomas Goodman Sankes	Isabel McGlachan
	💍 1878/2341
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Surveyor	[illegible]
Age	32	21
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Waitoa
Length of Residence	2 years	18 months
Marriage Place	Episcopalian Church, Hamilton
Folio	78/2357
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 August 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Calder, CofE

10 September 1878

John Le Seuer
Agnes Thompson

John Tait
Agnes Thompson
💍 1878/3315

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawyer
[illegible]

35
15

Whatawhata
Hamilton

2 years
2 years

The House of W. G. Thompson, Father

Consent not yet given

15 September 1878

No	54
Date of Notice	10 September 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Le Seuer	Agnes Thompson
BDM Match (69%)	John Tait	Agnes Thompson
	💍 1878/3315
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawyer	[illegible]
Age	35	15
Dwelling Place	Whatawhata	Hamilton
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	The House of W. G. Thompson, Father
Folio
Consent	Consent not yet given
Date of Certificate	15 September 1878
Officiating Minister

13 September 1878

James Black
Fanny Rogers

James Black
Fanny Rogers
💍 1878/1413

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
[illegible]

35
19

Hamilton
Hamilton

3 years
3 years

The House of W. H. Rogers, Father

78/339

Henry Rogers, Father

13 September 1878

Rev. H. J. Lewis, Congre

No	55
Date of Notice	13 September 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Black	Fanny Rogers
	💍 1878/1413
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	[illegible]
Age	35	19
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Hamilton
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	The House of W. H. Rogers, Father
Folio	78/339
Consent	Henry Rogers, Father
Date of Certificate	13 September 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. J. Lewis, Congre

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 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).