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 471

District of Napier Quarter ending 31 December 1878

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
100	26 November 1878	Samuel Thomas Jory Isabella Waterworth	Samuel Thomas Tong Isabella Waterworth 💍 1878/3206	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	28 20	Napier Napier	3 months 20 months	St John's Church, Napier	78/3239	Father	26 November 1878	Rev. De Berdt Hovell
101	30 November 1878	Thomas Parker Eva Mabel Dennett	Thomas Parker Eva Mabell Dennett 💍 1878/2677	Widower Spinster	Merchant	40 20	Napier Napier	3 years 8 months	St Joseph's Chapel, Napier	78/12418		30 November 1878	Rev. F. Forest
102	2 December 1878	Thomas Henry Mulvaney Catherine George	Thomas Henry Mulvary Catherine George 💍 1878/2708	Bachelor Spinster	Stationhand	42 23	Napier Napier	1 week 1 week	Wesleyan Parsonage, Napier	78/12427		2 December 1878	Rev. W. Oliver
103	7 December 1878	William Bartonstill Mary Ann Drasey	William Barton Hill Mary Ann Draisey 💍 1878/2694 William Smith Mary Ann Kane 💍 1878/205 William Watt Mary Anne Slaite 💍 1878/455	Bachelor Spinster	Coach Driver	33 24	Pohui Napier	3 months 2 years	House of Rev. D. Sidey, Napier	78/12436		7 December 1878	Rev. D. Sidey
104	10 December 1878	John Quinlan Mary Stothart	John Quinlan Mary Stothart 💍 1878/3207	Bachelor Spinster	Seaman	26 23	Napier Napier	3 days 9 months	St John's Church, Napier	78/13240		10 December 1878	Rev. De Berdt Hovell
105	12 December 1878	Daniel Richard Young Amanda Gore	Daniel Bitchard Young Amanda Louisa Gord 💍 1878/2709	Bachelor Spinster	Storeman	28 20	Port Ahuriri Napier	5 years 4 years	Wesleyan Church, Napier	78/12428	Step Father	13 December 1878	Rev. W. C. Oliver
106	13 December 1878	John William Nesbitt Mary Bryson	John Wiliam Nebblett Mary Bryson 💍 1878/2696	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	26 28	Napier Napier	5 years 3 years	House of E.W. Nesbitt, Napier	78/12438		13 December 1878	Rev. D. Sidey
107	16 December 1878	Alfred Hawes Mary Jane Wilkinson	Alfred Hawes Mary Jane Wilkinson 💍 1878/2705	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	21 18	Clive Clive	4 years 4 years	St Mark's Church, Clive	78/12424	Father	16 December 1878	Rev. W. St. Hill
108	17 December 1878	Thomas Gordon Jane Marshall	Thomas Gordon Jane Marshall 💍 1878/2695 Thomas Lewis Coe Rachel Marshall 💍 1878/267	Bachelor Spinster	Constable	23 22	Napier Napier	4 days 4 days	Rev. D. Sidey's Residence, Napier	78/12437		17 December 1878	Rev. D. Sidey

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 1894. More registers will be added as the project continues.

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).