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 0597

District of Grey 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

3 July 1878

Edwin Payne
Elizabeth Young

Edwin Payne
Elizabeth Young
💍 1878/2008

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer
nil

22 years
17 years

Greymouth
Greymouth

2 years
1 year

At the private dwelling House of C. Watson, High St, Greymouth

78/1957

Declaration made by E. Young that there was no person in the colony authorized to give consent

3 July 1878

Rev. G.S.H. Watkins

No	22
Date of Notice	3 July 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin Payne	Elizabeth Young
	💍 1878/2008
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer	nil
Age	22 years	17 years
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	2 years	1 year
Marriage Place	At the private dwelling House of C. Watson, High St, Greymouth
Folio	78/1957
Consent	Declaration made by E. Young that there was no person in the colony authorized to give consent
Date of Certificate	3 July 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. G.S.H. Watkins

8 July 1878

William Jamieson
Annie Hanson

No corresponding marriage registration located

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
nil

32 years
21 years

White Beach, H.P.
White Beach, H.P.

12 years
1 month

At the Registrars Office, Greymouth

78/3292

8 July 1878

Rev. Wm. Kennick, Registrar

No	23
Date of Notice	8 July 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Jamieson	Annie Hanson
	💍 No corresponding marriage registration located
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	nil
Age	32 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	White Beach, H.P.	White Beach, H.P.
Length of Residence	12 years	1 month
Marriage Place	At the Registrars Office, Greymouth
Folio	78/3292
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 July 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm. Kennick, Registrar

7 August 1878

Adam Blair
Nora Crowley

Adam Blair
Norah Crowley
💍 1878/2004

Bachelor
Spinster

Coach Proprietor
Servant

26 years
22 years

Marsden
Marsden

4 years
1 year

Wesleyan Chapel, St. Greymouth

78/1954

7 August 1878

Rev. Henry Bull

No	24
Date of Notice	7 August 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Adam Blair	Nora Crowley
BDM Match (96%)	Adam Blair	Norah Crowley
	💍 1878/2004
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coach Proprietor	Servant
Age	26 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Marsden	Marsden
Length of Residence	4 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Chapel, St. Greymouth
Folio	78/1954
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 August 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry Bull

9 August 1878

Arthur William Jarrett
Alice Bunchell

Arthur William Yarrell
Alice Burchell
💍 1878/2010

Bachelor
Spinster

Saddler
nil

29 years
23 years

Greymouth
Greymouth

6 years
10 years

Hokoman Hotel, Boundary St, Greymouth

78/1959

9 August 1878

Rev. G.S.H. Watkins

No	25
Date of Notice	9 August 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur William Jarrett	Alice Bunchell
BDM Match (90%)	Arthur William Yarrell	Alice Burchell
	💍 1878/2010
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler	nil
Age	29 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	6 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Hokoman Hotel, Boundary St, Greymouth
Folio	78/1959
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 August 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. G.S.H. Watkins

14 August 1878

William Norris
Emily Ellen Hare

William Norris
Emily Allen Hare
💍 1878/2005

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
None

44 years
26 years

Greymouth
Greymouth

8 years
2 years

Private dwelling house of W. Norris, Smith Terrace, Greymouth

78/1955

14 August 1878

Rev. G.S.H. Watkins

No	26
Date of Notice	14 August 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Norris	Emily Ellen Hare
BDM Match (97%)	William Norris	Emily Allen Hare
	💍 1878/2005
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	None
Age	44 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	8 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Private dwelling house of W. Norris, Smith Terrace, Greymouth
Folio	78/1955
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 August 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. G.S.H. Watkins

21 August 1878

James Barry
Ellen Teresa Feeney

James Barry
Ellen Theresa Feeney
💍 1878/2012

Bachelor
Spinster

Constable
Servant

22 years
22 years

Greymouth
Greymouth

11 months
18 months

Roman Catholic Chapel, Greymouth

78/1961

21 August 1878

Rev. Father J Ecuhre

No	27
Date of Notice	21 August 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Barry	Ellen Teresa Feeney
BDM Match (98%)	James Barry	Ellen Theresa Feeney
	💍 1878/2012
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Constable	Servant
Age	22 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	11 months	18 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Chapel, Greymouth
Folio	78/1961
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 August 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father J Ecuhre

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).