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 0749

District of Ellesmere Quarter ending 31 March 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

29 January 1878

Joshua Rapley
Mary Jane Hill

Joshua Ropley
Mary Jane Hill
💍 1878/592

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

22
18

Doyleston
Doyleston

6 months
3 years

Wesleyan Church at Leeston

78/600

George Hill, Father

4 January 1878

Rev. Paul Fairclough of Leeston

No	29
Date of Notice	29 January 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joshua Rapley	Mary Jane Hill
BDM Match (96%)	Joshua Ropley	Mary Jane Hill
	💍 1878/592
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	22	18
Dwelling Place	Doyleston	Doyleston
Length of Residence	6 months	3 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church at Leeston
Folio	78/600
Consent	George Hill, Father
Date of Certificate	4 January 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. Paul Fairclough of Leeston

30 January 1878

Alexander Lazarretti
Lizzie Power

Alexander Lazaretti
Elizabeth Power
💍 1878/609

Bachelor
Spinster

Fisherman

25
28

Lake Ellesmere
Southbridge

3 years
3 weeks

Roman Catholic Church, Leeston

78/598

11 January 1878

Rev. J.C. Cherrier of Shand's Track

No	30
Date of Notice	30 January 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Lazarretti	Lizzie Power
BDM Match (78%)	Alexander Lazaretti	Elizabeth Power
	💍 1878/609
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fisherman
Age	25	28
Dwelling Place	Lake Ellesmere	Southbridge
Length of Residence	3 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Leeston
Folio	78/598
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 January 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. J.C. Cherrier of Shand's Track

31 January 1878

James O'Hara
Harriet Anna Matthews

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer

26
24

Lakeside
Lakeside

4 days
10 years

at the house of Mr. William Matthews at Lakeside

78/599

15 January 1878

Rev. H.C. Cree of Leeston, Pres

No	31
Date of Notice	31 January 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James O'Hara	Harriet Anna Matthews
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Lakeside	Lakeside
Length of Residence	4 days	10 years
Marriage Place	at the house of Mr. William Matthews at Lakeside
Folio	78/599
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. H.C. Cree of Leeston, Pres

32 January 1878

William McKornick
Rachel McKay

William McCormick
Rachel McKay
💍 1878/3332

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

29
23

Lakeside
Doyleston

5 years
3 years

Roman Catholic Chapel, Leeston

78/599

31 January 1878

Rev. J.C. Cherrier of Shand's Track

No	32
Date of Notice	32 January 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William McKornick	Rachel McKay
BDM Match (94%)	William McCormick	Rachel McKay
	💍 1878/3332
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Lakeside	Doyleston
Length of Residence	5 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Chapel, Leeston
Folio	78/599
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 January 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. J.C. Cherrier of Shand's Track

33 March 1878

James Ashley
Mary Eliza Andrews

James Ashley
Mary Eliza Andrews
💍 1878/588

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Department

30
19

Southbridge
Southbridge

2 years
13 years

St James's Church of England, Southbridge

78/595

James Andrews, Father

5 March 1878

Rev. W. Harper of Southbridge

No	33
Date of Notice	33 March 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Ashley	Mary Eliza Andrews
	💍 1878/588
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Department
Age	30	19
Dwelling Place	Southbridge	Southbridge
Length of Residence	2 years	13 years
Marriage Place	St James's Church of England, Southbridge
Folio	78/595
Consent	James Andrews, Father
Date of Certificate	5 March 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Harper of Southbridge

34 March 1878

James Maxwell
Barbara Huston

James Maxwell
Barbara Huston
💍 1878/587

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

30
17

Leeston
Leeston

5 months
2 months

St John's Church of England, Leeston

78/594

James Huston, Father

8 March 1878

Rev. W. Harper of Southbridge

No	34
Date of Notice	34 March 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Maxwell	Barbara Huston
	💍 1878/587
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	30	17
Dwelling Place	Leeston	Leeston
Length of Residence	5 months	2 months
Marriage Place	St John's Church of England, Leeston
Folio	78/594
Consent	James Huston, Father
Date of Certificate	8 March 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Harper of Southbridge

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 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).