Intentions to Marry, 1879

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840391, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, April 30 2025

Page 236

District of Thames Quarter ending 31 December 1879 Registrar A. de bourcy Porterton

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

841

4 October 1879

George Reed
Eliza Ann Barnett
formerly Sincock

George Reed
Eliza Ann Barnett
💍 1879/2741

Widower
Widow

miner
none

42 years
33 years

Karaka Creek
Rosseston St. Thames

10 years
12 months

at residence of Rev. George Smith Richmond St. Thames

79/3118

4 October 1879

Rev. George Smith Primitive Methodist Minister

No	841
Date of Notice	4 October 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Reed	Eliza Ann Barnett formerly Sincock
	💍 1879/2741
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	miner	none
Age	42 years	33 years
Dwelling Place	Karaka Creek	Rosseston St. Thames
Length of Residence	10 years	12 months
Marriage Place	at residence of Rev. George Smith Richmond St. Thames
Folio	79/3118
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 October 1879
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Smith Primitive Methodist Minister

842

22 October 1879

Michael Glennen
Mary Ann M. Innes

Michael Glennen
Mary Ann McIniny
💍 1879/2724

Bachelor
Spinster

Bushman
none

36 years
26 years

Kaumerauga Bush
Richmond St. Thames

15 years
4 years

In the Registrar's office Mary St. Thames

79/3109

22 October 1879

A. de bourcy Porterton Registrar

No	842
Date of Notice	22 October 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Glennen	Mary Ann M. Innes
BDM Match (85%)	Michael Glennen	Mary Ann McIniny
	💍 1879/2724
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bushman	none
Age	36 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Kaumerauga Bush	Richmond St. Thames
Length of Residence	15 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In the Registrar's office Mary St. Thames
Folio	79/3109
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 October 1879
Officiating Minister	A. de bourcy Porterton Registrar

843

10 November 1879

Finlay Mc. Liver
Margaret Cronon

Finlay McLiver
Margaret Cronon
💍 1879/2731

Bachelor
Spinster

miner
none

31 years
22 years

Brown St. Thames
Brown St. Thames

5 years
2 years

In the Mar elbank Hotel Brown St. Thames

79/3115

10 November 1879

Rev. R. Laishley Congregational Minister

No	843
Date of Notice	10 November 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Finlay Mc. Liver	Margaret Cronon
BDM Match (94%)	Finlay McLiver	Margaret Cronon
	💍 1879/2731
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	miner	none
Age	31 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Brown St. Thames	Brown St. Thames
Length of Residence	5 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In the Mar elbank Hotel Brown St. Thames
Folio	79/3115
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 November 1879
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Laishley Congregational Minister

844

12 November 1879

Harry Hall Dix
Ellen Goodwin

Harry Hall Dix
Ellen Goodwin
💍 1879/2729

Bachelor
Spinster

Coach Painter
none

25 years
25 years

Grey St. Thames
Grey St. Thames

2 years
10 months

Wesleyan Church Willoughby St. Thames

79/3113

12 November 1879

Rev. W. J. Watkin Wesleyan Minister

No	844
Date of Notice	12 November 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Hall Dix	Ellen Goodwin
	💍 1879/2729
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coach Painter	none
Age	25 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Grey St. Thames	Grey St. Thames
Length of Residence	2 years	10 months
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church Willoughby St. Thames
Folio	79/3113
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 November 1879
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Watkin Wesleyan Minister

845

20 November 1879

John Anderson
Jane Webb

John Anderson
Jane Webb
💍 1879/2730

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
none

28 years
22 years

Keri-Keri.
Pollen St. Thames

13 years
3 years

Dwelling house of Mr. Gentry Pollen St. Thames

79/3114

20 November 1879

Rev. R. Laishley Congregational Minister

No	845
Date of Notice	20 November 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Anderson	Jane Webb
	💍 1879/2730
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	none
Age	28 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Keri-Keri.	Pollen St. Thames
Length of Residence	13 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling house of Mr. Gentry Pollen St. Thames
Folio	79/3114
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 November 1879
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Laishley Congregational Minister

846

25 November 1879

Samuel Meagher Hutchinson
Margaret Scheidler

Samuel Meagher Hutchinson
Margaret Scheidler
💍 1879/2732

Bachelor
Spinster

miner
dressmaker

34 years
17 years

Moanataiani Thames
Upper Albert St. Thames

8 years
11 years

In the Roman Catholic Church of St. Bridget Thames

79/3116

Martin Scheidler father of Minor

25 November 1879

Rev. Patrick O'Reilly Roman Catholic Priest

No	846
Date of Notice	25 November 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Meagher Hutchinson	Margaret Scheidler
	💍 1879/2732
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	miner	dressmaker
Age	34 years	17 years
Dwelling Place	Moanataiani Thames	Upper Albert St. Thames
Length of Residence	8 years	11 years
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Church of St. Bridget Thames
Folio	79/3116
Consent	Martin Scheidler father of Minor
Date of Certificate	25 November 1879
Officiating Minister	Rev. Patrick O'Reilly Roman Catholic Priest

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).