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 832

District of Waikouaiti Quarter ending 31 March 1879 Registrar William Cleaner Purcell

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

190

4 January 1879

John Hungerford
Kate McMilian

John Hungerford
Kate McMillan
💍 1879/1453

Bachelor
Spinster

Groom
Domestic Servant

28 years
21 years

Waikouaiti
Waikouaiti

18 months
18 months

Catholic Chapel, Waikouaiti

79/1442

6 January 1879

Rev. Father Sheau R.C.

No	190
Date of Notice	4 January 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Hungerford	Kate McMilian
BDM Match (96%)	John Hungerford	Kate McMillan
	💍 1879/1453
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Groom	Domestic Servant
Age	28 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Waikouaiti	Waikouaiti
Length of Residence	18 months	18 months
Marriage Place	Catholic Chapel, Waikouaiti
Folio	79/1442
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1879
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Sheau R.C.

191

18 January 1879

Ramsay Black Sine
Fanny Caroline Hertslet

Ramsay Black Sime
Fanny Evaline Herbert
💍 1879/726

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

32 years
19 years

Hawkesbury, Waikouaiti
Hawkesbury, Waikouaiti

3 days
6 months

St John's Church, Waikouaiti

79/625

Henry Charles Hertslet, Father

18 January 1879

Rev. E. H. Granger C of E

No	191
Date of Notice	18 January 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ramsay Black Sine	Fanny Caroline Hertslet
BDM Match (80%)	Ramsay Black Sime	Fanny Evaline Herbert
	💍 1879/726
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	32 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Hawkesbury, Waikouaiti	Hawkesbury, Waikouaiti
Length of Residence	3 days	6 months
Marriage Place	St John's Church, Waikouaiti
Folio	79/625
Consent	Henry Charles Hertslet, Father
Date of Certificate	18 January 1879
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. H. Granger C of E

192

26 February 1879

Frederick Trattles Stephenson
Elizabeth Emma Whinam

Frederick Braken Stephenson
Elizabeth Emma Whinam
💍 1879/725

Bachelor
Spinster

Chemist (Druggist)

23 years
21 years

Palmerston, Otago
Waikouaiti

12 months
17 years

St John Church, Waikouaiti

79/624

26 February 1879

Rev. E. H. Granger C of E

No	192
Date of Notice	26 February 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Trattles Stephenson	Elizabeth Emma Whinam
BDM Match (91%)	Frederick Braken Stephenson	Elizabeth Emma Whinam
	💍 1879/725
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chemist (Druggist)
Age	23 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Palmerston, Otago	Waikouaiti
Length of Residence	12 months	17 years
Marriage Place	St John Church, Waikouaiti
Folio	79/624
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1879
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. H. Granger C of E

193

22 March 1879

William Apsey
Fanny Morrison

William Apes
Fanny Morris
💍 1879/729

William Hindes
Fanny Mowrilyan
💍 1880/1203

Widower
Spinster

Settler
Dressmaker

53 years
51 years

Hill Hill at Morris
Beach Road, Hawkesbury

5 months
1 month

In the house of Mr Windsor, Beach Road, Hawkesbury

79/623

22 March 1879

Rev. John Christie C of S

No	193
Date of Notice	22 March 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Apsey	Fanny Morrison
BDM Match (85%)	William Apes	Fanny Morris
	💍 1879/729
BDM Match (69%)	William Hindes	Fanny Mowrilyan
	💍 1880/1203
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Settler	Dressmaker
Age	53 years	51 years
Dwelling Place	Hill Hill at Morris	Beach Road, Hawkesbury
Length of Residence	5 months	1 month
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr Windsor, Beach Road, Hawkesbury
Folio	79/623
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 March 1879
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Christie C of S

194

25 March 1879

John Finlayson Gillies
Constance Harriet Carnegie

John Finlayson Gillies
Constance Harriet Carnegie
💍 1879/730

Bachelor
Spinster

Doctor of Medicine

31 years
21 years

Railway Station Hotel, Waikouaiti
Roslyn, Dunedin

3 days
over 4 years

Warrington Church,

79/628

25 March 1879

Rev. J. L. Stanley C of E

No	194
Date of Notice	25 March 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Finlayson Gillies	Constance Harriet Carnegie
	💍 1879/730
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Doctor of Medicine
Age	31 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Railway Station Hotel, Waikouaiti	Roslyn, Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	over 4 years
Marriage Place	Warrington Church,
Folio	79/628
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1879
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. L. Stanley C of E

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).