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 938

District of Port Chalmers Quarter ending 30 September 1879 Registrar John Robert Monson

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

16 July 1879

Henry Grimsey
Mary Ann Welsh

Henry Grimsey
Mary Anne Welsh
💍 1879/2434

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

29 years
20 do

Beach Street Port Chalmers
George Street Port Chalmers

2 months
1 week

at the House of Capt. Cowper George Street Port Chalmers

79/2418

Mary Welsh, mother

16 July 1879

Rev. Wm. Finlay

No	16
Date of Notice	16 July 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Grimsey	Mary Ann Welsh
BDM Match (97%)	Henry Grimsey	Mary Anne Welsh
	💍 1879/2434
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	29 years	20 do
Dwelling Place	Beach Street Port Chalmers	George Street Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	2 months	1 week
Marriage Place	at the House of Capt. Cowper George Street Port Chalmers
Folio	79/2418
Consent	Mary Welsh, mother
Date of Certificate	16 July 1879
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm. Finlay

17 July 1879

Ernest Godpeed
Emily Boleman

Ernest Godfred
Emily Coleman
💍 1879/2200

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Porter

30 years
22 do

Beach Street Port Chalmers
George Street Port Chalmers

7 days
20 years

at the House of Mr. Holsey

79/2239

17 July 1879

Rev. Wm. Finlay

No	17
Date of Notice	17 July 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Godpeed	Emily Boleman
BDM Match (89%)	Ernest Godfred	Emily Coleman
	💍 1879/2200
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Porter
Age	30 years	22 do
Dwelling Place	Beach Street Port Chalmers	George Street Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	7 days	20 years
Marriage Place	at the House of Mr. Holsey
Folio	79/2239
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 July 1879
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm. Finlay

28 July 1879

Thomas William Smith
Margaret Ellen Fitzgerald

Thomas William Smith
Margaret Ellen Fitzgerald
💍 1879/2203

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

20 do
20 years

do do
Island Terrace Port Chalmers

4 do
4 months

at the Congregational Manse Port Chalmers

79/2242

Not to be found, Sarah Smith, mother, Widow

28 July 1879

Rev. Jas. Maxwell

No	18
Date of Notice	28 July 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas William Smith	Margaret Ellen Fitzgerald
	💍 1879/2203
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	20 do	20 years
Dwelling Place	do do	Island Terrace Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	4 do	4 months
Marriage Place	at the Congregational Manse Port Chalmers
Folio	79/2242
Consent	Not to be found, Sarah Smith, mother, Widow
Date of Certificate	28 July 1879
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jas. Maxwell

1 August 1879

Richard Sefford Faulks
Helen Ryall

Richard Letford Faulkner
Helen Kydd
💍 1879/2201

Widower
Widow

Labourer

45 years
55 do

Purchanui
Port Chalmers

8 years
4 months

at the Wesleyan Parsonage Port Chalmers

79/2240

1 August 1879

Rev. Wm. Finlay

No	19
Date of Notice	1 August 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Sefford Faulks	Helen Ryall
BDM Match (71%)	Richard Letford Faulkner	Helen Kydd
	💍 1879/2201
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Labourer
Age	45 years	55 do
Dwelling Place	Purchanui	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	8 years	4 months
Marriage Place	at the Wesleyan Parsonage Port Chalmers
Folio	79/2240
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 August 1879
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm. Finlay

18 August 1879

Joseph Ryan
Theresa Fulton

Joseph Ryan
Theresa Sutton
💍 1879/2165

Bachelor
Spinster

Cook

28 do
18 years

8 Mitchell Street Dunedin
George Street Port Chalmers

8 months
3 years

at the Roman Catholic Church Dunedin

79/2181

Mary Fulton, mother

18 August 1879

Rev. P. O. Leary

No	20
Date of Notice	18 August 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Ryan	Theresa Fulton
BDM Match (93%)	Joseph Ryan	Theresa Sutton
	💍 1879/2165
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cook
Age	28 do	18 years
Dwelling Place	8 Mitchell Street Dunedin	George Street Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	8 months	3 years
Marriage Place	at the Roman Catholic Church Dunedin
Folio	79/2181
Consent	Mary Fulton, mother
Date of Certificate	18 August 1879
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. O. Leary

20 August 1879

Alfred Feast
Catherine Sowden

Alfred Feast
Louisa Catherine Louden
💍 1879/2202

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

24 years
21 do

Bryant Street Port Chalmers
George Street Port Chalmers

6 months
1 year

at the House of Mr. Sowden

79/2241

20 August 1879

Rev. James Maxwell

No	21
Date of Notice	20 August 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Feast	Catherine Sowden
BDM Match (80%)	Alfred Feast	Louisa Catherine Louden
	💍 1879/2202
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	24 years	21 do
Dwelling Place	Bryant Street Port Chalmers	George Street Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	6 months	1 year
Marriage Place	at the House of Mr. Sowden
Folio	79/2241
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 August 1879
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Maxwell

8 September 1879

William Law Guilder
Rosanna Hamlyn

William Dow Miller
Rosannah Hamlyn
💍 1879/2917

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

21 years
18 do

Hamilton Bay Lower Harbour
Lower Harbour West

2 years
13 do

at the House of Mr. Guilder Hamilton Bay

79/332

Charles Hamlyn, Father

8 September 1879

Rev. Wm. Johnstone

No	22
Date of Notice	8 September 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Law Guilder	Rosanna Hamlyn
BDM Match (84%)	William Dow Miller	Rosannah Hamlyn
	💍 1879/2917
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	21 years	18 do
Dwelling Place	Hamilton Bay Lower Harbour	Lower Harbour West
Length of Residence	2 years	13 do
Marriage Place	at the House of Mr. Guilder Hamilton Bay
Folio	79/332
Consent	Charles Hamlyn, Father
Date of Certificate	8 September 1879
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm. Johnstone

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).