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 1085

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 March 1879

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

15 February 1879

Joseph Davis
Alice Grach

Joseph Davis
Alice Crack
💍 1879/869

Bachelor
Spinster

Drayman
General Servant

27 years
21 years

Invercargill
Invercargill

4 Years
16 years

House of Rev. C. E. Ward, Invercargill

79/948

15 February 1879

Rev. C. E. Ward

No	19
Date of Notice	15 February 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Davis	Alice Grach
BDM Match (91%)	Joseph Davis	Alice Crack
	💍 1879/869
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Drayman	General Servant
Age	27 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 Years	16 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. C. E. Ward, Invercargill
Folio	79/948
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1879
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Ward

14 February 1879

David Maloney
Ann Dris Kin

David Moloney
Anne Driscoll
💍 1879/908

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Servant

28 years
20 years

Makarewa
Makarewa

5 years
3 months

Roman Catholic Church, Invercargill

79/814

no one in Colony to give consent to marriage

14 February 1879

Rev. Thos Higgins

No	20
Date of Notice	14 February 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Maloney	Ann Dris Kin
BDM Match (77%)	David Moloney	Anne Driscoll
	💍 1879/908
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Servant
Age	28 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Makarewa	Makarewa
Length of Residence	5 years	3 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Invercargill
Folio	79/814
Consent	no one in Colony to give consent to marriage
Date of Certificate	14 February 1879
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thos Higgins

19 February 1879

Thomas Westacott
Mary Ann Price

Thomas Westacott
Mary Ann Price
💍 1879/875

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic Servant

32 years
24 years

Invercargill
Invercargill

3 years
18 years

House of Charles Price, Lees Street, Invercargill

79/804

19 February 1879

Rev. Mr. McNeill

No	21
Date of Notice	19 February 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Westacott	Mary Ann Price
	💍 1879/875
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic Servant
Age	32 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 years	18 years
Marriage Place	House of Charles Price, Lees Street, Invercargill
Folio	79/804
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1879
Officiating Minister	Rev. Mr. McNeill

24 February 1879

Robert Mitchell
Agnes Hause

Robert Mitchell
Agnes Flaus
💍 1879/2973

Widower
Spinster

Draper
Dressmaker

41 years
24 Years

Invercargill
North Invercargill

20 Years
4 Years

House of Robert Hause, North Invercargill

79/983

24 February 1879

Rev. Mr. Paterson

No	22
Date of Notice	24 February 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Mitchell	Agnes Hause
BDM Match (86%)	Robert Mitchell	Agnes Flaus
	💍 1879/2973
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Dressmaker
Age	41 years	24 Years
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	North Invercargill
Length of Residence	20 Years	4 Years
Marriage Place	House of Robert Hause, North Invercargill
Folio	79/983
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1879
Officiating Minister	Rev. Mr. Paterson

24 February 1879

Peter Georgeson
Margery Morton Leith

Peter Georgeson
Marjory Morton Leith
💍 1879/866

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Domestic Servant

21 years
18 Years

Invercargill
Heramilla

3 days
15 years

House of Wm. Leith

79/995

Alexander Leith, Brother; Wm. Leith, Father

24 February 1879

Rev. Mr. Alexander

No	23
Date of Notice	24 February 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Georgeson	Margery Morton Leith
BDM Match (95%)	Peter Georgeson	Marjory Morton Leith
	💍 1879/866
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Domestic Servant
Age	21 years	18 Years
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Heramilla
Length of Residence	3 days	15 years
Marriage Place	House of Wm. Leith
Folio	79/995
Consent	Alexander Leith, Brother; Wm. Leith, Father
Date of Certificate	24 February 1879
Officiating Minister	Rev. Mr. Alexander

24 February 1879

Charles Julius Descheler
Eliza Anne Mitchel

Charles Julius Deschler
Eliza Ann Mitchels
💍 1879/865

Bachelor
Spinster

Hotel Keeper
Domestic Servant

27 years
20 years

Invercargill
Invercargill

1 month
14 years

Church

79/994

Wm. Henry Mitchel, Father

24 February 1879

Rev. Mr. Alexander

No	24
Date of Notice	24 February 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Julius Descheler	Eliza Anne Mitchel
BDM Match (92%)	Charles Julius Deschler	Eliza Ann Mitchels
	💍 1879/865
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hotel Keeper	Domestic Servant
Age	27 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	1 month	14 years
Marriage Place	Church
Folio	79/994
Consent	Wm. Henry Mitchel, Father
Date of Certificate	24 February 1879
Officiating Minister	Rev. Mr. Alexander

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).