Intentions to Marry, 1880

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840392, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Page 469

District of Wairau Quarter ending Jul - Sep

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

12 July 1880

James Albon Haycock
Jessie Paterson Scott

James Albon Haycock
Jessie Patersen Scott
💍 1880/570

Bachelor
Spinster

Grazier

28
18

George & Timoti Relson Temporary dwelling place Awatere
The Shades Kekerangu

1 year
1 month

The House of Gideon Scott The Shades

81/711

Gideon Scott, Father

12 July 1880

Rev. E. Williams [UNCLEAR]

No	21
Date of Notice	12 July 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Albon Haycock	Jessie Paterson Scott
BDM Match (98%)	James Albon Haycock	Jessie Patersen Scott
	💍 1880/570
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grazier
Age	28	18
Dwelling Place	George & Timoti Relson Temporary dwelling place Awatere	The Shades Kekerangu
Length of Residence	1 year	1 month
Marriage Place	The House of Gideon Scott The Shades
Folio	81/711
Consent	Gideon Scott, Father
Date of Certificate	12 July 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Williams [UNCLEAR]

14 July 1880

Daniel Murphy
Mary Lines

Daniel Murphy
Mary Lyons
💍 1880/588

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

29
23

Springlands, Omaka
Wairau

25 years
10 months

Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim

80/705

14 July 1880

[UNCLEAR]

No	22
Date of Notice	14 July 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel Murphy	Mary Lines
BDM Match (85%)	Daniel Murphy	Mary Lyons
	💍 1880/588
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Springlands, Omaka	Wairau
Length of Residence	25 years	10 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim
Folio	80/705
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1880
Officiating Minister	[UNCLEAR]

19 July 1880

George Robinson
Annie Eliza Martin

George Robinson
Annie Eliza Martin
💍 1880/591

Bachelor
Spinster

Draughtsman

25
22

Blenheim
Blenheim

9 months
15 months

The House of [UNCLEAR] Martin, Charles Street, Blenheim

80/708

19 July 1880

Rev. A. M. Sauzeau

No	23
Date of Notice	19 July 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Robinson	Annie Eliza Martin
	💍 1880/591
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draughtsman
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	9 months	15 months
Marriage Place	The House of [UNCLEAR] Martin, Charles Street, Blenheim
Folio	80/708
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 July 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. M. Sauzeau

7 August 1880

Ralph Simmons
Harriet Dale

Ralph Simmons
Harriet Dale
💍 1880/568

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic Servant

28
22

Wairau
Blenheim

12 years
2 years

The Church of the Nativity, Blenheim

80/709

7 August 1880

Rev. H. F. Butt

No	24
Date of Notice	7 August 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ralph Simmons	Harriet Dale
	💍 1880/568
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Servant
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Wairau	Blenheim
Length of Residence	12 years	2 years
Marriage Place	The Church of the Nativity, Blenheim
Folio	80/709
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 August 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. F. Butt

11 August 1880

Phillip Frisender
Elizabeth Emma Taylor

Phillip Fissinden
Elizabeth Emma Taylor
💍 1880/569

Widower
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic Servant

31
25

Starborough, Awatere
Starborough, Awatere

7 years
2½ years

The Church of the Nativity, Blenheim

80/710

11 August 1880

Rev. H. F. Butt

No	25
Date of Notice	11 August 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Phillip Frisender	Elizabeth Emma Taylor
BDM Match (88%)	Phillip Fissinden	Elizabeth Emma Taylor
	💍 1880/569
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Servant
Age	31	25
Dwelling Place	Starborough, Awatere	Starborough, Awatere
Length of Residence	7 years	2½ years
Marriage Place	The Church of the Nativity, Blenheim
Folio	80/710
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 August 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. F. Butt

25 August 1880

William O'Donnell
Hannah Moreau

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd

23
17

Blenheim
Blenheim

5 years
17 years

The Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim

80/704

Elizabeth [UNCLEAR], mother.

25 August 1880

Rev. A. M. Sauzeau

No	26
Date of Notice	25 August 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William O'Donnell	Hannah Moreau
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd
Age	23	17
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	5 years	17 years
Marriage Place	The Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim
Folio	80/704
Consent	Elizabeth [UNCLEAR], mother.
Date of Certificate	25 August 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. M. Sauzeau

31 August 1880

Frederick Garmson
Ellen Annie Maria Douglas

Frederick Gormon
Ellen Anna Maria Douglas
💍 1880/589

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic Servant

25
18

Blenheim
Blenheim

6 months
2 months

The House of [UNCLEAR] Blenheim

80/706

[UNCLEAR] having authority to give consent

31 August 1880

Rev. A. M. Sauzeau

No	27
Date of Notice	31 August 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Garmson	Ellen Annie Maria Douglas
BDM Match (90%)	Frederick Gormon	Ellen Anna Maria Douglas
	💍 1880/589
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic Servant
Age	25	18
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	6 months	2 months
Marriage Place	The House of [UNCLEAR] Blenheim
Folio	80/706
Consent	[UNCLEAR] having authority to give consent
Date of Certificate	31 August 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. M. Sauzeau

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

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Attribution: This image was digitised by Archives NZ Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga and is republished here under CC BY. It has been cropped and rotated for convenience.

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 1903. 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).