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 610

District of Rangiora Quarter ending 30 September 1880 Registrar A H Cunningham

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

315

14 July 1880

Thomas John McGregor
Jessie McIntosh

Thomas John McGregor
Jessie McIntosh
💍 1880/2332

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Servant(Domestic)

20
18

Rangiora
Southbrook Rangiora

3 days
3 Months

House of Hector McIntosh, Rangiora

80/1978

Jane McGregor, mother (widow) Hector McIntosh, father

14 July 1880

The Rev. Samuel Macfarlane

No	315
Date of Notice	14 July 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas John McGregor	Jessie McIntosh
	💍 1880/2332
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Servant(Domestic)
Age	20	18
Dwelling Place	Rangiora	Southbrook Rangiora
Length of Residence	3 days	3 Months
Marriage Place	House of Hector McIntosh, Rangiora
Folio	80/1978
Consent	Jane McGregor, mother (widow) Hector McIntosh, father
Date of Certificate	14 July 1880
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Samuel Macfarlane

316

19 July 1880

John De Wire
Dwyre -written in pencil
Mary O'Neil

John Dwire
Mary Oneil
💍 1880/2333

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Not any

26
19

Rangiora
Rangiora

7 months
3 years

Roman Catholic Church Rangiora

80/1979

John O'Neil, Father

19 July 1880

Rev. Nicholas Binsfeld

No	316
Date of Notice	19 July 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John De Wire Dwyre -written in pencil	Mary O'Neil
BDM Match (78%)	John Dwire	Mary Oneil
	💍 1880/2333
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Not any
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Rangiora	Rangiora
Length of Residence	7 months	3 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Rangiora
Folio	80/1979
Consent	John O'Neil, Father
Date of Certificate	19 July 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. Nicholas Binsfeld

317

27 July 1880

Daniel Colin Shelton
Elizabeth Duree

Daniel Collin Shilton
Elizabeth Derice
💍 1880/2354

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Not any

22
22

Wood End Rangiora
Wood End Rangiora

5 months
22 yrs

House of J Hy. Duree, Wood End

80/2023

27 July 1880

Rev. S S Garlick

No	317
Date of Notice	27 July 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel Colin Shelton	Elizabeth Duree
BDM Match (86%)	Daniel Collin Shilton	Elizabeth Derice
	💍 1880/2354
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Not any
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Wood End Rangiora	Wood End Rangiora
Length of Residence	5 months	22 yrs
Marriage Place	House of J Hy. Duree, Wood End
Folio	80/2023
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 July 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. S S Garlick

318

6 August 1880

Robert Thompson
Margaret Doherty

Robert Thompson
Margaret Doherty
💍 1880/2334

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Laborer
not any

24
21

Lincoln, Christchurch
Flaxton Rangiora

4 yrs
1 month

Roman Catholic Church Rangiora

80/1980

6 August 1880

Rev. J Nicholas Benfield

No	318
Date of Notice	6 August 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Thompson	Margaret Doherty
	💍 1880/2334
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Laborer	not any
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Lincoln, Christchurch	Flaxton Rangiora
Length of Residence	4 yrs	1 month
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Rangiora
Folio	80/1980
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 August 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. J Nicholas Benfield

319

28 August 1880

Henry Turner
Emily Selina Stephens

Henry Turner
Emily Salina Stephens
💍 1880/2359

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer
Not any

26
21

Rangiora
Christchurch

3 years
6 weeks

Merivale Church Christchurch

80/2006

28 August 1880

Rev. Thos Flavell

No	319
Date of Notice	28 August 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Turner	Emily Selina Stephens
BDM Match (98%)	Henry Turner	Emily Salina Stephens
	💍 1880/2359
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer	Not any
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Rangiora	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	6 weeks
Marriage Place	Merivale Church Christchurch
Folio	80/2006
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 August 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thos Flavell

320

6 September 1880

Robert Goodfellow Farrelly
Clara Maria Luxton

Robert Goodfellow Farrelly
Clara Maria Luxton
💍 1880/2331

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Not any

23
20

Rangiora
Rangiora

4 days
20 yrs

Presbyterian Church Ashley

80/1977

John Luxton, Father

6 September 1880

Rev. John Elmslie

No	320
Date of Notice	6 September 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Goodfellow Farrelly	Clara Maria Luxton
	💍 1880/2331
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Not any
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Rangiora	Rangiora
Length of Residence	4 days	20 yrs
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Ashley
Folio	80/1977
Consent	John Luxton, Father
Date of Certificate	6 September 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Elmslie

321

28 September 1880

John Golding
Minnie Gertrude Ellen Say

John Golding
Minnie Gertrude Ellen Say
💍 1880/2336

Bachelor
Spinster

Joiner
Domestic Servant

22
17

Rangiora
Rangiora

20 yrs
17 yrs

Church of England Rangiora

80/1982

Alfred Say, Father

28 September 1880

Rev. B.W. Dudley

No	321
Date of Notice	28 September 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Golding	Minnie Gertrude Ellen Say
	💍 1880/2336
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Joiner	Domestic Servant
Age	22	17
Dwelling Place	Rangiora	Rangiora
Length of Residence	20 yrs	17 yrs
Marriage Place	Church of England Rangiora
Folio	80/1982
Consent	Alfred Say, Father
Date of Certificate	28 September 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. B.W. Dudley

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).

Primary digitisation of registers between 1855 and 1925 is now complete. Our digitisation volunteers are now working on verifying the currently digitised pages against printed district/page indexes, to identify pages which may have been missed or out of focus. These pages can be re-imaged as required.

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.

How can I help?

You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

You can also support this project by ☕ Buying us a coffee 🌳

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).