Intentions to Marry, 1881

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840393, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, January 31 2025

Page 838

District of Oamaru Quarter ending 31 March 1881

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

875

4 February 1881

John Forrester
Isabella Lunan

John Forrester
Isabella Lunam
💍 1881/580

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

32
24

Papakaio
Waikoura

10 years
18 years

The residence of Mr. Richard Wilson at Papakaio

81/500

4 February 1881

Rev. John Steven Presbyterian

No	875
Date of Notice	4 February 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Forrester	Isabella Lunan
BDM Match (96%)	John Forrester	Isabella Lunam
	💍 1881/580
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	32	24
Dwelling Place	Papakaio	Waikoura
Length of Residence	10 years	18 years
Marriage Place	The residence of Mr. Richard Wilson at Papakaio
Folio	81/500
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1881
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Steven Presbyterian

876

4 February 1881

Thomas Addison
Alice Augusta Laurence

Thomas Addison
Alice Augusta Lawrence
💍 1881/3239

Widower
Spinster

Laborer
Housemaid

26
20

Oamaru
Oamaru

18 months
6 years

The residence of Mr. Thomas Stamford in Reed Street Oamaru

81/3274

Harriett Staniford, mother

4 February 1881

Rev. Charles Edward Barley Primitive Methodist

No	876
Date of Notice	4 February 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Addison	Alice Augusta Laurence
BDM Match (98%)	Thomas Addison	Alice Augusta Lawrence
	💍 1881/3239
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Housemaid
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	18 months	6 years
Marriage Place	The residence of Mr. Thomas Stamford in Reed Street Oamaru
Folio	81/3274
Consent	Harriett Staniford, mother
Date of Certificate	4 February 1881
Officiating Minister	Rev. Charles Edward Barley Primitive Methodist

877

7 February 1881

William Needs
Sarah Jane Campbell

William Needs
Sarah Jane Campbell
💍 1881/3240

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Servant

32
23

Alma Township, near Oamaru
Oamaru

4 years
4 years

The residence of the Bridegroom, Alma Township

81/3275

7 February 1881

Rev. Charles Edward Barley Primitive Methodist

No	877
Date of Notice	7 February 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Needs	Sarah Jane Campbell
	💍 1881/3240
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Servant
Age	32	23
Dwelling Place	Alma Township, near Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	The residence of the Bridegroom, Alma Township
Folio	81/3275
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1881
Officiating Minister	Rev. Charles Edward Barley Primitive Methodist

878

18 February 1881

Henry Dennis
Susan Common

Henry Dennis
Susan Common
💍 1881/575

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

32
30

Teaneraki
Teaneraki

3 years
2 years

Wesleyan Church Oamaru

81/498

18 February 1881

Rev. John Crump Wesleyan

No	878
Date of Notice	18 February 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Dennis	Susan Common
	💍 1881/575
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	32	30
Dwelling Place	Teaneraki	Teaneraki
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church Oamaru
Folio	81/498
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1881
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Crump Wesleyan

879

22 February 1881

Thomas Sherar
Mary Jane McClelland

Thomas Sherar
Mary Jane McClelland
💍 1881/583

Bachelor
Widow

Carpenter

48
46

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 days
3 days

Presbyterian Manse Oamaru

81/503

22 February 1881

Rev. A. B. Todd Presbyterian

No	879
Date of Notice	22 February 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Sherar	Mary Jane McClelland
	💍 1881/583
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Carpenter
Age	48	46
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse Oamaru
Folio	81/503
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1881
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. B. Todd Presbyterian

880

22 February 1881

Francis Stephens
Emma Hannah Skeets

Bachelor
Widow

Laborer
Housekeeper

54
51

North Road, Oamaru
Oamaru

7 years
2 1/2 years

The residence of Mrs. Skeets, Ouse Street, Oamaru

81/499

22 February 1881

Rev. John Crump Wesleyan

No	880
Date of Notice	22 February 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Stephens	Emma Hannah Skeets
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Laborer	Housekeeper
Age	54	51
Dwelling Place	North Road, Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	7 years	2 1/2 years
Marriage Place	The residence of Mrs. Skeets, Ouse Street, Oamaru
Folio	81/499
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1881
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Crump Wesleyan

881

4 March 1881

Michael Cleary
Lizzie Nash

Michael Cleary
Lizzie Nash
💍 1881/566

Bachelor
Spinster

Constable
Milliner

28
20

Oamaru
Oamaru

2 years
18 months

St. Patrick's Church, Oamaru

81/509

William Nash, Father

4 March 1881

Rev. William Coleman Roman Catholic

No	881
Date of Notice	4 March 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Cleary	Lizzie Nash
	💍 1881/566
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Constable	Milliner
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	2 years	18 months
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Church, Oamaru
Folio	81/509
Consent	William Nash, Father
Date of Certificate	4 March 1881
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Coleman Roman Catholic

882

7 March 1881

Peter Walker
Marion Muir

Peter Walker
Marion Muir
💍 1881/564

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

28
26

Oamaru
Oamaru

18 months
3 months

The office of the Registrar of Marriages at Oamaru

81/497

7 March 1881

The Registrar of Marriages at Oamaru

No	882
Date of Notice	7 March 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Walker	Marion Muir
	💍 1881/564
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	18 months	3 months
Marriage Place	The office of the Registrar of Marriages at Oamaru
Folio	81/497
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 March 1881
Officiating Minister	The Registrar of Marriages at Oamaru

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 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).