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 250

District of THAMES Quarter ending 31st day of December 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

945

25th October 1881

Thomas Henry Crawford
Agnes Fisher

Thomas Henry Crawford
Agnes Fisher
💍 1881/2425

Bachelor
Spinster

Mine Manager
None

44 years
22 years

Tararu Road
Queen St

13 years
13 years

Dwelling house of Mr Fisher

81/2502

25th October 1881

Rev. S. J. Neill

No	945
Date of Notice	25th October 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Henry Crawford	Agnes Fisher
	💍 1881/2425
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mine Manager	None
Age	44 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Tararu Road	Queen St
Length of Residence	13 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling house of Mr Fisher
Folio	81/2502
Consent
Date of Certificate	25th October 1881
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. J. Neill

946

1st November 1881

Joseph Whitley
Margaret Ann Little

Joseph Whitley
Margaret Ann Little
💍 1881/2441

Bachelor
Domestic Servant

Labourer

25 years
20 years

Brown St
Brown St

10 months
8 years

Dwelling house of Mr. David Sampson

81/2494

Margaret Ann Bird, formerly Little, Mother of Bride

1st November 1881

Rev. V. Lush, Church of England Minister

No	946
Date of Notice	1st November 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Whitley	Margaret Ann Little
	💍 1881/2441
Condition	Bachelor	Domestic Servant
Profession	Labourer
Age	25 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Brown St	Brown St
Length of Residence	10 months	8 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling house of Mr. David Sampson
Folio	81/2494
Consent	Margaret Ann Bird, formerly Little, Mother of Bride
Date of Certificate	1st November 1881
Officiating Minister	Rev. V. Lush, Church of England Minister

947

2nd November 1881

William Johnston
Hellen Gorries

William Johnston
Helen C Norries
💍 1881/2432

William Johnston
Susan Evans
💍 1881/1334

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
None

31 years
23 years

North Shore, Auckland
Mary St, Thames

3 days
4 years

Dwelling house of Mr. Wilson

81/2508

2nd November 1881

Rev. W. J. Watkin, Wesleyan Minister

No	947
Date of Notice	2nd November 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Johnston	Hellen Gorries
BDM Match (87%)	William Johnston	Helen C Norries
	💍 1881/2432
BDM Match (61%)	William Johnston	Susan Evans
	💍 1881/1334
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	None
Age	31 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	North Shore, Auckland	Mary St, Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	4 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling house of Mr. Wilson
Folio	81/2508
Consent
Date of Certificate	2nd November 1881
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Watkin, Wesleyan Minister

948

11th November 1881

Jacob Riley
Elizabeth Davis, formally Lancaster

Jacob Riley
Elizabeth Davis
💍 1881/2419

Bachelor
Widow

Miner
None

32 years
36 years

Karaka Creek
Karaka Creek

13 years
10 years

St George's Church, Thames

81/2495

11th November 1881

Rev. V. Lush, Church of England Minister

No	948
Date of Notice	11th November 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jacob Riley	Elizabeth Davis, formally Lancaster
BDM Match (71%)	Jacob Riley	Elizabeth Davis
	💍 1881/2419
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Miner	None
Age	32 years	36 years
Dwelling Place	Karaka Creek	Karaka Creek
Length of Residence	13 years	10 years
Marriage Place	St George's Church, Thames
Folio	81/2495
Consent
Date of Certificate	11th November 1881
Officiating Minister	Rev. V. Lush, Church of England Minister

949

15th November 1881

James Forbett
Julia Keohane

James Corbett
Julia Reohane
💍 1881/2420

Bachelor
Spinster

Hotel Keeper
None

35 years
20 years

Hikutia
Brown St

13 years
8 years

Roman Catholic Church of St. Francis, Thames

81/2497

William Mahoney, uncle to Minor

15th November 1881

Rev. P. O'Reilly, Roman Catholic Minister

No	949
Date of Notice	15th November 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Forbett	Julia Keohane
BDM Match (92%)	James Corbett	Julia Reohane
	💍 1881/2420
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hotel Keeper	None
Age	35 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Hikutia	Brown St
Length of Residence	13 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church of St. Francis, Thames
Folio	81/2497
Consent	William Mahoney, uncle to Minor
Date of Certificate	15th November 1881
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. O'Reilly, Roman Catholic Minister

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).