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 237

District of Thames 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

900

10 January 1881

Michael Maher
Bridget Fahey

Michael Maher
Bridget Fahey
💍 1881/217

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
none

24 years
22 years

Waitangirua
Waitangirua

5 days
5 days

Roman Catholic Church of St Francis, Thames

81/1118

10 January 1881

Rev. Patrick OReilly, Roman Catholic Minister

No	900
Date of Notice	10 January 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Maher	Bridget Fahey
	💍 1881/217
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	none
Age	24 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Waitangirua	Waitangirua
Length of Residence	5 days	5 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church of St Francis, Thames
Folio	81/1118
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1881
Officiating Minister	Rev. Patrick OReilly, Roman Catholic Minister

901

13 January 1881

Bernard Williams
Ellen Mary Ann Stevens

Bernard Williams
Ellen Mary Ann Stevens
💍 1881/213

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
none

20 years
21 years

Pollen St
Sealy St

3 years
3 years

Registrar's Office, Thames

81/114

Elizabeth Williams, Mother of the minor

13 January 1881

R. de [illegible] Printon, Registrar

No	901
Date of Notice	13 January 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bernard Williams	Ellen Mary Ann Stevens
	💍 1881/213
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	none
Age	20 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Pollen St	Sealy St
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Thames
Folio	81/114
Consent	Elizabeth Williams, Mother of the minor
Date of Certificate	13 January 1881
Officiating Minister	R. de [illegible] Printon, Registrar

902

17 January 1881

James Percy
Julia Bestic

James Percy
Julia Bestie
💍 1881/510

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
none

36 years
19 years

Karaka Creek
Moanataiari Creek

10 years
2 years

Dwelling house of Mr Bestic

81/1447

Edward Ferrer Bestic, father of the minor

17 January 1881

Rev. S. J. Neill, Presbyterian Minister

No	902
Date of Notice	17 January 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Percy	Julia Bestic
BDM Match (96%)	James Percy	Julia Bestie
	💍 1881/510
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	none
Age	36 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Karaka Creek	Moanataiari Creek
Length of Residence	10 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling house of Mr Bestic
Folio	81/1447
Consent	Edward Ferrer Bestic, father of the minor
Date of Certificate	17 January 1881
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. J. Neill, Presbyterian Minister

903

26 January 1881

Benjamin Luky
Angelina Moyle
formerly Moyle

Benjamin Lukey
Angelina Moyle
💍 1881/219

Bachelor
Widow

Miner
Boarding-House Keeper

34 years
33 years

Grahamstown
Grahamstown

9 years
8 years

Dwelling house of Rev. R. J. Naokin

81/120

26 January 1881

Rev. R. J. Naokin, Wesleyan Minister

No	903
Date of Notice	26 January 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Benjamin Luky	Angelina Moyle formerly Moyle
BDM Match (70%)	Benjamin Lukey	Angelina Moyle
	💍 1881/219
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Miner	Boarding-House Keeper
Age	34 years	33 years
Dwelling Place	Grahamstown	Grahamstown
Length of Residence	9 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling house of Rev. R. J. Naokin
Folio	81/120
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 January 1881
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Naokin, Wesleyan Minister

904

5 February 1881

Richard Arthur Heald
Caroline Hales

Richard Arthur Heald
Caroline Hales
💍 1881/221

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant
none

27 years
24 years

Edwards St
Albert St

6 years
12 years

St George's Church, Thames

81/121

5 February 1881

Rev. V Lush, Church of England Minister

No	904
Date of Notice	5 February 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Arthur Heald	Caroline Hales
	💍 1881/221
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	none
Age	27 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Edwards St	Albert St
Length of Residence	6 years	12 years
Marriage Place	St George's Church, Thames
Folio	81/121
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1881
Officiating Minister	Rev. V Lush, Church of England 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).