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 501

District of Napier Quarter ending 31 December 1881

No	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
56	3 October 1881	Theodore Wilson Emma Kelsall	Theodore Wilson Emma Kelsall 💍 1881/2651	Bachelor Widow	Cabinet Maker formerly Arbon	32 41	Napier Napier	3 months 7 years	Residence of Mrs Kelsall	81/2413		3 October 1881	Rev D Sidey
57	8 October 1881	Charles Grant Ellen Duane	Charles Grant Ellen Quann 💍 1881/2652	Bachelor Widow	Seaman formerly Mahar	29 23	Port Ahuriri Napier	12 years 3 years	Presbyterian Manse	81/2414		8 October 1881	Rev D Sidey
58	12 October 1881	William Charles Spence Martha Elizabeth Bradley	William Charles Vince Martha Elizabeth Bradley 💍 1881/2629	Bachelor Spinster	Gardener	23 22	Petane Napier	9 months 12 months	Residence of Rev C. Penney	81/2407		12 October 1881	Rev C. Penney
59	13 October 1881	Samuel William Jathan Janet Graham	Samuel William Tatham Jane Graham 💍 1881/2640	Bachelor Widow	Station hand formerly Foster	25 26	Napier Napier	4 days 4 days	English Church	81/2408		13 October 1881	Rev D. Beck Howell
60	18 October 1881	Arthur Robert Frederick Allen Maria Brunckie	Arthur Robert Fredrick Allen Maria Brunskill 💍 1881/2618	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	21 19	Taradale Napier	18 months 14 years	House of Mr Lucas	81/2404	John Brunckie, Father	18 October 1881	Rev R. J. Burn
61	24 October 1881	James Adamson Mary Ann Eleanor Gillies	James Adamson Mary Ann Eleanor Gillies 💍 1881/2620	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	34 21	Napier Napier	6 years 7 years	Wesleyan Church	81/2405		24 October 1881	Rev R. J. Burn
62	24 October 1881	Alfred Codlin Sarah Ann Draycock	Alfred Codlin Sarah Ann Maycock 💍 1881/2653	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith	23 20	Napier Napier	4 years 3 days	Presbyterian Manse	81/2415	John Draycock, Father	24 October 1881	Rev D. Sidey
63	25 October 1881	William Ritchie Sarah Ann Baddely	William Ritchie Sarah Ann Baddeley 💍 1881/2633	Bachelor Spinster	Saw Miller	23 19	Hastings Hastings	3 days 3 months	English Church	81/2419	Samuel Baddely, Father	25 October 1881	Rev H. W. St. Hill
64	29 October 1881	Daniel Fox Phoebe Kelsall	Daniel Fox Phoebe Kelsall 💍 1881/2635	Bachelor Spinster	Telegraphist	21 21	Napier Napier	20 years 5 years	House of Mrs Wilson	81/2421		29 October 1881	Rev D. Mulvehill

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 1894. More registers will be added as the project continues.

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).