Intentions to Marry, 1882

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840394, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole at Archives NZ Wellington, April 16 2025

Page 259

District of Thames Quarter ending 30 September 1882 Registrar Alexander de Tourey Potterton

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

990

6 July 1882

John Coutts
Sarah Milnes

John Coutts
Sarah Milnes
💍 1882/2697

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Domestic Servant

24
22

Thames
Hill St

10 years
8 years

St. George's Church

82/1250

6 July 1882

Rev. William Calder

No	990
Date of Notice	6 July 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Coutts	Sarah Milnes
	💍 1882/2697
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Domestic Servant
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Thames	Hill St
Length of Residence	10 years	8 years
Marriage Place	St. George's Church
Folio	82/1250
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 July 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Calder

991

17 July 1882

Henry Foulstone Rowe
Julia Mary Gumby

Henry Goulstone Rowe
Julia Mary Gumby
💍 1882/1801

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Servant

25
21

Cambridge Waikato
Shorthand

7 days
6 months

Residence of Rev. S. J. Reill, Rolleston St, Thames

82/1190

19 July 1882

Rev. S. J. Reill

No	991
Date of Notice	17 July 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Foulstone Rowe	Julia Mary Gumby
BDM Match (98%)	Henry Goulstone Rowe	Julia Mary Gumby
	💍 1882/1801
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Servant
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Cambridge Waikato	Shorthand
Length of Residence	7 days	6 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. S. J. Reill, Rolleston St, Thames
Folio	82/1190
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 July 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. J. Reill

992

29 July 1882

James Nicholas Norman
Janet Schard Law

James Nicholas Norman
Janet Sharp Law
💍 1882/1798

Bachelor
Spinster

Bushman
Home

35
20

Kirkwood St
Karaka Creek

3 years
14 years

Dwelling House, Mr. Waddell, Karaka Creek

82/1189

Janet Waddell, formerly Law, mother of minor

29 July 1882

Rev. R. Laissley

No	992
Date of Notice	29 July 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Nicholas Norman	Janet Schard Law
BDM Match (94%)	James Nicholas Norman	Janet Sharp Law
	💍 1882/1798
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bushman	Home
Age	35	20
Dwelling Place	Kirkwood St	Karaka Creek
Length of Residence	3 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling House, Mr. Waddell, Karaka Creek
Folio	82/1189
Consent	Janet Waddell, formerly Law, mother of minor
Date of Certificate	29 July 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Laissley

993

3 August 1882

Francis Egginton
Elizabeth Jane Vercoe

Francis Egginton
Elizabeth Jane Vercoe
💍 1882/1799

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraphist
Home

22
21

Kirkwood St
Hill St

10 months
10 years

Dwelling House, Mr. Vercoe, Hill St, Thames

82/1190

3 August 1882

Rev. Henry Bull

No	993
Date of Notice	3 August 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Egginton	Elizabeth Jane Vercoe
	💍 1882/1799
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist	Home
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Kirkwood St	Hill St
Length of Residence	10 months	10 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling House, Mr. Vercoe, Hill St, Thames
Folio	82/1190
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 August 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry Bull

994

8 August 1882

William Alfred Kernot
Mary Maquire

William Alfred Kernot
Mary Maguire
💍 1882/1818

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner
Domestic Servant

25
21

Mercury Bay
Naiotahi

3 days
3 months

Roman Catholic Church, St Francis, Thames

82/1196

8 August 1882

Rev. P. O'Reilly

No	994
Date of Notice	8 August 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Alfred Kernot	Mary Maquire
BDM Match (96%)	William Alfred Kernot	Mary Maguire
	💍 1882/1818
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner	Domestic Servant
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Mercury Bay	Naiotahi
Length of Residence	3 days	3 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, St Francis, Thames
Folio	82/1196
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 August 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. O'Reilly

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).