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 307

District of Cambridge Quarter ending 31 March 1882 Registrar Walter Scott

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

9 January 1882

James William Bowman
Margaret Fitzgerald

William Bowman
Margaret Muir Fitzgerald
💍 1882/432

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

24 years
22 years

Monavale
Inkeriman

12 months
6 years

at the House of the Studds, Fitzgerald, Inkeriman

82/181

9 January 1882

Rev Hy Bull, Wesleyan Minister

No	27
Date of Notice	9 January 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James William Bowman	Margaret Fitzgerald
BDM Match (75%)	William Bowman	Margaret Muir Fitzgerald
	💍 1882/432
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	24 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Monavale	Inkeriman
Length of Residence	12 months	6 years
Marriage Place	at the House of the Studds, Fitzgerald, Inkeriman
Folio	82/181
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 January 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev Hy Bull, Wesleyan Minister

13 January 1882

James Parr
Caroline Jones

James Parr
Caroline Jones
💍 1882/430

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

24 years
19 years

Waitoa
Cambridge West

1 1/2 years
6 years

House of Mr Rhodes, Cambridge West

82/119

Thomas Jones, Father

13 January 1882

Rev W Evans, Presbyterian Minister

No	29
Date of Notice	13 January 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Parr	Caroline Jones
	💍 1882/430
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	24 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Waitoa	Cambridge West
Length of Residence	1 1/2 years	6 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr Rhodes, Cambridge West
Folio	82/119
Consent	Thomas Jones, Father
Date of Certificate	13 January 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev W Evans, Presbyterian Minister

23 January 1882

Denis Ritchie
Annaskatherine O'Connor

Dennis Ritchie
Catherine O'Connor
💍 1882/198

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

23 years
22 years

Cambridge
Cambridge

4 years
4 years

Roman Catholic Church

82/172

23 January 1882

Rev Father O'Hara, Roman Catholic

No	30
Date of Notice	23 January 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Denis Ritchie	Annaskatherine O'Connor
BDM Match (83%)	Dennis Ritchie	Catherine O'Connor
	💍 1882/198
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	23 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Cambridge	Cambridge
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church
Folio	82/172
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 January 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev Father O'Hara, Roman Catholic

16 February 1882

John Primrose
Alice Maud Brown

John Primrose
Alice Maud Brown
💍 1882/431

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

29 years
21 years

Hukunnui
Kirikirison

8 years
4 years

Presbyterian Church, Cambridge

82/180

16 February 1882

Rev W. Evans, Presbyterian Minister

No	31
Date of Notice	16 February 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Primrose	Alice Maud Brown
	💍 1882/431
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	29 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Hukunnui	Kirikirison
Length of Residence	8 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Cambridge
Folio	82/180
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev W. Evans, Presbyterian Minister

18 February 1882

James Orr
Ellen Griffin

James Orr
Ellen Griffin
💍 1882/622

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

24 years
24 years

Oxford
Oxford

2 months
8 months

Roman Catholic Church, Cambridge

82/175

18 February 1882

Rev Father O'Hara, Roman Catholic

No	32
Date of Notice	18 February 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Orr	Ellen Griffin
	💍 1882/622
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	24 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Oxford	Oxford
Length of Residence	2 months	8 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Cambridge
Folio	82/175
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev Father O'Hara, Roman Catholic

21 February 1882

Thomas Henry Hoy
Mary Duples

Thomas Henry Hoy
Mary Dynes
💍 1882/433

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

22 years
22 years

Cambridge
Toatoaroa

8 years
6 months

House of Mr Duples, Toatoaroa

82/182

21 February 1882

Rev Hy Bull, Wesleyan Minister

No	33
Date of Notice	21 February 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Henry Hoy	Mary Duples
BDM Match (86%)	Thomas Henry Hoy	Mary Dynes
	💍 1882/433
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	22 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Cambridge	Toatoaroa
Length of Residence	8 years	6 months
Marriage Place	House of Mr Duples, Toatoaroa
Folio	82/182
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev Hy Bull, Wesleyan Minister

11 March 1882

Thomas Napoleon Teek
Sarah Ann Robertson

Thomas Napoleon Peek
Lara Ann Robertson
💍 1882/429

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

25 years
22 years

Cambridge
Cambridge

4 years
3 years

Episcopalian Church, Cambridge

82/148

11 March 1882

Rev W D Willis, Episcopalian Minister

No	34
Date of Notice	11 March 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Napoleon Teek	Sarah Ann Robertson
BDM Match (92%)	Thomas Napoleon Peek	Lara Ann Robertson
	💍 1882/429
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	25 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Cambridge	Cambridge
Length of Residence	4 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Episcopalian Church, Cambridge
Folio	82/148
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 March 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev W D Willis, Episcopalian Minister

13 March 1882

William Petty
Mary U. Clark

William Petty
Mary McCarthy
💍 1882/422

Bachelor
Spinster

Constable

24 years
21 years

Cambridge
Cambridge

4 months
3 years

Roman Catholic Church, Cambridge

82/174

13 March 1882

Rev Father O'Hara, Roman Catholic

No	35
Date of Notice	13 March 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Petty	Mary U. Clark
BDM Match (73%)	William Petty	Mary McCarthy
	💍 1882/422
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Constable
Age	24 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Cambridge	Cambridge
Length of Residence	4 months	3 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Cambridge
Folio	82/174
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 March 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev Father O'Hara, Roman Catholic

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).