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 574

District of Waimea South Quarter ending 30 June 1882 Registrar Eliab Baigent

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

15 April 1882

George Bulmer Tate
Frances Wray

George Bulmer Tate
Frances May
💍 1882/1211

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

42
29

Dovedale Waimea South
Dovedale Waimea South

3 days
5 years

Dovedale Church, Waimea South

82/1234

26 April 1882

Rev. W. R. Whyte

No	3
Date of Notice	15 April 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Bulmer Tate	Frances Wray
BDM Match (92%)	George Bulmer Tate	Frances May
	💍 1882/1211
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	42	29
Dwelling Place	Dovedale Waimea South	Dovedale Waimea South
Length of Residence	3 days	5 years
Marriage Place	Dovedale Church, Waimea South
Folio	82/1234
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 April 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. R. Whyte

15 April 1882

Reuben Kinzett
Charlotte Margaret Pahl

Reuben Kinzett
Charlotte Margaret Pahl
💍 1882/1208

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

32
17

Tadmor Waimea South
Sherry Waimea South

15 years
17 years

The Register Office Wakefield

82/1231

John Frederick Pahl, father

26 April 1882

Eliab Baigent, Registrar of Marriages

No	4
Date of Notice	15 April 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reuben Kinzett	Charlotte Margaret Pahl
	💍 1882/1208
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	32	17
Dwelling Place	Tadmor Waimea South	Sherry Waimea South
Length of Residence	15 years	17 years
Marriage Place	The Register Office Wakefield
Folio	82/1231
Consent	John Frederick Pahl, father
Date of Certificate	26 April 1882
Officiating Minister	Eliab Baigent, Registrar of Marriages

22 April 1882

George Henry Ashcroft
Helen Brunner Bush

George Henry Ashcroft
Helen Bowman Bush
💍 1882/1209

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Officer

23
25

Bright Water Waimea South
Bright Water

2 days
25 years

St Pauls Church Spring Grove Waimea South

82/1232

26 April 1882

Archdeacon Mules, Church of England

No	5
Date of Notice	22 April 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Ashcroft	Helen Brunner Bush
BDM Match (83%)	George Henry Ashcroft	Helen Bowman Bush
	💍 1882/1209
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Officer
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	Bright Water Waimea South	Bright Water
Length of Residence	2 days	25 years
Marriage Place	St Pauls Church Spring Grove Waimea South
Folio	82/1232
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 April 1882
Officiating Minister	Archdeacon Mules, Church of England

25 May 1882

Peter Higgins
Martha Dunn

Peter Higgins
Martha Ann Lewis
💍 1882/1210

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

23
19

Bell Grove Waimea South
Spring Grove, Waimea South

23 years
19 years

Residence of Edward Lewis, Spring Grove

82/1233

Edward Lewis, father

25 May 1882

Rev. John Beckenham, Congregational Independent

No	6
Date of Notice	25 May 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Higgins	Martha Dunn
BDM Match (75%)	Peter Higgins	Martha Ann Lewis
	💍 1882/1210
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Bell Grove Waimea South	Spring Grove, Waimea South
Length of Residence	23 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Edward Lewis, Spring Grove
Folio	82/1233
Consent	Edward Lewis, father
Date of Certificate	25 May 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Beckenham, Congregational Independent

30 May 1882

John McKenzie
Agness S. Kerr

John McKenzie
Agnes Elizabeth Ken
💍 1882/1328

John McKenzie
Mary Smith
💍 1882/1725

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

34
25

Waimea South
Motupiko Waimea South

3 days
25 years

At the Residence of David Kerr, Motupiko W. S.

82/1235

30 May 1882

Rev. Patrick Calder, Presbyterian

No	7
Date of Notice	30 May 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McKenzie	Agness S. Kerr
BDM Match (68%)	John McKenzie	Agnes Elizabeth Ken
	💍 1882/1328
BDM Match (57%)	John McKenzie	Mary Smith
	💍 1882/1725
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	34	25
Dwelling Place	Waimea South	Motupiko Waimea South
Length of Residence	3 days	25 years
Marriage Place	At the Residence of David Kerr, Motupiko W. S.
Folio	82/1235
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. Patrick Calder, Presbyterian

17 June 1882

Francis Walstron
Martha Alice Currin

Francis Waterhouse
Martha Alice Currin
💍 1882/3488

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

23
19

Wakefield Waimea South
Wakefield

1 year
19 years

The Register Office Wakefield

82/13519

John Currin, father

17 June 1882

Eliab Baigent Registrar of Marriages

No	8
Date of Notice	17 June 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Walstron	Martha Alice Currin
BDM Match (81%)	Francis Waterhouse	Martha Alice Currin
	💍 1882/3488
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Wakefield Waimea South	Wakefield
Length of Residence	1 year	19 years
Marriage Place	The Register Office Wakefield
Folio	82/13519
Consent	John Currin, father
Date of Certificate	17 June 1882
Officiating Minister	Eliab Baigent Registrar of Marriages

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).