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 590

District of Buller Quarter ending 31 December 1882 Registrar William Sydney Munday

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

285

27 October 1882

William Henry Hall
Catherine Cregan

William Henry Hall
Catherine Cregan
💍 1882/3290

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter

22
17

Westport
Westport

5 Days
6 months

Roman Catholic Church at Westport

82/2967

Catherine Mc Mahon formerly Cregan mother of minor

27 October 1882

Rev. Thomas Walsh, Roman Catholic Church

No	285
Date of Notice	27 October 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Hall	Catherine Cregan
	💍 1882/3290
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter
Age	22	17
Dwelling Place	Westport	Westport
Length of Residence	5 Days	6 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church at Westport
Folio	82/2967
Consent	Catherine Mc Mahon formerly Cregan mother of minor
Date of Certificate	27 October 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas Walsh, Roman Catholic Church

286

8 November 1882

John Tracey
Hannah Walker

John Tracey
Hannah Walker
💍 1882/3047

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

38
18

Old Diggings
South Spit

19 years
15 years

Registrar's Office, Westport, Buller

82/2971

John Walker father of minor

21 November 1882

W. S. Munday Registrar

No	286
Date of Notice	8 November 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Tracey	Hannah Walker
	💍 1882/3047
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	38	18
Dwelling Place	Old Diggings	South Spit
Length of Residence	19 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Westport, Buller
Folio	82/2971
Consent	John Walker father of minor
Date of Certificate	21 November 1882
Officiating Minister	W. S. Munday Registrar

287

9 November 1882

Robert Barclay
Evelyn Jannet Duncan

Robert Barclay
Evelyn Jannet Duncan
💍 1882/3048

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

36
17

Addison's Flat
Addison's Flat

15 years
16 years

Residence of Mrs J. Duncan, Addison's Flat

82/2972

Jannet Duncan mother of minor

9 November 1882

Rev. Patrick R. Munro, Presbyterian Church of New Zealand

No	287
Date of Notice	9 November 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Barclay	Evelyn Jannet Duncan
	💍 1882/3048
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	36	17
Dwelling Place	Addison's Flat	Addison's Flat
Length of Residence	15 years	16 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs J. Duncan, Addison's Flat
Folio	82/2972
Consent	Jannet Duncan mother of minor
Date of Certificate	9 November 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. Patrick R. Munro, Presbyterian Church of New Zealand

288

18 November 1882

Charles Curtis
Hannah Davies

Charles Curtis
Hannah Davis
💍 1882/3049

Widower
Spinster

Miner

28
31

Waimangaroa
Waimangaroa

6 years
2 1/2 years

Residence of Rev. J. J. Pendray, Peel Street, Westport

82/2973

18 November 1882

Rev. John J. Pendray, United Methodist Free Church

No	288
Date of Notice	18 November 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Curtis	Hannah Davies
BDM Match (96%)	Charles Curtis	Hannah Davis
	💍 1882/3049
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	28	31
Dwelling Place	Waimangaroa	Waimangaroa
Length of Residence	6 years	2 1/2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. J. J. Pendray, Peel Street, Westport
Folio	82/2973
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 November 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. John J. Pendray, United Methodist Free Church

289

18 November 1882

John Mortimer Davie
Lizzie Falla

John Mortimer Davie
Lizzie Falla
💍 1882/3461

Bachelor
Spinster

Station Manager

24
28

Westport
Westport

3 Days
12 years

St John's Church at Westport

82/3391

18 November 1882

Rev. Edward S. Cross A.K.C. Church of England

No	289
Date of Notice	18 November 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Mortimer Davie	Lizzie Falla
	💍 1882/3461
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Station Manager
Age	24	28
Dwelling Place	Westport	Westport
Length of Residence	3 Days	12 years
Marriage Place	St John's Church at Westport
Folio	82/3391
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 November 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. Edward S. Cross A.K.C. Church of England

290

28 November 1882

James Conway
Johanna O'Keefe

James Conway
Johanna O'Keefe
💍 1882/3030

Bachelor
Spinster

Luzine fitter & Driver

32
21

Westport
Westport

9 years
2 years

Roman Catholic Church at Westport

82/2769

28 November 1882

Rev. Thomas Walsh, Roman Catholic Church

No	290
Date of Notice	28 November 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Conway	Johanna O'Keefe
	💍 1882/3030
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Luzine fitter & Driver
Age	32	21
Dwelling Place	Westport	Westport
Length of Residence	9 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church at Westport
Folio	82/2769
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 November 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas Walsh, Roman Catholic Church

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).