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 1142

District of Cromwell Quarter ending 31 March Registrar Geo. Seymour

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

148

4 February 1882

Joseph Seng
Margaret Hoad

Joseph Gray
Margaret Hoad
💍 1882/2530

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer

24
24

Mount Barker
Pembroke

about 15 months
2 weeks

at the Residence of the Rev. Charles Connor Pembroke

82/793

4 February 1882

Rev. Charles Connor Presbyterian

No	148
Date of Notice	4 February 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Seng	Margaret Hoad
BDM Match (82%)	Joseph Gray	Margaret Hoad
	💍 1882/2530
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Mount Barker	Pembroke
Length of Residence	about 15 months	2 weeks
Marriage Place	at the Residence of the Rev. Charles Connor Pembroke
Folio	82/793
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. Charles Connor Presbyterian

149

13 February 1882

William Smith
Elspit McLennan

William Smith
Elspit McLennan
💍 1882/916

Bachelor
Spinster

Trader

36
20

Hawra Flat
Hawra Flat

6 years
7 years

at the Residence of Mr. Donald McLennan Hawra Flat

82/791

Donald McLennan Father of Elspit McLennan

13 February 1882

Rev. Charles Connor Presbyterian

No	149
Date of Notice	13 February 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Smith	Elspit McLennan
	💍 1882/916
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Trader
Age	36	20
Dwelling Place	Hawra Flat	Hawra Flat
Length of Residence	6 years	7 years
Marriage Place	at the Residence of Mr. Donald McLennan Hawra Flat
Folio	82/791
Consent	Donald McLennan Father of Elspit McLennan
Date of Certificate	13 February 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. Charles Connor Presbyterian

150

13 February 1882

Patrick Thomas
Frances Bourke

Patrick Thomas
Frances Bourke
💍 1882/920

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
School Teacher

24
21

Cromwell
Cromwell

about 15 years
4 years

at the Catholic Church Cromwell

82/795

13 February 1882

Rev. Patrick Leary Roman Catholic

No	150
Date of Notice	13 February 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick Thomas	Frances Bourke
	💍 1882/920
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	School Teacher
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Cromwell	Cromwell
Length of Residence	about 15 years	4 years
Marriage Place	at the Catholic Church Cromwell
Folio	82/795
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. Patrick Leary Roman Catholic

151

17 February 1882

John Werner
Mary Merrie

John Werner
Mary Merrie
💍 1882/919

Widower
Spinster

Miner

39
20

Lowburn
Cromwell

12 years
3 months

at the Residence of Mr. Ann Reid Cromwell

82/794

Mrs. Ann Wise formerly Merrie Mother of Mary Merrie

17 February 1882

Rev. James Blackie Presbyterian

No	151
Date of Notice	17 February 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Werner	Mary Merrie
	💍 1882/919
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	39	20
Dwelling Place	Lowburn	Cromwell
Length of Residence	12 years	3 months
Marriage Place	at the Residence of Mr. Ann Reid Cromwell
Folio	82/794
Consent	Mrs. Ann Wise formerly Merrie Mother of Mary Merrie
Date of Certificate	17 February 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Blackie Presbyterian

152

18 February 1882

Joseph Duncan McLennan
Mary Eugene Sweeney

Joseph Duncan McLennan
Mary Eugina McSweeney
💍 1882/917

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

23
21

Lower Hawra
Lower Hawra

about 14 years
6 weeks

at the Residence of Mr. Donald McLennan Lower Hawra

82/792

18 February 1882

Rev. James Blackie Presbyterian

No	152
Date of Notice	18 February 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Duncan McLennan	Mary Eugene Sweeney
BDM Match (91%)	Joseph Duncan McLennan	Mary Eugina McSweeney
	💍 1882/917
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Lower Hawra	Lower Hawra
Length of Residence	about 14 years	6 weeks
Marriage Place	at the Residence of Mr. Donald McLennan Lower Hawra
Folio	82/792
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Blackie Presbyterian

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).