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 1162

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 June 1882 Registrar Arthur Chillas Henderson

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

01 April 1882

Hugh Kelly
Jane Patterson (Douglas)

Hugh Kelly
Jane Paterson Easton
💍 1882/2170

Bachelor
Widow

Teacher

42
32

Appleby
do

6 months
1 week

The house of James Kelly

82/1694

01 April 1882

Rev. James E. Paterson, Presbyterian Minister, Invercargill

No	27
Date of Notice	01 April 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Kelly	Jane Patterson (Douglas)
BDM Match (79%)	Hugh Kelly	Jane Paterson Easton
	💍 1882/2170
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Teacher
Age	42	32
Dwelling Place	Appleby	do
Length of Residence	6 months	1 week
Marriage Place	The house of James Kelly
Folio	82/1694
Consent
Date of Certificate	01 April 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. James E. Paterson, Presbyterian Minister, Invercargill

11 April 1882

Richard McCongle
Margaret Scott
formerly Orr

Richard McGarrigle
Margaret Scott
💍 1882/1880

Bachelor
Widow

Miner
Cook

40
32

Invercargill
do

5 days
4 days

The Roman Catholic Church, Invercargill

82/1696

11 April 1882

Rev. I. Mc Enroe, Roman Catholic Minister, Invercargill

No	28
Date of Notice	11 April 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard McCongle	Margaret Scott formerly Orr
BDM Match (86%)	Richard McGarrigle	Margaret Scott
	💍 1882/1880
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Miner	Cook
Age	40	32
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	do
Length of Residence	5 days	4 days
Marriage Place	The Roman Catholic Church, Invercargill
Folio	82/1696
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 April 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. Mc Enroe, Roman Catholic Minister, Invercargill

11 April 1882

William Sinclair
Dalrymple Trotter Mary Meiklejohn

Bachelor
Spinster

Station Manager

24
20

Woodlands
do

2 weeks
6 weeks

The House of Mr W.S. Trotter, Woodlands

82/1699

Jane Meiklejohn, Mother

11 April 1882

Rev. I. Alexander, Presbyterian Minister, Woodlands

No	29
Date of Notice	11 April 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Sinclair	Dalrymple Trotter Mary Meiklejohn
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Station Manager
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Woodlands	do
Length of Residence	2 weeks	6 weeks
Marriage Place	The House of Mr W.S. Trotter, Woodlands
Folio	82/1699
Consent	Jane Meiklejohn, Mother
Date of Certificate	11 April 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. Alexander, Presbyterian Minister, Woodlands

13 April 1882

Charles Henry Rowark
Lilian Grace Raymond

Charles Henry Howorth
Lilian Grace Raymond
💍 1882/1867

Bachelor
Spinster

Civil Engineer

25
19

Invercargill
Gladstone

18 months
2 years

The House of Mrs Raymond, Gladstone

82/1698

Annie Agnes Raymond, Mother

13 April 1882

Rev. I. Ferguson, Presbyterian Minister, Invercargill

No	30
Date of Notice	13 April 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Rowark	Lilian Grace Raymond
BDM Match (91%)	Charles Henry Howorth	Lilian Grace Raymond
	💍 1882/1867
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Civil Engineer
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Gladstone
Length of Residence	18 months	2 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mrs Raymond, Gladstone
Folio	82/1698
Consent	Annie Agnes Raymond, Mother
Date of Certificate	13 April 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. Ferguson, Presbyterian Minister, Invercargill

14 April 1882

William Allison
Hannah Carlile

William Allison
Hannah Carlile
💍 1882/2022

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Servant

27
21

Wyndham
Invercargill

12 months
2 months

At the Office of the Registrar, Invercargill

82/1612

14 April 1882

A. C. Henderson, Registrar

No	31
Date of Notice	14 April 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Allison	Hannah Carlile
	💍 1882/2022
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Servant
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Wyndham	Invercargill
Length of Residence	12 months	2 months
Marriage Place	At the Office of the Registrar, Invercargill
Folio	82/1612
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 April 1882
Officiating Minister	A. C. Henderson, Registrar

14 April 1882

John Symes
Jane Higgs
formerly Powis

John Symes
Jane Higgs
💍 1882/2183

Widower
Widow

Labourer

45
44

Invercargill
do

2 years
1 year

At the Office of the Registrar, Invercargill

82/1701

14 April 1882

A. C. Henderson, Registrar

No	32
Date of Notice	14 April 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Symes	Jane Higgs formerly Powis
	💍 1882/2183
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Labourer
Age	45	44
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	do
Length of Residence	2 years	1 year
Marriage Place	At the Office of the Registrar, Invercargill
Folio	82/1701
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 April 1882
Officiating Minister	A. C. Henderson, Registrar

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).