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 264

District of Thames Quarter ending [illegible] Registrar A. de L. Long, Registrar

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

1015

20 November 1882

John Fleetwood
Martha Mary Whitithread

John Fleetwood
Martha Mary Whitethread
💍 1882/2789

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
House Servant

31 years
22 years

Awharoa
Paeroa

[illegible]
18 months

Registrar's Office Thames

82/12408

25 November 1882

J. de L. Long, Registrar of Marriages

No	1015
Date of Notice	20 November 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Fleetwood	Martha Mary Whitithread
BDM Match (98%)	John Fleetwood	Martha Mary Whitethread
	💍 1882/2789
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	House Servant
Age	31 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Awharoa	Paeroa
Length of Residence	[illegible]	18 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Thames
Folio	82/12408
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 November 1882
Officiating Minister	J. de L. Long, Registrar of Marriages

1016

23 November 1882

Edgar Read Mason
Edith Kneebone

Edgar Read Mason
Edith Kneebone
💍 1882/72

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

20 years
21 years

Waiomo
Shellback Creek

14 years
12 years

Dwelling house of Mr. Lobb Shellback

82/12418

John Brooks Mason father of minor

23 November 1882

Rev. Henry Bull Wesleyan Minister

No	1016
Date of Notice	23 November 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edgar Read Mason	Edith Kneebone
	💍 1882/72
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	20 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Waiomo	Shellback Creek
Length of Residence	14 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling house of Mr. Lobb Shellback
Folio	82/12418
Consent	John Brooks Mason father of minor
Date of Certificate	23 November 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry Bull Wesleyan Minister

1017

24 November 1882

William Edward Fitzpatrick
Louisa Copeland

William Edward Fitzpatrick Stanley
Louisa Copland
💍 1882/70

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
None

22 years
15 years

Kirkwood St.
Davy St.

2 years
11 years

Dwelling house of Rev. R. Laishley Queen St.

82/12416

James August Copeland father of minor

27 November 1882

Rev. R. Laishley Congregational Minister

No	1017
Date of Notice	24 November 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Edward Fitzpatrick	Louisa Copeland
BDM Match (85%)	William Edward Fitzpatrick Stanley	Louisa Copland
	💍 1882/70
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	None
Age	22 years	15 years
Dwelling Place	Kirkwood St.	Davy St.
Length of Residence	2 years	11 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling house of Rev. R. Laishley Queen St.
Folio	82/12416
Consent	James August Copeland father of minor
Date of Certificate	27 November 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Laishley Congregational Minister

1018

2 December 1882

James Thomas
Eliza Jane Gribble

James Thomas
Eliza Jane Gribble
💍 1882/2606

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
None

29 years
20 years

Fromandel St.
Franklin St.

12 years
10 years

Dwelling house of Mr. Samuel Gribble Franklin St.

82/12419

Samuel Gribble father of minor

2 December 1882

Rev. Henry Bull Wesleyan Minister

No	1018
Date of Notice	2 December 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Thomas	Eliza Jane Gribble
	💍 1882/2606
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	29 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Fromandel St.	Franklin St.
Length of Residence	12 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling house of Mr. Samuel Gribble Franklin St.
Folio	82/12419
Consent	Samuel Gribble father of minor
Date of Certificate	2 December 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry Bull Wesleyan Minister

1019

12 December 1882

Charles James Winder
Elizabeth Frances Dufty

Charles James Winder
Elizabeth Francis Dufty
💍 1882/2793

Bachelor
Spinster

Publican
None

32 years
22 years

Parawai
Parawai

14 years
8 years

St. George's Church Thames

82/12411

12 December 1882

Rev. William Calder United English Minister

No	1019
Date of Notice	12 December 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles James Winder	Elizabeth Frances Dufty
BDM Match (98%)	Charles James Winder	Elizabeth Francis Dufty
	💍 1882/2793
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Publican	None
Age	32 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Parawai	Parawai
Length of Residence	14 years	8 years
Marriage Place	St. George's Church Thames
Folio	82/12411
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 December 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Calder United English Minister

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).