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 504

District of Napier Quarter ending 30 September 1882

No	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
56	14 August 1882	Michael Downing Rose Daley	Michael Downing Rose Daily 💍 1882/2331	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer	26 30	Meanu Meanu	3 weeks 7 years	Mission Station	82/2068		14 August 1882	J. B. Chataigner F. Mitchell Roman Catholic
57	2 September 1882	Arthur Terrick Koulen Catherine Mary O'Rain	Arthur Tevrick Haultain Catherine Mary McKain 💍 1882/2455	Widower Spinster	Station Manager	46 20	Petane Petane	9 months 20 years	St John's Church	82/2520		2 September 1882	Rev. De Berdt Hovell English Church
58	4 September 1882	Herbert Mogridge Florence Edna Turner	Herbert Mogridge Florence Edna Turner 💍 1882/2314	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	20 24	Napier Napier	22 years 4 years	House of B. Mogridge	82/2045		4 September 1882	Rev. E. O. Berry Primitive Methodist.
59	5 September 1882	Patrick Barry Mary Forhan	Patrick Barry Mary Forhan 💍 1882/2332	Bachelor Spinster	Expressman	23 22	Napier Napier	18 years 35 years	St Mary's Chapel	82/2069		5 September 1882	Rev. T. Forest. Roman Catholic.
60	6 September 1882	Edward Brennan Bridget Mary Longan	Edward Brennan Bridget Mary Lorigan 💍 1882/2375	Bachelor Widow	Contractor	48 40	Taradale Taradale	8 years 20 years	Roman Catholic	82/2060		6 September 1882	Pat. T. Reignier Roman Catholic.
61	11 September 1882	Thomas Scoble Ann Thomas	Thomas Scoble Ann Thomas 💍 1882/2329	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	26 21	Napier Napier	8 years 7 years	Chapel Healing	82/2016		11 September 1882	Rev. D. Deley Presbyterian
62	14 September 1882	Joseph Nelson Mary Doherty	Joseph Nelson Mary Doherty 💍 1882/2333	Bachelor Spinster	Dill industry	49 28	Napier Napier	3 years 1 week	St Mary's Chapel	82/2040		14 September 1882	Rev. T. Forest Roman Catholic.
63	14 September 1882	Henry Edward Fayard Sarah Ann Miles	George Edward Fuszard Sarah Ann Miles 💍 1882/2456	Widower Widow	Hotel Keeper	43 51	Napier Napier	99 years 10 years	St John's Church	82/2521		14 September 1882	Rev. De Berdt Hovell English Church
64	15 September 1882	Daniel M. Throy Bertha Jamsett		Bachelor Spinster	Coachman	21 20	Clive Napier	3 years 1 week	Wesleyan Parsonage	82/2013	Father.	15 September 1882	Rev. T. J. Lewis Wesleyan

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 1898. More registers will be added when the Archives NZ Wellington reading room re-opens in September 2025.

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).