Intentions to Marry, 1883

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840395, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, May 16 2025.

Page 027

District of Whangarei Quarter ending 31 March 1883 Registrar Charles Story

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

142

31 January 1883

Joseph Cadman
Mary Mulvaney

Joseph Cadman
Mary Mulvaney
💍 1883/64

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

23
19

Kamo
Kamo

6 months
17 years

In the Residence of Felix Mulvaney, Kamo

83/5

Felix Mulvaney, Father

31 January 1883

Rev I Dellow, Wes

No	142
Date of Notice	31 January 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Cadman	Mary Mulvaney
	💍 1883/64
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Kamo	Kamo
Length of Residence	6 months	17 years
Marriage Place	In the Residence of Felix Mulvaney, Kamo
Folio	83/5
Consent	Felix Mulvaney, Father
Date of Certificate	31 January 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev I Dellow, Wes

143

5 February 1883

John David McKenzie
Flora McIndis

John David MacKenzie
Flora McInnes
💍 1883/65

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

32
22

Wangarei
Kaurihohore, Wangarei

3 1/2 years
22 years

Residence of M. McIndis, Kaurihohore, Wangarei

83/6

5 February 1883

Rev A Mackintosh, Pres

No	143
Date of Notice	5 February 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John David McKenzie	Flora McIndis
BDM Match (90%)	John David MacKenzie	Flora McInnes
	💍 1883/65
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	32	22
Dwelling Place	Wangarei	Kaurihohore, Wangarei
Length of Residence	3 1/2 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Residence of M. McIndis, Kaurihohore, Wangarei
Folio	83/6
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev A Mackintosh, Pres

144

19 February 1883

Francis Earle Harrison
Susannah Harriet Fuller

Francis Earle Harrison
Susannah Harriet Fuller
💍 1883/66

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

31
22

Wangarei
Wangarei

6 months
8 years

Settlers Hotel, Wangarei

83/7

20 February 1883

Rev A Mackintosh, Pres

No	144
Date of Notice	19 February 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Earle Harrison	Susannah Harriet Fuller
	💍 1883/66
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	31	22
Dwelling Place	Wangarei	Wangarei
Length of Residence	6 months	8 years
Marriage Place	Settlers Hotel, Wangarei
Folio	83/7
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev A Mackintosh, Pres

145

8 March 1883

Henry Hall Sissons
Eliza Webster Rust

Henry Hall Sissons
Eliza Webster Rust
💍 1883/242

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer

25
21

Wangarei
Wangarei

17 years
21 years

Church of England, Wangarei

83/201

8 March 1883

Rev L L Cubitt, C of E

No	145
Date of Notice	8 March 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Hall Sissons	Eliza Webster Rust
	💍 1883/242
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Wangarei	Wangarei
Length of Residence	17 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Wangarei
Folio	83/201
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 March 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev L L Cubitt, C of E

146

24 March 1883

George William Kettle
Mary Elizabeth Sands

George William Kettle
Mary Elizabeth Sands
💍 1883/68

Bachelor
Spinster

Settler

42
23

Otaika, Wangarei
Maungakaramea, Wangarei

3 years
23 years

In the Residence of James Sands, Maungakaramea, Wangarei

83/9

24 March 1883

Rev T P Hewlett, C of E

No	146
Date of Notice	24 March 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George William Kettle	Mary Elizabeth Sands
	💍 1883/68
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Settler
Age	42	23
Dwelling Place	Otaika, Wangarei	Maungakaramea, Wangarei
Length of Residence	3 years	23 years
Marriage Place	In the Residence of James Sands, Maungakaramea, Wangarei
Folio	83/9
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 March 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev T P Hewlett, C of E

147

24 March 1883

Walter Raleigh Carter
Louisa Elizabeth Macken

Walter Raleigh Carter
Louisa Elizabeth Macken
💍 1883/253

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

26
23

Ruatangata, Wangarei
Whareora, Wangarei

7 years
3 years

Residence of Mrs. Macken, Whareora, Wangarei

83/202

24 March 1883

Rev L L Cubitt, C of E

No	147
Date of Notice	24 March 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Raleigh Carter	Louisa Elizabeth Macken
	💍 1883/253
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Ruatangata, Wangarei	Whareora, Wangarei
Length of Residence	7 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Macken, Whareora, Wangarei
Folio	83/202
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 March 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev L L Cubitt, C of E

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).