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 111

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 March 1883 Registrar John Owen Lord, Deputy 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

119

27 March 1883

James Scanlon
Ellen Moore

James Hunter
Ellen Jane Moore
💍 1883/672

Bachelor
Spinster

Cook
Servant

27
22

Auckland
Auckland

5 weeks
22 years

Office of the Reg. of Marriages, Auckland

83/51

27 March 1883

J. Owen Lord, Dep. Reg.

No	119
Date of Notice	27 March 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Scanlon	Ellen Moore
BDM Match (61%)	James Hunter	Ellen Jane Moore
	💍 1883/672
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cook	Servant
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	5 weeks	22 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Reg. of Marriages, Auckland
Folio	83/51
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 March 1883
Officiating Minister	J. Owen Lord, Dep. Reg.

120

27 March 1883

Alfred Dance
Caroline Maria Gyde

Alfred Dance
Caroline Maria Gyde
💍 1883/149

Bachelor
Spinster

Bushman

22
20

Auckland
Auckland

14 days
3 years

Dwelling house of Mr. G. Gyde, Mount Auckland

83/114

George Gyde, Father

28 March 1883

Rev. R. T. Macnicol, Presbyterian

No	120
Date of Notice	27 March 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Dance	Caroline Maria Gyde
	💍 1883/149
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bushman
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	14 days	3 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling house of Mr. G. Gyde, Mount Auckland
Folio	83/114
Consent	George Gyde, Father
Date of Certificate	28 March 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. T. Macnicol, Presbyterian

121

28 March 1883

John Slatter
Jessie Gertrude Duncan

John Slatter
Jessie Gertrude Duncan
💍 1883/153

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

26
20

Helensville
Mount Eden

2 years
6 months

St. Mark's Church

83/118

28 March 1883

Ven. Archd. L. Pritt, Church of England

No	121
Date of Notice	28 March 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Slatter	Jessie Gertrude Duncan
	💍 1883/153
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Helensville	Mount Eden
Length of Residence	2 years	6 months
Marriage Place	St. Mark's Church
Folio	83/118
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 March 1883
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archd. L. Pritt, Church of England

122

28 March 1883

John Martin Hawkins
Caroline Ellen White

John Martin Hawkins Lush
Caroline Ellen White
💍 1883/3542

Bachelor
Spinster

Articled Law Clerk

28
28

Parnell
Parnell

4 years
5 years

St. Mary's Church

83/811

28 March 1883

Rev. G. H. S. Walpole, Church of England

No	122
Date of Notice	28 March 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Martin Hawkins	Caroline Ellen White
BDM Match (90%)	John Martin Hawkins Lush	Caroline Ellen White
	💍 1883/3542
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Articled Law Clerk
Age	28	28
Dwelling Place	Parnell	Parnell
Length of Residence	4 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church
Folio	83/811
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 March 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. H. S. Walpole, Church of England

123

28 March 1883

Alfred Robert Stokes
Hellen Elizabeth Mullaly

Alfred Robert Stokes
Hellen Elizabeth Mullaly
💍 1883/167

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

22
20

Auckland
Auckland

6 weeks
17 years

St. Benedict's Church

83/108

John Mullaly, Father

31 March 1883

Very Rev. J. C. Conney, Roman Catholic

No	123
Date of Notice	28 March 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Robert Stokes	Hellen Elizabeth Mullaly
	💍 1883/167
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	6 weeks	17 years
Marriage Place	St. Benedict's Church
Folio	83/108
Consent	John Mullaly, Father
Date of Certificate	31 March 1883
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. J. C. Conney, Roman Catholic

124

29 March 1883

James Rinsted
Elizabeth Mowbray Henderson

James Binsted
Elizabeth Mowbray Henderson
💍 1883/727

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

30
25

Auckland
Auckland

10 years
17 years

Dwelling house of Rev. J. Robertson, Burnford St.

83/814

29 March 1883

Rev. J. Robertson, Congregational

No	124
Date of Notice	29 March 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Rinsted	Elizabeth Mowbray Henderson
BDM Match (96%)	James Binsted	Elizabeth Mowbray Henderson
	💍 1883/727
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	10 years	17 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling house of Rev. J. Robertson, Burnford St.
Folio	83/814
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 March 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Robertson, Congregational

125

29 March 1883

Jeffery Collingham
Jane Bryan

Jeffery Ellingham
Jane Bryan
💍 1883/112

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Domestic Duties

28
21

Auckland
Auckland

8 years
13 years

Office of Reg. of Marriages, Auckland

83/53

29 March 1883

J. Owen Lord, Dep. Reg.

No	125
Date of Notice	29 March 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jeffery Collingham	Jane Bryan
BDM Match (94%)	Jeffery Ellingham	Jane Bryan
	💍 1883/112
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Domestic Duties
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	8 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Office of Reg. of Marriages, Auckland
Folio	83/53
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 March 1883
Officiating Minister	J. Owen Lord, Dep. Reg.

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).