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 135

District of Auckland Quarter ending 30 September 1883 Registrar John Owen Lord

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

280

2 July 1883

Henry Hirst
Ann Bailey

Henry Hirst
Ann Bailey
💍 1883/2062

Widower
Widow

Tanner

37
44

Mt. Roskill Road
Auckland

18 years
12 years

Dwelling house of Mr. Henry Stokes

83/1454

2 July 1883

Rev. J. Macfarlane, United Free Methodist

No	280
Date of Notice	2 July 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Hirst	Ann Bailey
	💍 1883/2062
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Tanner
Age	37	44
Dwelling Place	Mt. Roskill Road	Auckland
Length of Residence	18 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling house of Mr. Henry Stokes
Folio	83/1454
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 July 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Macfarlane, United Free Methodist

281

2 July 1883

Thaddeus Bryant
Agnes Martin

Thaddens Job Bryant
Agnes Martin
💍 1883/1704

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Domestic Duties

22
20

Auckland
Auckland

22 years
20 years

St. Patricks Cathedral

83/1811

Agnes Martin mother

2 July 1883

Rev. W. Macdonald, Roman Catholic

No	281
Date of Notice	2 July 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thaddeus Bryant	Agnes Martin
BDM Match (87%)	Thaddens Job Bryant	Agnes Martin
	💍 1883/1704
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Domestic Duties
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	22 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Patricks Cathedral
Folio	83/1811
Consent	Agnes Martin mother
Date of Certificate	2 July 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Macdonald, Roman Catholic

281

2 July 1883

William Pullan
Marian Kibblewhite

William Pullan
Marianne Kibblewhite
💍 1883/1847

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Domestic Duties

23
25

Newton
Canterbury

3 months
18 months

St. Sepulchres Church

83/1523

2 July 1883

Rev. B. J. Dudley, Church of England

No	281
Date of Notice	2 July 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Pullan	Marian Kibblewhite
BDM Match (95%)	William Pullan	Marianne Kibblewhite
	💍 1883/1847
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Domestic Duties
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	Newton	Canterbury
Length of Residence	3 months	18 months
Marriage Place	St. Sepulchres Church
Folio	83/1523
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 July 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. J. Dudley, Church of England

282

2 July 1883

Agusto Eilam
Mary Ann Hagan

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman

31
17

Auckland
Auckland

3 years
10 years

St. Patricks Cathedral

83/1641

Adelia Hansen mother

2 July 1883

Rev. W. Macdonald, Roman Catholic

No	282
Date of Notice	2 July 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Agusto Eilam	Mary Ann Hagan
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman
Age	31	17
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 years	10 years
Marriage Place	St. Patricks Cathedral
Folio	83/1641
Consent	Adelia Hansen mother
Date of Certificate	2 July 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Macdonald, Roman Catholic

283

2 July 1883

Stephen Watson
Elizabeth Cameron

Stephen Watson
Elizabeth Cameron
💍 1883/2050

Bachelor
Spinster

Bushman
Servant

33
28

Northern Wairoa
Remuera

7 years
1 month

Office of the Registrar of Marriages

83/1766

2 July 1883

J. Owen Lord, Dep. Regr.

No	283
Date of Notice	2 July 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stephen Watson	Elizabeth Cameron
	💍 1883/2050
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bushman	Servant
Age	33	28
Dwelling Place	Northern Wairoa	Remuera
Length of Residence	7 years	1 month
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	83/1766
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 July 1883
Officiating Minister	J. Owen Lord, Dep. Regr.

284

2 July 1883

James Harvey
Mary Jane McCarthy

James Harvey
Mary Jane McCarthey
💍 1883/1640

James Harvey
Kate Haynes
💍 1883/1009

Bachelor
Spinster

Freeman
House Keeper

21
22

Auckland
Auckland

21 years
22 years

St. Matthews Church

83/1720

2 July 1883

Rev. W. Gibb, Church of England

No	284
Date of Notice	2 July 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Harvey	Mary Jane McCarthy
BDM Match (97%)	James Harvey	Mary Jane McCarthey
	💍 1883/1640
BDM Match (61%)	James Harvey	Kate Haynes
	💍 1883/1009
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Freeman	House Keeper
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	21 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church
Folio	83/1720
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 July 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Gibb, Church of England

285

2 July 1883

Frederick Somers
Catherine Minogue

Frederick Somers
Catherine Minogue
💍 1883/2048

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

24
21

Auckland
Auckland

11 months
3 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages

83/1764

2 July 1883

J. Owen Lord, Dep. Regr.

No	285
Date of Notice	2 July 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Somers	Catherine Minogue
	💍 1883/2048
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	11 months	3 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	83/1764
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 July 1883
Officiating Minister	J. Owen Lord, Dep. Regr.

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).