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 213

District of Thames Quarter ending 31 March 1883 Registrar Alexander de Courcy Potterton

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

1024

2 January 1883

Charles Seaton Waddingham
Mary Ann Ellis

Charles Seaton Waddingham
Mary Ann Ellis
💍 1883/1979

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
None

24 years
22 years

Tararu Road, Thames
Tararu Road

3 days
10 years

St. George's Church, Thames

83/1856

2 January 1883

Rev. William Calder, Church of England Minister

No	1024
Date of Notice	2 January 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Seaton Waddingham	Mary Ann Ellis
	💍 1883/1979
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	None
Age	24 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Tararu Road, Thames	Tararu Road
Length of Residence	3 days	10 years
Marriage Place	St. George's Church, Thames
Folio	83/1856
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 January 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Calder, Church of England Minister

1025

10 January 1883

Benjamin Anderson
Maria Dihars

Benjamin Anderson
Maria Dihars
💍 1883/3389

Bachelor
Spinster

Bushman
None

23 years
18 years

Keri Keri
Ohinemuri

23 years
18 years

Native Protestant Church, Purawai

83/3624

Alcide Donniee Louiss Dihars father of minor

10 January 1883

Rev. Wm Turipona, Church of England Minister

No	1025
Date of Notice	10 January 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Benjamin Anderson	Maria Dihars
	💍 1883/3389
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bushman	None
Age	23 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Keri Keri	Ohinemuri
Length of Residence	23 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Native Protestant Church, Purawai
Folio	83/3624
Consent	Alcide Donniee Louiss Dihars father of minor
Date of Certificate	10 January 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm Turipona, Church of England Minister

1026

10 January 1883

John Patton
Elizabeth Johnston

John Patton
Elizabeth Johnston
💍 1883/1980

Widower
Spinster

Miner
None

52 years
42 years

Waihi
Moanataiari Creek

15 years
3 years

St. George's Church, Thames

83/1857

10 January 1883

Rev. William Calder, Church of England

No	1026
Date of Notice	10 January 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Patton	Elizabeth Johnston
	💍 1883/1980
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	52 years	42 years
Dwelling Place	Waihi	Moanataiari Creek
Length of Residence	15 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. George's Church, Thames
Folio	83/1857
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Calder, Church of England

1027

13 January 1883

George August Fuhrhop
Elizabeth Margaret Phillips

George August Fuhrhop
Elizabeth Margaret Phillips
💍 1883/1981

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner
None

23 years
23 years

Pollen St.
Pollen St.

5 months
15 years

St. George's Church, Thames

83/1858

13 January 1883

Rev. William Calder, Church of England

No	1027
Date of Notice	13 January 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George August Fuhrhop	Elizabeth Margaret Phillips
	💍 1883/1981
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner	None
Age	23 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Pollen St.	Pollen St.
Length of Residence	5 months	15 years
Marriage Place	St. George's Church, Thames
Folio	83/1858
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Calder, Church of England

1028

15 January 1883

James Alfred Vowles
Jane Thomas

James Alfred Vowles
Jane Thomas
💍 1883/177

Widower
Spinster

Bootmaker
None

27 years
25 years

Rolleston St.
Augustus St.

12 years
14 years

Dwelling house of Mr. James Owens, Augustus St.

83/143

15 January 1883

Rev. C.E. Barley, Primitive Methodist Minister

No	1028
Date of Notice	15 January 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Alfred Vowles	Jane Thomas
	💍 1883/177
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker	None
Age	27 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Rolleston St.	Augustus St.
Length of Residence	12 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling house of Mr. James Owens, Augustus St.
Folio	83/143
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. C.E. Barley, Primitive Methodist Minister

1029

15 January 1883

Henry Alexander Plummer
Mary McFlair

Henry Alexander Plummer
Mary McClair
💍 1883/1766

Bachelor
Spinster

Bush Contractor
None

25 years
21 years

Hastings, Tapu
Hastings, Tapu

4 years
7 years

Residence of Rev. S J Neill, Rolleston St.

83/1867

15 January 1883

Rev. S J Neill, Presbyterian Minister

No	1029
Date of Notice	15 January 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Alexander Plummer	Mary McFlair
BDM Match (96%)	Henry Alexander Plummer	Mary McClair
	💍 1883/1766
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bush Contractor	None
Age	25 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Hastings, Tapu	Hastings, Tapu
Length of Residence	4 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. S J Neill, Rolleston St.
Folio	83/1867
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. S J Neill, Presbyterian 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).

Primary digitisation of registers between 1855 and 1925 is now complete. Our digitisation volunteers are now working on verifying the currently digitised pages against printed district/page indexes, to identify pages which may have been missed or out of focus. These pages can be re-imaged as required.

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.

How can I help?

You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

You can also support this project by ☕ Buying us a coffee 🌳

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).