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 489

District of Napier Quarter ending 30 September 1883 Registrar John Grubb

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

3 July 1883

William Henry Davey
Mary Adelaide Howse

William Henry Davey
Mary Adelaide House
💍 1883/2017

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

26
23

Puketapu
Puketapu

4 years
23 years

Residence of Mr. Howse, Puketapu

83/2024

3 July 1883

Rev. E L Tuke, English Church

No	51
Date of Notice	3 July 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Davey	Mary Adelaide Howse
BDM Match (97%)	William Henry Davey	Mary Adelaide House
	💍 1883/2017
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Puketapu	Puketapu
Length of Residence	4 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Howse, Puketapu
Folio	83/2024
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 July 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. E L Tuke, English Church

11 July 1883

Arthur Wright
Louisa King

Arthur Wright
Louisa King
💍 1883/3590

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawyer

24
24

Napier
Napier

6 months
8 months

St. John's Church, Napier

83/2039

11 July 1883

Rev. De Berdt Hovell, English Church

No	52
Date of Notice	11 July 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Wright	Louisa King
	💍 1883/3590
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawyer
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	6 months	8 months
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Napier
Folio	83/2039
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 July 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. De Berdt Hovell, English Church

17 July 1883

Johan Adolph Frederick Anderson
Harriett Andrews

Johan Adloph Fredirick Anderson
Harriett Andrews
💍 1883/2018

Bachelor
Widow

Mariner

36
38

Port Ahuriri
Port Ahuriri

2 years
12 years

Registrar's Office, Napier

83/2047

17 July 1883

Registrar, Napier

No	53
Date of Notice	17 July 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Johan Adolph Frederick Anderson	Harriett Andrews
BDM Match (95%)	Johan Adloph Fredirick Anderson	Harriett Andrews
	💍 1883/2018
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Mariner
Age	36	38
Dwelling Place	Port Ahuriri	Port Ahuriri
Length of Residence	2 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Napier
Folio	83/2047
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 July 1883
Officiating Minister	Registrar, Napier

18 July 1883

James Heron
Ruth Ruddock

James Heron
Ruth Ruddock
💍 1883/1998

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

41
29

Napier
Napier

7 years
5 years

Residence of S. Spence, Taradale

83/2049

18 July 1883

Rev. D. Sidey, Presbyterian

No	54
Date of Notice	18 July 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Heron	Ruth Ruddock
	💍 1883/1998
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	41	29
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	7 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of S. Spence, Taradale
Folio	83/2049
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 July 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Sidey, Presbyterian

19 July 1883

Alfred Arthur Stanley
Annie Lory

Alfred Arthur Stanley
Annie Lory
💍 1883/1997

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

23
20

Napier
Napier

14 days
9 years

St. John's Church, Napier

83/2040

Hannibal Lyne Lory, Father

19 July 1883

Rev. De Berdt Hovell, English Church

No	55
Date of Notice	19 July 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Arthur Stanley	Annie Lory
	💍 1883/1997
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	14 days	9 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Napier
Folio	83/2040
Consent	Hannibal Lyne Lory, Father
Date of Certificate	19 July 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. De Berdt Hovell, English Church

25 July 1883

John Orr
Mary Nicoll

John Orr
Mary Nicoll
💍 1883/1994

Widower
Spinster

Merchant

42
24

Napier
Papakura

16 years
1 year

Residence of Mr. B. Nicoll, Papakura, Auckland

83/1847

25 July 1883

Rev. Mr. Norrie, Presbyterian

No	56
Date of Notice	25 July 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Orr	Mary Nicoll
	💍 1883/1994
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Merchant
Age	42	24
Dwelling Place	Napier	Papakura
Length of Residence	16 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. B. Nicoll, Papakura, Auckland
Folio	83/1847
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 July 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. Mr. Norrie, Presbyterian

4 August 1883

David Anderson
Margaret Jane Webb

David Anderson
Margaret Jane Webb
💍 1883/2089

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer

39
21

Te Haroto
Te Haroto

1 year
1 year

Residence of Mr. Anderson, Moteo.

83/2030

4 August 1883

Rev. H. Nichol, Presbyterian

No	57
Date of Notice	4 August 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Anderson	Margaret Jane Webb
	💍 1883/2089
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer
Age	39	21
Dwelling Place	Te Haroto	Te Haroto
Length of Residence	1 year	1 year
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Anderson, Moteo.
Folio	83/2030
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 August 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Nichol, Presbyterian

9 August 1883

Arthur John McEwan
Annie Garry

Arthur John McEwan
Annie Garry
💍 1883/2097

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper

23
20

Napier
Napier

3 days
20 years

Residence of Mr. Garry, Napier

83/2037

John Garry, father

9 August 1883

Rev. J. J. Lewis, Wesleyan

No	58
Date of Notice	9 August 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur John McEwan	Annie Garry
	💍 1883/2097
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Garry, Napier
Folio	83/2037
Consent	John Garry, father
Date of Certificate	9 August 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. 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).

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).