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 491

District of Napier Quarter ending 31 December 1883 Registrar J. 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

1 October 1883

Charles Oscar Fischer
Bertha Gertrude Schuabe

Charles Oscar Fischer
Bertha Gertrude Schwabe
💍 1883/2904

Bachelor
Spinster

Waiter

22
19

Gisborne
Napier

21 months

House of Mr. Schuabe

83/12930

Mr. Schuabe, Father

1 October 1883

Rev. D. Sidey, Presbyterian

No	66
Date of Notice	1 October 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Oscar Fischer	Bertha Gertrude Schuabe
BDM Match (98%)	Charles Oscar Fischer	Bertha Gertrude Schwabe
	💍 1883/2904
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Waiter
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Napier
Length of Residence	21 months
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Schuabe
Folio	83/12930
Consent	Mr. Schuabe, Father
Date of Certificate	1 October 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Sidey, Presbyterian

5 October 1883

David Hannan
Ann Monagan

David Hannon
Ann Monajen
💍 1883/2757

Bachelor
Widow

Bootmaker

38
37

Napier
Napier

4 years
16 years

St. Mary's Chapel

83/12924

5 October 1883

Rev. I. Forest, Roman Catholic

No	67
Date of Notice	5 October 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Hannan	Ann Monagan
BDM Match (87%)	David Hannon	Ann Monajen
	💍 1883/2757
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	38	37
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	4 years	16 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Chapel
Folio	83/12924
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 October 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. Forest, Roman Catholic

5 October 1883

William Coleman
Letitia Ann Jenkins

William Coleman
Letitia Ann Jenkins
💍 1883/2748

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

25
21

Napier
Napier

4 days
3 years

St. John's Church

83/12914

5 October 1883

Rev. De Berdt Hovell, English Church

No	68
Date of Notice	5 October 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Coleman	Letitia Ann Jenkins
	💍 1883/2748
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	4 days	3 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church
Folio	83/12914
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 October 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. De Berdt Hovell, English Church

10 October 1883

Rodrick Mathison
Anna Parkin

Roderick Matheson
Anna Parkin
💍 1883/2750

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd

25
18

Pohui
Napier

1 year
14 years

St. John's Church

83/12918

Sarah Topping, Mother

10 October 1883

Rev. De Berdt Hovell, English Church

No	69
Date of Notice	10 October 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Rodrick Mathison	Anna Parkin
BDM Match (94%)	Roderick Matheson	Anna Parkin
	💍 1883/2750
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd
Age	25	18
Dwelling Place	Pohui	Napier
Length of Residence	1 year	14 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church
Folio	83/12918
Consent	Sarah Topping, Mother
Date of Certificate	10 October 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. De Berdt Hovell, English Church

10 October 1883

Lionel Wallis
Lucy Catherine Lascelles

Lionel Wallis
Lucy Catherine Cockburn Lascelles
💍 1883/2742

Bachelor
Spinster

Station Manager

26
26

Pukitapu
Clive

3 weeks
6 years

Clive Church

83/12910

10 October 1883

Rev. A. H. Maclean, English Church

No	70
Date of Notice	10 October 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lionel Wallis	Lucy Catherine Lascelles
BDM Match (86%)	Lionel Wallis	Lucy Catherine Cockburn Lascelles
	💍 1883/2742
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Station Manager
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Pukitapu	Clive
Length of Residence	3 weeks	6 years
Marriage Place	Clive Church
Folio	83/12910
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 October 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. H. Maclean, English Church

10 October 1883

Thomas Martin Murphy
Margaret Brodrick

Thomas Martin Murphy
Margaret Broderick
💍 1883/2885

Widower
Spinster

Printer

28
22

Napier
Napier

18 years
4 years

St. Mary's Chapel

83/12925

10 October 1883

Rev. I. Forest, Roman Catholic

No	71
Date of Notice	10 October 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Martin Murphy	Margaret Brodrick
BDM Match (97%)	Thomas Martin Murphy	Margaret Broderick
	💍 1883/2885
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Printer
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	18 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Chapel
Folio	83/12925
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 October 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. Forest, Roman Catholic

12 October 1883

John Kinnell
Emma Hands

John Sainell
Emma Hauds
💍 1883/2752

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

27
19

Napier
Napier

7 years
9 years

St. John's Church

83/12919

Joseph Hands, Father

12 October 1883

Rev. De Berdt Hovell, English Church

No	72
Date of Notice	12 October 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Kinnell	Emma Hands
BDM Match (83%)	John Sainell	Emma Hauds
	💍 1883/2752
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	27	19
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	7 years	9 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church
Folio	83/12919
Consent	Joseph Hands, Father
Date of Certificate	12 October 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. De Berdt Hovell, English Church

12 October 1883

John William Coth
Louisa Le Ringnam

John William Cook
Louisa Le Keoigman
💍 1883/2749

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper

25
23

Gisborne
Napier

6 months
6 years

St. John's Church

83/12917

12 October 1883

Rev. De Berdt Hovell, English Church

No	73
Date of Notice	12 October 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Coth	Louisa Le Ringnam
BDM Match (77%)	John William Cook	Louisa Le Keoigman
	💍 1883/2749
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Napier
Length of Residence	6 months	6 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church
Folio	83/12917
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 October 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. De Berdt Hovell, English Church

13 October 1883

Charles McCarthy
Mary McMahon

Charles McCarthy
Mary McMahon
💍 1883/3630

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter

25
21

Napier
Napier

5 years
4 years

St. Mary's Chapel

83/12926

13 October 1883

Rev. I. Forest, Roman Catholic

No	74
Date of Notice	13 October 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles McCarthy	Mary McMahon
	💍 1883/3630
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	5 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Chapel
Folio	83/12926
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. Forest, Roman Catholic

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).