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 680

District of Cust Quarter ending 30 June 1883 Registrar Richard Meredith

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

26 April 1883

Harry McLeod
Euphemia Banks

Harry McLeod
Euphemia Banks
💍 1883/3334

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

23 years
18 years

Cust
Cust

5 days
2 1/2 months

Office of Registrar

83/1056

Eliza Banks, Mother

26 April 1883

Richard Meredith, Registrar

No	20
Date of Notice	26 April 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry McLeod	Euphemia Banks
	💍 1883/3334
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	23 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Cust	Cust
Length of Residence	5 days	2 1/2 months
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar
Folio	83/1056
Consent	Eliza Banks, Mother
Date of Certificate	26 April 1883
Officiating Minister	Richard Meredith, Registrar

2 May 1883

Walter Sartery
Elizabeth Alice Huthnance

Walter Gartery
Elizabeth Alice Huthnance
💍 1883/1138

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

23 years
18 years

Cust
Cust

6 years
4 years

St James' Parish Church, Cust

83/1209

John Huthnance, Father

2 May 1883

Rev. C. H. Wyatt, Minister, Church of England

No	21
Date of Notice	2 May 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Sartery	Elizabeth Alice Huthnance
BDM Match (96%)	Walter Gartery	Elizabeth Alice Huthnance
	💍 1883/1138
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	23 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Cust	Cust
Length of Residence	6 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St James' Parish Church, Cust
Folio	83/1209
Consent	John Huthnance, Father
Date of Certificate	2 May 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Wyatt, Minister, Church of England

14 May 1883

William Williams
Eliza Thompson

William Williams
Eliza Thompson
💍 1883/1139

William Blair
Mary Thompson
💍 1883/2420

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker
Domestic Servant

22 years
22 years

Cust
Cust

3 days
11 years

St James' Parish Church, Cust

83/1240

14 May 1883

Rev. C. H. Wyatt, Minister, Church of England

No	22
Date of Notice	14 May 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Williams	Eliza Thompson
	💍 1883/1139
BDM Match (63%)	William Blair	Mary Thompson
	💍 1883/2420
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker	Domestic Servant
Age	22 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Cust	Cust
Length of Residence	3 days	11 years
Marriage Place	St James' Parish Church, Cust
Folio	83/1240
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 May 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Wyatt, Minister, Church of England

28 May 1883

John Page
Mary McCullough

John Page
Mary McCullough
💍 1883/1137

Widower
Widow

Carpenter
Domestic Duties

50
45

Cust
Cust

10 years
16 years

Dwelling House of M. McCullough, Cust

83/1268

28 May 1883

Rev. Neil McCallum, Presbyterian Minister

No	23
Date of Notice	28 May 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Page	Mary McCullough
	💍 1883/1137
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic Duties
Age	50	45
Dwelling Place	Cust	Cust
Length of Residence	10 years	16 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling House of M. McCullough, Cust
Folio	83/1268
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 May 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. Neil McCallum, Presbyterian Minister

30 May 1883

Louis Bettridge
Mary Grace Hodgson

Louis Bettridge
Mary Grace Hodgson
💍 1883/1140

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

26
23

Cust
Cust

6 years
14 years

St James' Parish Church, Cust

83/1271

30 May 1883

Rev. C. H. Wyatt, Minister, Church of England

No	24
Date of Notice	30 May 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Louis Bettridge	Mary Grace Hodgson
	💍 1883/1140
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Cust	Cust
Length of Residence	6 years	14 years
Marriage Place	St James' Parish Church, Cust
Folio	83/1271
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Wyatt, Minister, Church of England

19 June 1883

Sidney Head
Mary Jane Beattie

Sidney Head
Mary Jane Beattie
💍 1883/1160

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

28
19

Cust
Cust

6 years
13 years

Dwelling House of Mr John Beattie, Cust

83/1269

John Beattie, Father

19 June 1883

Rev. Neil McCallum, Presbyterian Minister

No	25
Date of Notice	19 June 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sidney Head	Mary Jane Beattie
	💍 1883/1160
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	28	19
Dwelling Place	Cust	Cust
Length of Residence	6 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling House of Mr John Beattie, Cust
Folio	83/1269
Consent	John Beattie, Father
Date of Certificate	19 June 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. Neil McCallum, 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).

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).