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 783

District of Ellesmere Quarter ending 30 September 1883 Registrar H. Y. Lee

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

24 July 1883

George William Newlove
Agnes Rosamond Clifford

George William Newlove
Agnes Rosamond Clifford
💍 1883/2338

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

33
26

Doyleston
Doyleston

9 years
1 day

At the Wesleyan Chapel at Irwell

83/2282

24 July 1883

Revd. W. Reall, Wesleyan, of Leeston

No	12
Date of Notice	24 July 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George William Newlove	Agnes Rosamond Clifford
	💍 1883/2338
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	33	26
Dwelling Place	Doyleston	Doyleston
Length of Residence	9 years	1 day
Marriage Place	At the Wesleyan Chapel at Irwell
Folio	83/2282
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 July 1883
Officiating Minister	Revd. W. Reall, Wesleyan, of Leeston

31 July 1883

Henry McCrea
Margaret Campbell

Henry McElrea
Margaret Campbell
💍 1883/2358

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver

26
30

Southbridge
Stony Gully

3 days
10 years

At the house of Mr. Peter Campbell, Stony Gully

83/2278

31 July 1883

Revd. W. West, Presbyterian, of Southbridge

No	13
Date of Notice	31 July 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry McCrea	Margaret Campbell
BDM Match (92%)	Henry McElrea	Margaret Campbell
	💍 1883/2358
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver
Age	26	30
Dwelling Place	Southbridge	Stony Gully
Length of Residence	3 days	10 years
Marriage Place	At the house of Mr. Peter Campbell, Stony Gully
Folio	83/2278
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 July 1883
Officiating Minister	Revd. W. West, Presbyterian, of Southbridge

10 August 1883

Charles Manhart
Hannah Peacock

Charles Manhart
Hannah Peacock
💍 1883/2337

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

38
28

Leeston
Leeston

1 year
5 months

Wesleyan Chapel at Leeston

83/2287

10 August 1883

Revd. W. Reall, Wesleyan, of Leeston

No	14
Date of Notice	10 August 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Manhart	Hannah Peacock
	💍 1883/2337
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	38	28
Dwelling Place	Leeston	Leeston
Length of Residence	1 year	5 months
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Chapel at Leeston
Folio	83/2287
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 August 1883
Officiating Minister	Revd. W. Reall, Wesleyan, of Leeston

14 August 1883

Alexander Rollo
Martha Ann Johnson

Alexander Rolls
Martha Ann Johnson
💍 1883/2339

Alexander Morrison
Clara Jane Johnson
💍 1883/647

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

24
19

Irwell
Irwell

10 years
2 years

Presbyterian Manse at Leeston

83/2283

Thomas Johnson (Father)

14 August 1883

Revd. J. W. Free, Presbyterian, of Leeston

No	15
Date of Notice	14 August 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Rollo	Martha Ann Johnson
BDM Match (97%)	Alexander Rolls	Martha Ann Johnson
	💍 1883/2339
BDM Match (64%)	Alexander Morrison	Clara Jane Johnson
	💍 1883/647
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Irwell	Irwell
Length of Residence	10 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse at Leeston
Folio	83/2283
Consent	Thomas Johnson (Father)
Date of Certificate	14 August 1883
Officiating Minister	Revd. J. W. Free, Presbyterian, of Leeston

17 August 1883

James Anderson
Francis Butter

James Anderson
Frances Butler
💍 1883/2240

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer's Assistant

28
23

Christchurch
Dunsandel

15 years
5 years

At the house of Mr. John Butter at Dunsandel

83/2152

17 August 1883

Revd. Walter Dunkley, Church of England, of Burnham

No	16
Date of Notice	17 August 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Anderson	Francis Butter
BDM Match (93%)	James Anderson	Frances Butler
	💍 1883/2240
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer's Assistant
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Dunsandel
Length of Residence	15 years	5 years
Marriage Place	At the house of Mr. John Butter at Dunsandel
Folio	83/2152
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 August 1883
Officiating Minister	Revd. Walter Dunkley, Church of England, of Burnham

11 September 1883

David Gilmour
Jessie Robb

David Gilmour
Jessie Robb
💍 1883/2340

Bachelor
Spinster

Saddler

27
22

Doyleston
Doyleston

4 days
4 years

In the Presbyterian Church at Leeston

83/2284

11 September 1883

Revd. J. W. Free, Presbyterian, of Leeston

No	17
Date of Notice	11 September 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Gilmour	Jessie Robb
	💍 1883/2340
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Doyleston	Doyleston
Length of Residence	4 days	4 years
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church at Leeston
Folio	83/2284
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 September 1883
Officiating Minister	Revd. J. W. Free, Presbyterian, of Leeston

14 September 1883

Charles Palmer
Ellen McNeely

Charles Palmer
Ellen McNeely
💍 1883/2359

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

25
24

Southbridge
Southbridge

5 years
4 years

At the house of Mr. John McNeely

83/2279

14 September 1883

Revd. W. West, Presbyterian, of Southbridge

No	18
Date of Notice	14 September 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Palmer	Ellen McNeely
	💍 1883/2359
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Southbridge	Southbridge
Length of Residence	5 years	4 years
Marriage Place	At the house of Mr. John McNeely
Folio	83/2279
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 September 1883
Officiating Minister	Revd. W. West, Presbyterian, of Southbridge

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).